Ralph Richardson

(1902–83)

British actor, director (d. 80) | Things to Come (1936), The Four Feathers (1939), The Divorce of Lady X (1938)

Distinguished British stage actor, in occasional films. Despite his splendid theatrical voice and thespian mannerisms he was at his best playing ordinary chaps, though his gallery included plenty of eccentrics

Mini Biography

Born in Cheltenham, Ralph Richardson was on stage from 1921, notably in productions at the Old Vic – in partnership with Laurence Olivier – at the Royal Court Theatre and the National Theatre, where first nights were marred by firing ‘Ralph’s Rocket’, in memory of his love of his fireworks. (He once destroyed Olivier’s dressing room with a misdirected rocket.)

In private life Richardson was as eccentric as some of the characters he played: stopped by police late at night when walking very slowly along the gutter of an Oxford street, he explained that he was taking his pet mouse for a stroll.

Latest Ralph Richardson Pictures

Main title from Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (21). Ralph Richardson as Simeon — Jesus of Nazareth (1977) opening credits (21)

Ralph Richardson (as Capt John Durrance) and June Duprez (as Ethne Burroughs) in a colour photograph from The Four Feathers (1939) (1) — The Four Feathers (1939) photograph (1) | Richardson, Duprez

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Personal Details

Born

Died

Died

Ralph Richardson died in Marylebone, London on 10^th October, 1983, aged 80.
Born

Ralph Richardson was born in Tivoli Rd, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 19^th December, 1902.

Watch Ralph Richardson on British television

- Thunder in the City (1937)
- An American salesman in London helps a penniless duke promote a non-existent metal.
- Monday at 9.10am on Talking Pictures TV
- Watership Down (1978)
- A colony of rabbits seek a new home following a vision of the destruction of their warren.
- Tuesday at 6am on Sky Cinema Greats HD
- Wednesday at 4.50am on Sky Cinema Greats HD
- 10^th July at 1am on Sky Cinema Greats HD
- 10^th July at 6.10am on Sky Cinema Greats HD
- Our Man in Havana (1959)
- A British vacuum cleaner salesman in Havana allows himself to be recruited as a spy, and wishes he hadn’t.
- Tuesday at 6.45pm on GREAT! movies classic
- Tuesday at 7.45pm on GREAT! movies classic Plus 1
- Friday at 9.10am on GREAT! movies classic
- Friday at 10.10am on GREAT! movies classic Plus 1
- 11^th July at 10.45am on GREAT! movies classic
- 11^th July at 11.45am on GREAT! movies classic Plus 1