Ian Richardson

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Ian Richardson
Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart in House of Cards
Birth name	Ian William Richardson
Born	7 April 1934 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	9 February 2007 (aged 72) London, England
Notable roles	Francis Urquhart in House of Cards

Ian William Richardson CBE (7 April 1934 – 9 February 2007) was a Scottish actor best known for playing the Machiavellian politician Francis Urquhart in the House of Cards trilogy for the BBC.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Acting 3 Trivia 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Edinburgh, Richardson was educated at Balgreen Primary School and Tynecastle High School in the city,^[1] prior to training at the College of Dramatic Arts in Glasgow. After a period at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (at what is now the Old Rep), he subsequently appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company, of which he was a founder member, from 1960 to 1975.

[edit] Acting

He acted in Peter Brook's production of the Marat/Sade for the RSC and on Broadway in 1965. He would play the part of Jean-Paul Marat again in the 1967 film version. Later, he played Professor Henry Higgins in the 1976 revival of My Fair Lady and received a Tony nomination. He also appeared on Broadway in 1981 in the original production of Edward Albee's play Lolita, an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's book, but this is not regarded as having been a success.

He played one musical role on film - the Priest in Man of La Mancha, the 1972 screen version of the hit Broadway musical. In 1987, he played a variation on this role, when he portrayed the Bishop of Motopo in the non-musical telefilm Monsignor Quixote, based on Graham Greene's modernized take on the Quixote story.

He made many film appearances, including Brazil (1985), Dark City (1998), Polonius in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), Martin Landau's butler in the Halle Berry film B*A*P*S (1997) and Cruella de Vil's solicitor, Mr. Torte, in the live action movie 102 Dalmatians (2000).

Richardson also gave memorable TV performances: such as Bill Haydon ("Tailor") in the BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Sir Godber Evans in Channel 4's adaptation of Porterhouse Blue; and Major Neuheim in the award-winning Private Schulz. He also starred in Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes (a BBC production also screened in PBS's Mystery! series in the United States), playing Dr. Joseph Bell, the mentor of Arthur Conan Doyle. He had earlier played Sherlock Holmes in two 1980s television versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four. In 2003 he played the recurring role of the villainous Canon Black in the short-lived BBC fantasy series Strange and as "Lord Groan" in the BBC production Gormenghast (2000).

Richardson won the BAFTA Best Television Actor Award for House of Cards, and was nominated for the two sequels To Play the King and The Final Cut as well as for the 1992 film An Ungentlemanly Act.

He was also familiar to American television viewers as the man in the Rolls-Royce who asks "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" in the commercials for Grey Poupon Dijon mustard.

He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989.

In the early 2000s Richardson joined Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Donald Sinden and Dame Diana Rigg in an international tour of The Hollow Crown. A Canadian tour substituted Alan Howard for Jacobi and Vanessa Redgrave for Rigg. He also appeared in The Creeper by Pauline Macaulay at the Playhouse Theatre in London, and on tour.

In 2005, he took on the role of a curiously detached Chancellor in the highly successful TV drama Bleak House. 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. He voiced the main character of the novel, Death, the Grim Reaper who steps in to take over the role of the Father Christmas-like Hogfather.

He died suddenly on the morning of February 9, 2007, aged 72. According to his agent, he had not been ill and had in fact been due to start filming an episode of Midsomer Murders the following week.^[2]

He is survived by his wife, Maroussia Frank, also an actor, and two sons, one of whom, Miles, is an actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

[edit] Trivia

Dame Helen Mirren dedicated her 2007 'Best Actress' BAFTA award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the film The Queen to Ian Richardson. In her acceptance speech, she said Richardson was very supportive towards her when she started out acting, and without him she may not have been so successful. ^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ian Richardson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ian Richardson at the Internet Movie Database
• The Guardian — Actor Ian Richardson dies
• The Guardian — obituary
• BBC — House of Cards' Richardson dies

Persondata
NAME	Richardson, Ian William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actor
DATE OF BIRTH	April 7, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH	Edinburgh, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH	February 9, 2007
PLACE OF DEATH	London, England