Ralph Richardson

1902–1983 | British actor

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

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

Select Ralph Richardson Filmography

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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

- The 300 Spartans (1962)
- Wednesday at 11am on Film4 HD
- Sparta leads the ancient Greek states against Persia’s attack at Thermopylae.
- Outcast of the Islands (1951)
- Thursday at 7.50am on Talking Pictures
- A shiftless trader finds a secret Far Eastern trading port where he can be happy – but even here he becomes an outcast.
- The Sound Barrier (1952)
- 28^th September at 9.40am on Talking Pictures
- An aircraft manufacturer takes risks with the lives of his family and friends to prove that the sound barrier can be broken.