Richardson, Sir Ralph David (1902–83), English actor, surpassed only by
Gielgud and
Olivier among his contemporaries, who made his first professional appearance at Lowestoft in 1921 as Lorenzo in
The Merchant of Venice. He joined the
Birmingham Repertory company in 1926, making his London début later the same year as the Stranger in
Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus. In 1930 he went to the
Old Vic, where his reputation was chiefly made, his roles including Caliban in
The Tempest. His Toby Belch in
Twelfth Night on the reopening of
Sadler's Wells in 1931 was followed by Petruchio in
The Taming of the Shrew, Bottom in
A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Henry V in the Vic-Wells company's 1931–2 season. After leaving the Old Vic he was seen in several important modern plays, including
Maugham's For Services Rendered (1932) and
Sheppey (1933) and
Priestley's Eden End (1934) and
Cornelius (1935). His New York début, as Chorus and Mercutio in
Romeo and Juliet at the end of 1935, preceded the title-roles in
Othello at the Old Vic (1938) and Priestley's
Johnson over Jordan (1939). He then served in the Fleet Air Arm, returning to the Old Vic as co-director, 1944–7. His diverse roles there included
Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, Inspector Goole in Priestley's
An Inspector Calls, and
Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as, unforgettably,
Ibsen's Peer Gynt and Falstaff in
Henry IV, the last also in New York in 1946. In 1949 came another much-acclaimed performance as the tyrannical Dr Sloper in Ruth and Augustus Goetz's
The Heiress, based on Henry
James's novel
Washington Square. After his Vershinin in an all-star production of Chekhov's
Three Sisters in 1951 he went to the
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre to play Prospero in
The Tempest and the title-role in
Jonson's Volpone (both 1952), and was then seen in N. C.
Hunter's A Day by the Sea (1953). At the Old Vic in 1956 he gave a fine performance in the title-role of
Timon of Athens, and he was back in New York in
Anouilh's The Waltz of the Toreadors (1957). Later in the year he created in London another notable role, the self-deluding Cherry in Robert
Bolt's Flowering Cherry, which was followed by Graham
Greene's The Complaisant Lover (1959), Sir Peter Teazle in Sheridan's
The School for Scandal (1962; NY, 1963), and
Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author (1963). He appeared in revivals at the Haymarket: as William the Waiter in Shaw's
You Never Can Tell, Sir Antony Absolute in Sheridan's
The Rivals (both 1966), and Shylock in
The Merchant of Venice (1967). He then returned to modern plays: Joe
Orton's What the Butler Saw (1969), David
Storey's Home (London and NY, 1970), superbly partnering Gielgud, and
Osborne's West of Suez (1971), as an elderly writer turned television pundit. Joining the
National Theatre company, he played the title-role in Ibsen's
John Gabriel Borkman (1975) and Hirst in
Pinter's No Man's Land (also 1975; NY, 1976), sharing the honours again with Gielgud in another virtuoso display. He returned to London as the Author in William Douglas
Home's The Kingfisher (1977), a part specially written for him. He later returned to the National Theatre in several productions, including David Storey's
Early Days (1980; NY, 1981). The range and variety of his work made him difficult to classify. Though not by nature a tragedian he could rivet the attention in a tragic or sinister role, was outstanding in pathos, and in comedy gave free rein to his own eccentric and amusing personality.
