Ian Richardson
Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart in House of Cards
Birth name	Ian William Richardson
Born	7 April 1934 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	9 February 2007 (aged 72) London, England
Notable roles	Francis Urquhart in House of Cards

Ian William Richardson CBE (7 April 1934 – 9 February 2007) was a Scottish actor best known for playing the Machiavellian politician Francis Urquhart in the House of Cards trilogy for the BBC. Image File history File links Ian_HouseofCards. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... House of Cards was a political thriller novel written by Michael Dobbs, a former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters, which was set at the end of Margaret Thatchers tenure as British Prime Minister. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Scotland. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity(English) Wha daur meddle wi me? (Scots)[1] Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots[2] Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... House of Cards was a political thriller novel written by Michael Dobbs, a former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters, which was set at the end of Margaret Thatchers tenure as British Prime Minister. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire (Military division) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity(English) Wha daur meddle wi me? (Scots)[1] Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots[2] Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor or actress is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ... Machiavellianism is the term some social and personality psychologists use to describe a persons tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... House of Cards was a political thriller novel written by Michael Dobbs, a former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters, which was set at the end of Margaret Thatchers tenure as British Prime Minister. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion...

Early life

Born in Edinburgh, Richardson was educated at Balgreen Primary School and Tynecastle High School in the city,^[1] prior to training at the College of Dramatic Arts in Glasgow. After a period at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (at what is now the Old Rep), he subsequently appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company, of which he was a founder member, from 1960 to 1975. Edinburgh (pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Tynecastle High School is a secondary school in South West Edinburgh It is next door neighbour to the Heart of Midlothian Football Club stadium. ... The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD), founded in 1845 as the Scottish National Academy of Music, is a university of music and drama in Glasgow, Scotland. ... Birmingham Rep (formerly Birmingham Repertory Theatre) is a theatre in Birmingham, England. ... The Old Rep is a theatre located in Station Street in Birmingham, England, managed by Birmingham City Council. ... Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. ...

Acting

He acted in Peter Brook's production of the Marat/Sade for the RSC and on Broadway in 1965. He would play the part of Jean-Paul Marat again in the 1967 film version. Later, 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, but this is not regarded as having been a success. Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH CBE (born 21 March 1925) is a highly influential British theatrical producer and director. ... The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, published in 1963, is a play by Peter Weiss, directed both on stage and screen by Peter Brook. ... Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (May 24, 1743 – July 13, 1793), was a Swiss-born French scientist and physician who made much of his career in the United Kingdom, but is best known as an activist in the French Revolution. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The original poster for the Broadway production of the show designed by Al Hirschfeld My Fair Lady is a 1956 musical theater production with lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... Edward Albee, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1961 Edward Franklin Albee III (born March 12, 1928) is an American playwright known for works including Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Zoo Story, and The Sandbox. ... Lolita (1955) is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Набо́ков, pronounced ) (April 22, 1899 [O.S. April 10], Saint Petersburg – July 2, 1977, Montreux) was a Russian-American author. ...

He played one musical role on film - the Priest in Man of La Mancha, the 1972 screen version of the hit Broadway musical. In 1987, he played a variation on this role, when he portrayed the Bishop of Motopo in the non-musical telefilm Monsignor Quixote, based on Graham Greene's modernized take on the Quixote story. Man of La Mancha is a 1972 film based on the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman, with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Monsignor Quixote is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1982. ... Image:Grahamg. ...

He 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 (2000). Dark City is a 1998 movie written and directed by Alex Proyas. ... Polonius is a character from William Shakespeares Hamlet. ... Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a 1990 film written and directed by Tom Stoppard based on his play of the same name. ... Martin Landau in North by Northwest. ... Halle Maria Berry (born August 14, 1966[1]) is an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Academy Award-winning American actress and former fashion model and beauty queen. ... B*A*P*S is a 1997 comedy film, written by Troy Beyer, and directed by Robert Townsend. ... Cruella De Vil is a fictional character and the primary villain in Dodie Smiths novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and its various film adaptations. ... In film and video, live action refers to works that are acted out by flesh-and-blood actors, as opposed to animation. ... 102 Dalmatians is a 2000 live-action film, produced by The Walt Disney Company and starring Glenn Close as the villainous Cruella de Vil. ...

Richardson also gave memorable TV performances: such as Bill Haydon ("Tailor") in the BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Sir Godber Evans in Channel 4's adaptation of Porterhouse Blue; and Major Neuheim in the award-winning Private Schulz. He also starred in Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes (a BBC production also screened in PBS's Mystery! series in the United States), playing Dr. Joseph Bell, the mentor of Arthur Conan Doyle. He had earlier played Sherlock Holmes in two 1980s television versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four. In 2003 he played the recurring role of the villainous Canon Black in the short-lived BBC fantasy series Strange and as "Lord Groan" in the BBC production Gormenghast (2000). Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a spy novel by John le Carré, first published in 1974. ... // Porterhouse Blue is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. ... A BBC Television comedy drama starring Michael Elphick in the title role and Ian Richardson playing various parts. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... Mystery! (also written MYSTERY!) is a long-running television series in the USA, which airs on PBS and is produced by WGBH. The show has brought a large number of detective series and television movies - most of them British productions from the BBC or various ITV companies - to air on... Joseph Bell, JP, DL (2 December 1837–1911) was a Scottish lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. ... Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and the adventures of Professor Challenger. ... A portrait of Sherlock Holmes from the Strand Magazine, 1891 Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. ... The Hound of the Baskervilles is a crime novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, originally serialised in the Strand Magazine in 1901 and 1902, which is set largely on Dartmoor 1889. ... The Sign of Four (1890) was the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. ... Strange is a British television drama series, produced by the independent production company Big Bear Productions for the BBC, which aired on the BBC One channel. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

