Richard Easton


John Richard Easton was a Canadian stage, television and film actor. Easton began his career with Ottawa's Canadian Repertory Theatre, followed by a long career on the stage at the Crest Theatre, Stratford Festival, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, in various Broadway theatre roles, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Renaissance Theatre Company. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Brian Hammond in the 1970s BBC serial The Brothers.

Life and career

Easton was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of Mary Louise and Leonard Idell Easton, a civil engineer. He started acting in a children's theatre group. He played Hamlet in high school and studied with Eleanor Stuart. He made his professional acting debut with the Brae Manor Playhouse in 1947. In 1951, at the age of seventeen, he moved to Ottawa to join the Canadian Repertory Theatre. In 1953, he joined the Stratford Festival in its inaugural season and inaugural production of Richard III.
From 1956 through 1958, Easton appeared in six Crest Theatre stage productions in Toronto.
His first appearance in New York came in 1957 in an off-Broadway production by the Phoenix Theatre. He next appeared at the Stratford, Connecticut Shakespeare Festival. He appeared with the APA Repertory in 1961 in Hamlet, Exit the King in 1967 and The Misanthrope in 1969.
From 1972 to 1976, Easton appeared as Brian Hammond in the 1970s BBC serial The Brothers. He also had television guest appearances on Doctor Who, L.A. Law, Frasier, and Ed.
After The Brothers, Easton worked in British repertory theatre, leading to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company until 1986, when he joined the Renaissance Theatre Company. With the Renaissance company he played Jaques in As You Like It and Claudius in Hamlet.
In 2001, Easton won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actor in Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love.
In 2002, Easton starred in the title role in a three-part documentary, Benjamin Franklin, on PBS.
Between 2005 and 2011, Easton again appeared as Benjamin Franklin in a series of commercials and videos about Freemasonry, produced for the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts A.F. & A.M.
On October 18, 2006, while performing Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia on stage during the show's second preview at the Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater, Easton suffered a heart attack and collapsed. His heart stopped beating, but after co-star Martha Plimpton realized that Easton's fall was serious and asked the audience if a doctor was present, a stagehand stepped up to perform CPR. An ambulance was called and Easton was revived with defibrillation. He underwent a procedure to correct a heart arrhythmia, briefly delaying the opening of the play, in which he played a central role. He made a full recovery and returned to the play soon after the incident.
In 2008, Easton was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
In 2011, Easton made a guest appearance in the second season of Boardwalk Empire, appearing as Jackson Parkhurst in the episode "Gimcrack & Bunkum".
One of his last notable appearances in media was as the voice of Nigel, the eccentric celebrity fanatic in the game Grand Theft Auto V.
Easton died on December 2, 2019, at the age of 86.

Filmography

Stage

Richard III - Sir Thomas Vaughan King Lear - Edgar The School for Scandal The [Italian Straw Hat (play)|The Italian Straw Hat] The Three Sisters Antony and Cleopatra She Stoops to Conquer Salad Days Hamlet - Hamlet Exit the King - Berenger The Misanthrope - Alceste Hamlet - Claudius As You Like It - Jaques Hamlet - Claudius The Invention of Love - A. E. Housman, aged 77 Noises Off - Selsdon Mowbray Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 - Henry IV The Coast of Utopia - Alexander Bakunin/Leonty Ibayev/Stanislaw Worcell Elling - Alfons

Awards

YearAwardCategoryFilm/TV Show/PlayResult
2001Tony AwardBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayThe Invention of LoveWon
2001Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Actor in a PlayWon