Apr 7, 1934

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Date of Death
9 February 2007, London, England, UK.

When recalling Scots-born actor Ian Richardson, one could be amusingly reminded of a famous scene in the film Saturday Night Fever (1977) when John Travolta's streetwise character suddenly remembers who acting icon Laurence Olivier is only after being prompted by his "Polaroid" commercials. That same ironic scenario might just apply to the dour-looking Richardson, one of England's more substantial classical actors. Despite an extensive Sha... ... (read more...) kespearean resume that compares in weight to the best known classical giants (Olivier, Gielgud, Ralph Richardson) and despite the fact that Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon him the honor of Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1989, he is probably best known in the States as the dry-voiced, Rolls Royce-driving aristocrat who interrupts fellow roadsters with the line, "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" in those famous mustard commercials.

Born the son of John and Margaret (Drummond) Richardson on April 7, 1934, he was educated at Tynecastle School in Edinburgh, and studied for the stage at the College of Dramatic Art in Glasgow, where he was awarded the James Bridie Gold Medal in 1957. He joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company a year later where he played Hamlet as well as John Worthing in "The Importance of being Earnest." In 1960 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (then called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) and drew excellent notices for his work in "The Merchant of Venice," "Twelfth Night," "The Winter's Tale," "Much Ado About Nothing," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Taming of the Shrew," "The Comedy of Errors" and "King Lear", among others. In 1964 Richardson played the role of the Herald before advancing to the title role of Jean-Paul Marat in the stunning, avant-garde RSC production of "Marat-Sade". In addition, he made his Broadway debut in said role at the very end of 1965, and recreated it to critical acclaim in Peter Brooks' film adaptation with Glenda Jackson as murderess Charlotte Corday. Richardson also went on to replay Oberon in a lukewarm film version of RSC's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968) that nevertheless bore an elite company of Britain's finest pre-Dames -- Judi Dench, Helen Mirren and Diana Rigg. One of his lower film points during that time period, however, was appearing in the huge musical movie misfire Man of La Mancha (1972) in the role of the Padre opposite Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren.

Richardson was never far from the Shakespearean stage after his induction into films with majestic portraits of Coriolanus, Pericles, Richard II, Richard III, Cassius ("Julius Caesar"), Malcolm ("Macbeth"), Angelo ("Measure for Measure"), Prospero ("The Tempest") and Mercutio ("Romeo and "Juliet") paving the way. Elsewhere on Broadway he received a Drama Desk Award and Tony nomination for his splendid Henry Higgins in a revival of "My Fair Lady" in 1976, and was part of the cast of the short-lived (12 performances) production of "Lolita" (1981), written by Edward Albee and starring Donald Sutherland as Humbert Humbert.

Customary of many talented Scots, Richardson would find his best on-camera roles in plush, intelligent TV mini-series. On the Shakespearean front he appeared in TV adaptations of As You Like It (1963) (TV), All's Well That Ends Well (1968) (TV) and Much Ado About Nothing (1978) (TV). After delivering highly capable performances as Field-Marshal Montgomery in both Churchill and the Generals (1979) (TV) and "Ike" (1979) (mini), Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983) (TV), and Indian Prime Minister Nehru in "Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy" (1986) (mini), he capped his small-screen career in the role of the immoral politician Francis Urquhart in a trio of dramatic satires: House of Cards (1990) (TV), To Play the King (1993) (TV) and The Final Cut (1995). His impeccably finely-tuned villain became one his best remembered roles.

Filmwise, Richardson's stature did not grow despite polished work in Brazil (1985), Cry Freedom (1987), Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), M. Butterfly (1993), Dark City (1998), and the lightweight mainstream fare B*A*P*S (1997) and 102 Dalmatians (2000). He appeared less and less on stage in his later years. He took his final stage bows in 2006 with West End productions of "The Creeper" and "The Alchemist".

The urbane 72-year-old actor died unexpectedly in his sleep at his London abode on February 9, 2007, survived by his widow Maroussia Frank (his wife from 1961 and an RSC actress who played an asylum inmate alongside him in "Marat-Sade") and two sons, one of which, Miles Richardson, has been a resident performer with the RSC.

Trivia
Appointed a CBE in 1989.

Studied at the College of Dramatic Art, Glasgow.

Lived in Devon, UK, not far from Knightshayes Court, where his Sherlock Holmes film The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983) (TV) was filmed in 1983.

Was nominated for Broadway's 1976 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for portraying Henry Higgins in a revival of "My Fair Lady."

A leading player with the Royal Shakespeare Company for many seasons.

Claimed in a 2006 interview that his father was the inventor of the Jaffa Cake

Father of the actor Miles Richardson.

Two days after his death, actress Helen Mirren dedicated her BAFTA win (for Best Actress in a Leading Role, for the film The Queen (2006) ) to Ian Richardson, at the 2007 BAFTA Film Awards. She mentioned how Richardson was very supportive towards her when she started out acting, and without him she may not have been so successful. [2007]