SOUTH AFRICA'S TV WEBSITE
SIGN IN SEARCH MENU
SOUTH AFRICA'S TV WEBSITE


Ian Richardson

Full / Real Name: Ian William Richardson, CBE
Born: 07 April 1934 (89 years old)
Gender: Male

Rate:

8.6

Add to Actor Favourites

Bio

Ian Richardson was a Scottish actor best known for playing the Machiavellian politician Francis Urquhart in the House of Cards trilogy for the BBC.

Richardson was born in Edinburgh and educated at George Heriot's School in the city. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama and subsequently appeared often on the British stage, mostly with the Royal Shakespeare Company, of which he was a founder member.

He has also worked in American theatre, acting in Peter Brook's MaratSade on Broadway in 1965. He would play the part of Jean-Paul Marat again in the 1967 film version.

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.

He has 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 (2002).

Richardson also gave memorable TV performances as Tailor in the BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Sir Godber Evans in Channel 4's adaptation of Porterhouse Blue, and as Lord Groan in the BBC production Gormenghast.

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.

More recently Richardson stared in Sky One's adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel, Hogfather, which aired in two parts on 17 and 18 December 2006.

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.

Richardson died suddenly on the morning of 9 February, 2007. He was due to start filming an episode of Midsomer Murders the week after his death, and according to his agent was not ill.

He is survived by his wife, Maroussia, also an actor, and two sons.


Television Roles

Show

Character

Chancellor


LATEST ARTICLES

New on TV today: Friday 29 March 2024

There's music and lights in SuperCulture on Channel O and the film Wallflower airs on Fuse TV.


Game of Lies Teasers - April 2024

Series finale! The rescue attempt gets underway before a final reckoning.


Gqeberha: The Empire 2 Teasers - April 2024

The Mxenge Hotel turns into a whodunnit. A gunshot. Murder. In which room and by who?


The Wife 3 Teasers - April 2024

Naledi’s sex tape sees the spotlight again and catches her in the headlights.


Skerpioen Teasers - April 2024

A torched boat, poison in wine and youthful memories die when Ferda tries to kill Ahmet.


Imlie Teasers - April 2024

Imlie takes Ashu to the hospital when he falls ill, but kidnappers attempt to abduct him.


My Desire Teasers - April 2024

Kaashvi clears her name and reports Pradyumna's bribery attempt to the police.


New on TV today: Thursday 28 March 2024

Season 2 of Dam premieres on M-Net and Grey's Anatomy 20 drops on Disney+.


Hlomla Dandala confirmed to debut as Caesar on Smoke & Mirrors Season 2

The past collides with soon in the latest on Hlomla's whereabouts.


Smoke & Mirrors Teasers - April 2024

Season 1 finale and crossover alert! Caesar takes Thandiswa to the House of Zwide for her wedding dress.

LATEST SITE ACTIVITY


More activity at TVSA Central



LATEST SOAPIE TEASERS



LATEST SOAPIE TEASERS





×
×

You browser doesn't have Flash, Silverlight, Gears, BrowserPlus or HTML5 support.