British stage and screen actor, Ralph Richardson

Ralph Richardson

British actor, director (1902–1983) | 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
  • 9th August, 2019
Ralph Richardson
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)
  • 24th December, 2018
Ralph Richardson, June Duprez
The Four Feathers (1939) photograph (1) | Richardson, Duprez
British stage and screen actor, Ralph Richardson
  • 16th April, 2017
Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson, British actor of stage and screen

Select Ralph Richardson Filmography

Bulldog Jack (1935)
Morelle
Things to Come (1936)
The Boss
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) opening credits
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936)
Colonel Winstanley
Thunder in the City (1937) opening credits (2)
Thunder in the City (1937)
Manningdale
The Divorce of Lady X (1938) opening credits
The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
Lord Mere
Q Planes (1939) opening credits
Q Planes (1939)
Major Charles Hammond
The Lion Has Wings (1939) opening credits
The Lion Has Wings (1939)
Wing Commander Richardson
The Four Feathers (1939) opening credits (3)
The Four Feathers (1939)
Capt John Durrance
On the Night of the Fire (1939) opening credits (3)
On the Night of the Fire (1939)
Will Kobling
The Day Will Dawn (1942) opening credits (8)
The Day Will Dawn (1942)
Frank Lockwood
The Silver Fleet (1943) opening credits (4)
The Silver Fleet (1943)
Jaap van Leyden
School for Secrets (1946) opening credits (3)
School for Secrets (1946)
Prof Heatherville
The Fallen Idol (1948) opening credits
The Fallen Idol (1948)
Baines
The Fallen Idol (1948) opening credits
Anna Karenina (1948)
Karenin
Outcast of the Islands (1951) opening credits
Outcast of the Islands (1951)
Captain Tom Lingard
The Holly and the Ivy (1952) opening credits (3)
The Holly and the Ivy (1952)
Rev Martin Gregory
The Sound Barrier (1952) opening credits (2)
The Sound Barrier (1952)
John Ridgefield
Home at Seven (1952) opening credits (3)
Home at Seven (1952)
David Preston
Home at Seven (1952) opening credits (3)
Richard III (1955)
Duke of Buckingham
The Passionate Stranger (1957) opening credits (4)
The Passionate Stranger (1957)
Roger Wynter / Sir Clement
Our Man in Havana (1959) opening credits (8)
Our Man in Havana (1959)
‘C’
Our Man in Havana (1959) opening credits (8)
Exodus (1960)
Gen Sutherland
The 300 Spartans (1962) opening credits (3)
The 300 Spartans (1962)
Themistocles of Athens
Doctor Zhivago (1965) opening credits (4)
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Alexander
Khartoum (1966) opening credits (6)
Khartoum (1966)
William Gladstone
The Wrong Box (1966) opening credits (3)
The Wrong Box (1966)
Joseph Finsbury
The Wrong Box (1966) opening credits (3)
The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
Lord Fortnum
Battle of Britain (1969) opening credits (1)
Battle of Britain (1969)
Sir David Kelly – British Minister to Switzerland
David Copperfield (1970) opening credits (3)
David Copperfield (1970)
Mr Micawber
The Looking Glass War (1970) opening credits (3)
The Looking Glass War (1970)
LeClerc
Lady Caroline Lamb (1972) opening credits (2)
Lady Caroline Lamb (1972)
George IV
The Man in the Iron Mask (1977) opening credits (3)
The Man in the Iron Mask (1977)
Colbert
Watership Down (1978) opening credits
Watership Down (1978)
Chief Rabbit
Watership Down (1978) opening credits
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
The Sixth Earl of Greystoke
+ Show all productions (24 more)

Personal Details

Born
Died
Autographed photo from 1943 featuring Meriel Forbes
Wife  m. 1944–1983 (his death)

Watch Ralph Richardson on British television