Ralph Richardson

Lore & Background

Richardson was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the third son of Arthur Richardson and Lydia Russell. His parents separated in 1907, and he was raised by his mother, a Roman Catholic convert. After briefly studying art and working as an office boy, he saw a production of Hamlet in Brighton and decided to become an actor. He made his stage debut in December 1920 with the St Nicholas Players in Brighton.

He learned his craft in the 1920s with touring companies and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. In 1931 he joined the Old Vic, playing mostly Shakespearean roles, and led the company the following season. In the 1940s, he was co-director of the Old Vic with Olivier and John Burrell, where his most celebrated roles included Peer Gynt and Falstaff. He and Olivier led the company to Europe and Broadway in 1945 and 1946, but their success provoked resentment among the governing board, leading to their dismissal in 1947.

Richardson's film career began as an extra in 1931. He was cast in leading roles in films including Things to Come (1936), The Fallen Idol (1948), Long Day's Journey into Night (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965). He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for The Heiress (1949) and posthumously for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984).

Reader's Guide

Richardson's significance lies in his place among the quintet of male actors who dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He was not known for great tragic roles, preferring character parts in old and new plays. His work with Peter Hall's National Theatre and his frequent stage partnership with Gielgud were celebrated in later years. Throughout his career, and increasingly in later years, he was known for his eccentric behaviour on and off stage, often seen as detached from conventional ways of looking at the world, and his acting was regularly described as poetic or magical. He continued on stage and in films until shortly before his sudden death at age eighty.

Did You Know?

• Richardson made his stage debut in December 1920 as a gendarme in an adaptation of Les Misérables.
• He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for The Heiress (1949) and posthumously for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984).
• He served as an altar boy in Brighton and briefly attended a seminary for trainee priests before running away.
• He and Laurence Olivier were dismissed from the Old Vic company in 1947 after their success provoked resentment among the governing board.