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. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... House of Cards was a political thriller novel written by Michael Dobbs, a former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters, which was set at the end of Margaret Thatchers tenure as British Prime Minister. ... Prime Minister Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson) and the King (Michael Kitchen) in the BBC Television Drama To Play the King. ... The Final Cut may mean: The Final Cut, an album by Pink Floyd The Final Cut, an industrial music group The Final Cut, the third part of the House of Cards trilogy about the rise and fall of a Machiavellian prime minister The Final Cut, a 2004 movie See also... An Ungentlemanly Act is a 1992 BBC television film about the first days of the invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. ...

He was also familiar to American television viewers as the man in the Rolls-Royce who asks "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" in the commercials for Grey Poupon Dijon mustard. Rolls-Royce car may refer to vehicles produced by: Rolls-Royce Limited (1906-1973) Rolls-Royce Motors (1973-2003) Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (2003-present) // Rolls-Royce cars Rolls-Royce Limited vehicles 1904-1906 10 hp 1905-1905 15 hp 1905-1908 20 hp 1905-1906 30 hp 1905-1906... Grey Poupon is a Dijon mustard made by Kraft Foods. ... Street in the center of Dijon Arc de triomphe known as the Porte Guillaume, on Place Darcy in the center of Dijon Dijon and suburbs Cathédrale St Bénigne - Dijon Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dijon Dijon ( ) is a city in eastern France, the préfecture (administrative capital... Mustard being spread on bread. ...

He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire (Military division) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority...

In the early 2000s Richardson joined Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Donald Sinden and Dame Diana Rigg in an international tour of The Hollow Crown. A Canadian tour substituted Alan Howard for Jacobi and Vanessa Redgrave for Rigg. He also appeared in The Creeper by Pauline Macaulay at the Playhouse Theatre in London, and on tour. Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE (IPA: ) (born 22 October 1938) is an English actor and director, knighted in 1994 for his services to the theatre. ... Sir Donald Sinden KBE OBE born 1923 is a British stage actor. ... Dame Diana Rigg, DBE (born 20 July 1938), born Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, is an English actress. ... Alan MacKenzie Howard, CBE (born 5 August 1937) is an English actor known for his roles on stage and television and film. ... Vanessa Redgrave, CBE (born 30 January 1937) is an Academy Award winning English actress and member of the Redgrave family, one of the enduring theatrical dynasties. ... The Creeper is a DC Comics superhero created by Steve Ditko. ...

In 2005, he took on the role of a curiously detached Chancellor in the highly successful TV drama Bleak House. In June 2006 he was made an honorary Doctor of the University of Stirling. The honour was conferred on him by the university's chancellor, fellow actor Dame Diana Rigg. In December 2006, Richardson starred in Sky One's two-part adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel Hogfather. 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. “TV” redirects here. ... Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in 20 monthly parts between March 1852 and September 1853. ... The University of Stirling is a campus university created in 1967, and located on the outskirts of Stirling in central Scotland. ... Dame Diana Rigg, DBE (born 20 July 1938), born Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, is an English actress. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... Hogfather is the 20th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ...

He died suddenly on the morning of February 9, 2007, aged 72. According to his agent, he had not been ill and had in fact been due to start filming an episode of Midsomer Murders the following week.^[2] February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Midsomer Murders is a popular British television series about murders that take place in the fictional English county of Midsomer. ...

He is survived by his wife, Maroussia Frank, also an actor, and two sons, one of whom, Miles, is an actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Miles Richardson as Irving Braxiatel Miles Richardson is a British radio, film, television and theatre actor. ... Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. ...

Trivia

Dame Helen Mirren dedicated her 2007 'Best Actress' BAFTA award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the film The Queen to Ian Richardson. In her acceptance speech, she said Richardson was very supportive towards her when she started out acting, and without him she may not have been so successful. ^[3] Dame Helen Mirren (born Ilyena Lydia Mironoff on July 26, 1945) is an English stage, television and movie actor. ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... Elizabeth II in an official portrait as Queen of Canada (on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002, wearing the Sovereigns badges of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) (born 21 April 1926), styled HM The... The Queen is an Academy Award-winning 2006 film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Peter Morgan. ...

References

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ...

External links

• Ian Richardson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ian Richardson at the Internet Movie Database
• The Guardian — Actor Ian Richardson dies
• The Guardian — obituary
• BBC — House of Cards' Richardson dies