Tony Richardson

Cecil Antonio Richardson was an English theatre director and filmmaker, 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 the New Wave">Noël Coward Theatre">New Wave filmmaking movement.
His films Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer, A [Taste of Honey |A Taste of Honey], and The [Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner |The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner] are considered classics of kitchen sink realism. He won the 1964 Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for the film Tom Jones. He was also a two-time BAFTA Award winner, and was twice nominated for the Palme d'Or.
With his wife Vanessa Redgrave, Richardson was the father to actresses Natasha Richardson and Joely Richardson.

Life and career

Early years and education

Richardson was born in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1928 to Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist, and his wife, Elsie Evans. He lived on the edge of Saltaire as a young child and kept grass snakes with his childhood friend Joan Naylor. He was Head Boy at Ashville College, Harrogate and attended Wadham College, University of Oxford. His Oxford contemporaries included Rupert Murdoch, Margaret Thatcher, Kenneth Tynan, Lindsay Anderson and Gavin Lambert. He had the unprecedented distinction of being president of both the Oxford University Dramatic Society and the Experimental Theatre Club, in addition to being the theatre critic for the university magazine Isis. Those he cast in his student productions included Shirley Williams, John Schlesinger, Nigel Davenport and Robert Robinson.

Career

In 1955, in his directing debut, Richardson produced Jean Giraudoux's The Apollo of Bellac for television with Denholm Elliott and Natasha Parry in the main roles. Around the same time he began to be active in Britain's Free Cinema movement, co-directing the non-fiction short Momma Don't Allow with Karel Reisz.
Part of the British "New Wave" of directors, he was involved in the formation of the English Stage Company, along with his close friend George Goetschius and George Devine. He directed John Osborne's play Look Back in Anger at the Royal Court Theatre, and in the same period he directed Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon. Then in 1957 he directed Laurence Olivier as Archie Rice in Osborne's next play The Entertainer, again for the Royal Court.
In 1959, Richardson co-founded Woodfall Film Productions with John Osborne and producer Harry Saltzman, and, as Woodfall's debut, directed the film version of Look Back in Anger, his first feature film. The Entertainer, A Taste of Honey, and The Loneliness of the [Long Distance Runner |The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner], based on the novel by Alan Sillitoe, also were produced by Woodfall.
Many of Richardson's films, such as A Taste of Honey and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, were part of the acclaimed kitchen sink realism movement popular in Britain at the time, and several of his films continue to be held as cornerstones of the movement.
In 1964, Richardson received two Academy Awards for Tom Jones based on the novel by Henry Fielding. In the same year he also joined the Who Killed Kennedy? committee set up by Bertrand Russell.
His next film was The Loved One, in which he worked with established stars, including John Gielgud, Rod Steiger and Robert Morse, and worked in Hollywood both on location and on the sound stage. In his autobiography, he confesses that he did not share the general admiration of Haskell Wexler, who worked on The Loved One as both director of photography and a producer.
Among stars that Richardson directed were Jeanne Moreau, Orson Welles, Rob Lowe, Milton Berle, Trevor Howard, David Hemmings, Nicol Williamson, Tom Courtenay, Lynn Redgrave, Marianne Faithfull, Richard Burton, Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Mick Jagger, Katharine Hepburn, Seth Green, Tommy Lee Jones and Judi Dench. His musical composers included Antoine Duhamel, John Addison and Shel Silverstein. His screenwriters were Jean Genet, Christopher Isherwood, Terry Southern, Marguerite Duras, Edward Bond and Edward Albee. Richardson and Osborne eventually fell out during production of the film Charge of the Light Brigade |Charge of the Light Brigade]. 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, he writes that Osborne was angry at being replaced in a small role by Laurence 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 play The Hotel in Amsterdam.
Richardson's work was stylistically varied. Mademoiselle 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 was part epic and part animated feature. Ned Kelly was what might be called an Aussie-western. Laughter [in the Dark |Laughter in the Dark] and A Delicate Balance were psycho-dramas. Joseph Andrews, based on another novel by Henry Fielding, was a return to the mood of Tom Jones.
In 1970, Richardson was set to direct a film about Vaslav Nijinsky with a script by Edward Albee. It was to have starred Rudolf Nureyev as Nijinsky, Claude Jade as Romola and Paul Scofield as Diaghilev, but producer Harry Saltzman cancelled the project during pre-production.
In 1974, he travelled to Los Angeles to work on a script with Sam Shepard, and took up residence there. Later that year, he began work on Mahogany, starring Diana Ross, but was fired by Motown head Berry Gordy shortly after production began, owing to creative differences.
He wrote and directed the comedy-drama The [Hotel New Hampshire |The Hotel New Hampshire], based on John Irving's novel of the same name and starring Jodie Foster, Beau Bridges and Rob 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, was not released for nearly three years after he died. Jessica Lange won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the film.
In 1966, Richardson is alleged to have financed the escape from Wormwood Scrubs prison of the spy and double agent George Blake.

