Richardson was also a leading stage actor, well known for his Shakespearean works as well as his portrayal of Jean-Paul Marat in the Broadway production of Marat/Sade.
Early life
Richardson was born in Edinburgh, the only son and eldest of three children of John Richardson (1909–1990), a manager at the McVitie & Price factory (where he and his wife met, and, according to his son, where John invented the Jaffa cake), and Margaret ("Peggy") Pollock (1910–1988), née Drummond.[1] He was educated in the city, at Balgreen Primary School, Tynecastle High School and George Heriot's School.[1][2] He first appeared on stage at the age of 14, in an amateur production of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. The director encouraged his talent but warned that he would need to lose his Scottish accent to progress as an actor. His mother arranged elocution lessons, and he became a stage manager with the semi-professional Edinburgh People's Theatre.
Although he later gained his highest profile in film and television work such as House of Cards (1990), Richardson was primarily a classical stage actor.[4] His first engagement after training was with Birmingham Repertory Theatre,[5] where his performance of Hamlet led to an offer of a place with the RSC. He was a versatile member of the company for more than 15 years, playing villainy, comedy and tragedy to equal effect. He was The Herald in Peter Brook's production of Marat/Sade in London in 1964; in the New York City transfer he took the lead role of Jean-Paul Marat (and so became the first actor to appear nude on the Broadway stage),[1] a performance he repeated for the 1967 film Marat/Sade.
In 1972, he appeared in the musical Trelawney, with which the Bristol Old Vic reopened after its refurbishment. It proved a great success, transferring to London, first to the Sadler's Wells Theatre and later to the Prince of Wales Theatre. Richardson played the hero, Tom Wrench, a small-part player who wants to write about "real people". He had a song, "Walking On", lamenting his lack of scope in the company, in which he explains that as a "walking gentleman" he will be forever "walking on", whilst Rose Trelawney will go on to be a star.[6]
A significant Shakespearean cameo role was a brief performance as Hamlet in the gravedigger scene as part of episode six, "Protest and Communication", of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation television series in 1969. This was performed at Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire with Patrick Stewart as Horatio and Ronald Lacey as the gravedigger.[7]
In 1995, he played The Miser at Chichester, and in 1997 he played The Magistrate, also at Chichester, which transferred to the Savoy Theatre.[5]
In 2002, Richardson joined Derek Jacobi, Donald Sinden and Diana Rigg in an international tour of The Hollow Crown,[3] and this was repeated the following year with Dame Janet Suzman in the female roles. A Canadian tour substituted Alan Howard for Jacobi and Vanessa Redgrave for Suzman. He also appeared in The Creeper by Pauline Macaulay at the Playhouse Theatre in London, and on tour.[citation needed] His last stage appearance was in 2006 as Sir Epicure Mammon in The Alchemist at the National Theatre in London.[5]
He played one musical role on film, the Priest in Man of La Mancha, the 1972 screen version of the Broadway musical. Also in 1972, he played Anthony Beavis in the television series Eyeless in Gaza.
He also appeared in BBC radio plays, notably in 'The House on the Strand' by Daphne du Maurier, in 1973.
His first major role was his appearance as Bill Haydon ("Tailor") in the BBC adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979).[10][5] He again played the part of Field Marshal Montgomery in Churchill and the Generals in 1979, a BBC television videotaped play concerning the relationship between Winston Churchill and generals of the Allied forces between 1940 and 1945.
In 1999, Richardson became known to a young audience as the main character Stephen Tyler in both series of the family drama The Magician's House (1999–2000).[5] Following this he played Lord Groan in the major BBC production Gormenghast (2000),[5] and later that year he starred in the BBC production Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes (2000–2001) (screened in PBS's Mystery! series in the US), playing Arthur Conan Doyle's mentor, Dr. Joseph Bell, a role he welcomed as an opportunity to play a character from his native Edinburgh.[4] He once more returned to fantasy in the recurring role of the villainous Canon Black in the short-lived BBC cult series Strange (2003).
In 2005, he took on the role of the Lord Chancellor in the television drama Bleak House.[4] He also played the Judge in the family-based film, The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2005). Additionally, in that year, he appeared in ITV's main Christmas drama The Booze Cruise 2, playing Marcus Foster, a slimy upper class businessman forced to spend time with "the lower classes". He returned to this role for a sequel the following Easter.
In June 2006, he was made an honorary Doctor of the University of Stirling. The honour was conferred on him by the university's Chancellor, fellow actor Dame Diana Rigg.
In December 2006, Richardson starred in Sky One's two-part adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel Hogfather (1997). He voiced the main character of the novel, Death, who steps in to take over the role of the Father Christmas-like Hogfather. The DVD of that miniseries, released shortly after his death, opens with a dedication to his memory.[22]
His final film appearance was as Judge Langlois in Becoming Jane (2007), released shortly after his death.
During the last 15 years of his life he appeared five times on television acting opposite his son Miles Richardson, though this was usually with one or the other in a minor role.
Death
Richardson died in his sleep of a heart attack on the morning of 9 February 2007, aged 72.[23] He was survived by his wife, Maroussia Frank, an actress, and two sons, one of whom, Miles, is an actor. Richardson's body was cremated. His ashes were placed in the foundation of the auditorium of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford during renovations in 2008.[24]
Tributes
Dame Helen Mirren dedicated her 2006 Best Actress BAFTA award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the film The Queen to Richardson. In her acceptance speech she said that without his support early in her career, she might not have been so successful,[25] before breaking down and leaving the stage. Other tributes and reminiscences by Richardson's colleagues are offered in a memoir by Sharon Mail, We Could Possibly Comment: Ian Richardson Remembered (2009).[11]
^ abcdTrowbridge, Simon (17 December 2008). "Richardson, Ian". Stratfordians: a Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford, England: Editions A. Creed. ISBN978-0-9559830-1-6.