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Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December, 1902 - 10
October 1983) was an English actor, one of a group
of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who,
though more closely associated with the stage, did
their best to make the transition to film. 
Richardson was born in Cheltenham and made his
West End début in 1926.  Thereafter he became one
of the Old Vic's major stars.  After World War II,
he became co-director of the Vic, and also
appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company in
Stratford-on-Avon.  In 1954-1955 he played the
character of Dr. Watson|Dr. John Watson
(mistakenly called 'James' in several episodes) in
an American/BBC radio co-production of canonical
Sherlock Holmes stories, which starred John
Gielgud as the famous consulting detective. His
film appearances included The Heiress, Richard III
(play)|Richard III (playing Buckingham to Laurence
Olivier's Richard), O Lucky Man!, Oh! What a
Lovely War, Dragonslayer, and Time Bandits. His
career has often been compared with that of
Olivier, Alec Guinness and John Gielgud.

Richardson was knighted by King George VI in 1947.
His final film appearence was as the sixth Earl of
Greystoke in the 1983 movie Greystoke - The Legend
of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, for which he was
again nominated for an Academy Award. Sir Ralph
died of a stroke at the age of eighty, and was
interred at Highgate Cemetery.

He was the nephew of the mathematician Lewis Fry
Richardson.

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