Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and playwrights during the 1950s, and was later a key figure in theBritish New Wave filmmaking movement.^[1]

His filmsLook Back in Anger (1959),The Entertainer (1960),A Taste of Honey (1961), andThe Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) are considered classics ofkitchen sink realism.^[1] He won the 1964Academy Awards forBest Director andBest Picture for the filmTom Jones. He was also a two-timeBAFTA Award winner, and was twice nominated for thePalme d'Or.

With his wifeVanessa Redgrave, Richardson was the father to actressesNatasha Richardson andJoely Richardson.

Richardson was born inShipley, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1928 to Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist, and his wife, Elsie Evans (née Campion). He lived on the edge ofSaltaire as a young child and kept grass snakes with his childhood friend Joan Naylor.^[2] He wasHead Boy atAshville College,Harrogate and attendedWadham College, University of Oxford. His Oxford contemporaries includedRupert Murdoch,Margaret Thatcher,Kenneth Tynan,Lindsay Anderson andGavin Lambert. He had the unprecedented distinction of being president of both theOxford University Dramatic Society and theExperimental Theatre Club (the ETC), in addition to being the theatre critic for the university magazineIsis.^[3] Those he cast in his student productions includedShirley Williams (as Cordelia),John Schlesinger,Nigel Davenport andRobert Robinson.^[4]

In 1955, in his directing debut,^[5] Richardson producedJean Giraudoux'sThe Apollo of Bellac for television withDenholm Elliott andNatasha Parry in the main roles.^[6] Around the same time he began to be active in Britain'sFree Cinema movement, co-directing the non-fiction shortMomma Don't Allow (also 1955) withKarel Reisz.^[7]

Part of theBritish "New Wave" of directors, he was involved in the formation of the English Stage Company, along with his close friend George Goetschius andGeorge Devine. He directedJohn Osborne's playLook Back in Anger at theRoyal Court Theatre, and in the same period he directed Shakespeare inStratford-upon-Avon. Then in 1957 he directedLaurence Olivier as Archie Rice in Osborne's next playThe Entertainer, again for the Royal Court.

In 1959, Richardson co-foundedWoodfall Film Productions withJohn Osborne and producerHarry Saltzman, and, as Woodfall's debut, directed the film version ofLook Back in Anger (1959), his first feature film.The Entertainer (1960),A Taste of Honey (1961), andThe Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), based on the novel byAlan Sillitoe, also were produced by Woodfall.

Many of Richardson's films, such asA Taste of Honey andThe Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, were part of the acclaimedkitchen sink realism movement popular in Britain at the time, and several of his films continue to be held as cornerstones of the movement.^[8][9]

In 1964, Richardson received twoAcademy Awards (Best Director and Best Picture) forTom Jones (1963) based on the novel byHenry Fielding.^[10] In the same year he joined theWho Killed Kennedy Committee? set up byBertrand Russell.^[11]

His next film wasThe Loved One (1965), in which he worked with established stars, includingJohn Gielgud,Rod Steiger andRobert Morse, and worked in Hollywood both on location and on the sound stage.^[12] In his autobiography, he confesses that he did not share the general admiration ofHaskell Wexler, who worked onThe Loved One as bothdirector of photography and a producer.^[13]

Among stars that Richardson directed wereJeanne Moreau,Orson Welles,Rob Lowe,Milton Berle,Trevor Howard,David Hemmings,Nicol Williamson,Tom Courtenay,Lynn Redgrave,Marianne Faithfull,Richard Burton,^[14]Jodie Foster,Anthony Hopkins,Mick Jagger,Katharine Hepburn,Seth Green,Tommy Lee Jones andJudi Dench. His musical composers includedAntoine Duhamel,John Addison andShel Silverstein. His screenwriters wereJean Genet,Christopher Isherwood,Terry Southern,Marguerite Duras,Edward Bond (adaptingVladimir Nabokov) andEdward Albee. Richardson and Osborne eventually fell out^[15] during production of the filmCharge of the Light Brigade (1968). The basic issue was Osborne's unwillingness to go through the rewrite process, more arduous in film than it is in the theatre. Richardson had a different version. In his autobiography (p. 195), he writes that Osborne was angry at being replaced in a small role byLaurence Harvey to whom the producers had obligations. Osborne took literary revenge by creating a fictionalised and pseudonymous Richardson – a domineering and arrogant character whom everyone hated – in his playThe Hotel in Amsterdam.

Richardson's work was stylistically varied.Mademoiselle (1966) was shot noir-style on location in rural France with a static camera,monochrome film stock and no music.The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) was part epic and part animated feature.Ned Kelly (1970) was what might be called an Aussie-western.Laughter in the Dark (1969) andA Delicate Balance (1973) were psycho-dramas.Joseph Andrews (1977), based on another novel by Henry Fielding, was a return to the mood ofTom Jones.

In 1970, Richardson was set to direct a film aboutVaslav Nijinsky with a script by Edward Albee. It was to have starredRudolf Nureyev as Nijinsky,Claude Jade asRomola andPaul Scofield asDiaghilev, but producerHarry Saltzman cancelled the project during pre-production.

In 1974, he travelled to Los Angeles to work on a script (never produced) withSam Shepard, and took up residence there.^[16] Later that year, he began work onMahogany (1975), starringDiana Ross, but was fired byMotown headBerry Gordy shortly after production began, owing to creative differences.

He wrote and directed the comedy-dramaThe Hotel New Hampshire (1984), based onJohn Irving'snovel of the same name and starringJodie Foster,Beau Bridges andRob Lowe. Although it was a box-office failure, the film received a positive critical reception.

Richardson made four more major films before his death. His last,Blue Sky (1994), was not released for nearly three years after he died.Jessica Lange won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the film.^[17]

In 1966, Richardson is alleged to have financed the escape fromWormwood Scrubs prison of the spy anddouble agentGeorge Blake.^[18][19]

Richardson was married to English actressVanessa Redgrave from 1962 to 1967. The couple had two daughters,Natasha (1963–2009) andJoely (born 1965), then he left Redgrave for French actress and singerJeanne Moreau.^[20] In 1972, he had a relationship with Grizelda Grimond, who was a secretary for Richardson's former business partnerOscar Lewenstein, and the daughter of British politicianJo Grimond. Grizelda Grimond gave birth to his daughter, Katherine Grimond, on 8 January 1973.^[21]

In 1964 Richardson joined theWho Killed Kennedy Committee? set up byBertrand Russell.^[22]

Richardson was bisexual, but never acknowledged it publicly until 1985, the same year he contracted HIV.^[23][24][25] He died of complications from AIDS on 14 November 1991 at the age of 63.^[23]

Short film

Feature film

TV movies

TV series

sources: Adler; Little & McLaughlin; Richardson

• Richardson, Tony (1993).The Long Distance Runner: A Memoir. London:Faber and Faber.ISBN 978-0688121013.
• Heilpern, John (2006).John Osborne: A Patriot for Us. London:Chatto & Windus.ISBN 978-0-7011-6780-6.
• Little, Ruth & McLaughlin, Emily (2007).The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out. Oberon Books.ISBN 978-1-84002-763-1.
• Adler, Tim (2012).The House of Redgrave. London: Aurum.ISBN 978-1-84513-623-9.

• Portraits of Tony Richardson at theNational Portrait Gallery, London 
• Tony Richardson atIMDb
• BFI: Tony Richardson