John Richardson (actor)

Richardson was born on 19 January 1934 in Worthing, West Sussex. He served in the British Merchant Navy during the Korean War. He initially had no desire to be an actor but when he left the service, his looks saw him receive an offer to appear in a play by a local amateur theatre group in his hometown. He enjoyed it and began to work for several repertory companies around Britain.

He was spotted by a talent scout from 20th Century Fox who put him under contract. This lasted for two years but he did little.^[2]

He had some small roles in film for the Rank Organisation, including A Night to Remember (1958), Sapphire (1959), and The 39 Steps (1959).

His first role of note was in the Italian gothic horror film, Black Sunday (1960), directed by Mario Bava, which starred fellow British actress Barbara Steele. Richardson stayed in Italy for a supporting role in the swashbuckler, Pirates of Tortuga (1961). Back in Britain, he had minor roles in Tender Is the Night (1962) and Lord Jim (1965).^[3]

Leading man

Richardson's big breakthrough came when Ray Stark spotted him in the offices of Seven Arts Productions and cast him as the male lead in She (1965), which they were co-producing with Hammer Films.^[2] The film was a solid hit. Richardson was the only actor to reprise his role in the sequel, The Vengeance of She (1968), but that film was a flop.^[4]

Hammer and Seven Arts used Richardson again supporting another female star, this time Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. (1966). It was another big hit.

Returning to Italy, Richardson had the lead in the spaghetti Westerns, John the Bastard (1967) and Execution (1968), and a supporting role in On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (1967).

In the late 1960s, he was considered for the role of James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) when Sean Connery first left the franchise, but he lost out to George Lazenby.^[5]

Richardson and his wife, English actress Martine Beswick,^[6][7][8] moved to Hollywood in 1968.^[9] Richardson had a supporting role in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) as a ne'er-do-well who is seduced by Barbra Streisand's character Melinda but eventually abandons her.

Richardson and Beswick divorced in 1973.^[6][7][8] That year, Richardson based himself out of Italy once more and appeared in some giallo films: Torso (1973), Eyeball (1975), Reflections in Black (1975), Nine Guests for a Crime (1977), and Murder Obsession (1981). His other films of the period include; Duck in Orange Sauce (1975) a comedy and Cosmos: War of the Planets (1977) a science fiction movie.

Richardson died from COVID-19 on 5 January 2021, at age 86, during the COVID-19 pandemic in England.^[10]

• John Richardson at IMDb