Ralph Richardson
was born December 19th 1902, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,
England. His father Arthur Richardson, a Quaker, was an art teacher, but his
mother Lydia Richardson was a Roman Catholic. Lydia Richardson left her husband
Arthur Richardson and took her Ralph Richardson with her to live in a series of
small towns in the south of England. He married to Muriel Hewitt in 1924 and
the couple divorced in 1942 and then he married to Meriel Forbes in 1944 and
the marriage remain till his death (1983). He had a son named Charles David
Richardson.
Ralph
enrolled at Brighton School to take up the easel and follow in his father's
brushstrokes when he was a teenager. And then he received an inheritance of 500
pounds and he abandoned art school to pursue his real love: creating verbal
portraits as an actor.
He was sent
to Jesuit seminary because Richardson considered becoming a priest but he broke
its rules and ran away. Then he took art courses nearby Xaverian College. Then
within a year he had graduated from walk-ons to small speaking parts to the
lead roles, and soon went on to tour England and Ireland with a Shakespearean
repertory company. He was thrilled, and felt at once that he must become an
actor.
In August
1921 he made his first appearance as a professional actor at the Marina
Theatre, Lowestoft as Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice. And then he played
many major roles like Macbeth and Mark Antony with Doran's company for the next
two years till he left Doran’s in 1923. He had gained a national reputation and
then Old Vic films gave him international reputation. He made numerous quality
films combining the skills of stage with the screen. He was also a great author
he wrote many quotes.
His one of
the best quote is given below,
“You've got
to perform in a role hundreds of times. In keeping it fresh one can become a
large, madly humming, demented refrigerator.”
He died on
10th October, 1983 at the age of 81 in Marylebone. Lady Richardson
died last year, aged 86.