Richardson, Sir Ralph David

Richardson, Sir Ralph David (1902-1983), English actor, born in Cheltenham. He made his stage debut in 1921 in The Merchant of Venice. After performing with a number of repertory companies, he was featured with the Old Vic and the Sadler's Wells Theatre companies from 1930 to 1932. The following year he appeared in his first film, The Ghoul. During World War II he served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. He then returned to the Old Vic, as an actor and as a co-director. Richardson is best known for his stage roles in Peer Gynt (1944), Timon of Athens (1956), Anouilh's Waltz of the Toreadors (1957), and the 1962 revival of The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. In 1975, together with Sir John Gielgud, he performed in No Man's Land by Harold Pinter. He continued working into the early 1980s, acting with the National Theatre Company. His many films include The Fallen Idol (1948), Anna Karenina (1948), Richard III (1956), Our Man in Havana (1959), Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), and Doctor Zhivago (1965). He was knighted in 1947.