Personal life and death

Richardson was married to English actress Vanessa Redgrave from 1962 to 1967. The couple had two daughters, Natasha and Joely. Richardson then left Redgrave for French actress and singer Jeanne Moreau. In 1972, he had a relationship with Grizelda Grimond, who was a secretary for Richardson's former business partner Oscar Lewenstein and the daughter of British politician Jo Grimond. Grizelda Grimond gave birth to his daughter, Katherine Grimond, on 8 January 1973.
Richardson was bisexual. He died of complications from AIDS on 14 November 1991 at the age of 63.

Works

Film

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
1955	Momma Don't Allow			Co-directed with Karel Reisz
1967	Red and Blue			Segment of Red, White and Zero
1990	Hills Like White Elephants			Segment of Women & Men: Stories of Seduction

Feature film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1959	Look Back in Anger
1960	The Entertainer
1960	Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
1961	Sanctuary
1961	A Taste of Honey
1962	The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
1963	Tom Jones				Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Director
1964	Girl with Green Eyes
1965	The Loved One
1966	Mademoiselle
1967	The Sailor from Gibraltar
1968	The Charge of the Light Brigade
1969	Laughter in the Dark
1969	Hamlet
1970	Ned Kelly
1973	A Delicate Balance
1974	Dead Cert
1975	Mahogany				Uncredited; replaced by Berry Gordy
1977	Joseph Andrews
1982	The Border
1984	The Hotel New Hampshire
1994	Blue Sky

Television

TV movies

Year	Title	Director	Producer
1952	The Sound of Stillness
1954	Parliament of Science
1955	It Should Happen to a Dog
1955	Mr. Kettle and Mrs. Moon
1955	Othello
1956	The Gambler
1978	A Death in Canaan
1986	Penalty Phase
1988	Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun

TV series

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Notes
1952	Happy and Glorious			6 episodes
1953	Wednesday Theatre			Episodes "Curtain Down" and "Box for One"
1955	You Know What People Are			6 episodes
1955	Appointment with Drama			Episodes "The Rivals", "The Birthday Present", "Absence of Mind" and "The Apollo of Bellac"
1955	BBC Sunday-Night Theatre			Episodes "Markheim", "The Makepeace Story #1: The Ruthless Destiny", "The Makepeace Story #2: A New Generation" and "The Makepeace Story #3: Family Business"
1956	Tales from Soho			6 episodes
1956	ITV Play of the Week			Episode Look Back in Anger
1957	Theatre Night			Episode The Member of the Wedding
1960	BBC Sunday-Night Play			Episode A Subject of Scandal and Concern
1990	The [Phantom of the Opera \|The Phantom of the Opera]			2 episodes

Theatre

sources: Adler; Little & McLaughlin; Richardson

Year	Play	House	City	Run
1954	The Changeling	Wyndham's	London	1 performance
1955	The Country Wife	Theatre Royal Stratford East	London	3 weeks
1955	Mr Kettle & Mrs Moon	Duchess	London
1956	The Mulberry Bush	Royal Court	London
1956	The Crucible	Royal Court	London
1956	Look Back in Anger	Royal Court	London	151 performances
1956	Cards of Identity	Royal Court	London
1957	Look Back in Anger	John Golden, Lyceum	New York	1 year
1957	Look Back in Anger		Moscow
1957	The Member of the Wedding	Royal Court	London
1957	The Entertainer	Royal Court	London	4 weeks
1957	The Apollo of Bellac	Royal Court	London
1957	The Chairs	Royal Court	London
1957	The Entertainer	Palace	London	6 months
1957	The Making of Moo	Royal Court	London
1957	Requiem for a Nun	Royal Court	London
1958	The Entertainer	Royale	New York
1958	The Chairs & The Lesson	Phoenix	New York	17 performances
1958	Flesh to a Tiger	Royal Court	London
1958	Pericles	Shakespeare Memorial Theatre	Stratford-on-Avon
1959	Othello	Shakespeare Memorial Theatre	Stratford-on-Avon
1959	Orpheus Descending	Royal Court	London
1959	Look After Lulu!	Royal Court	London	45 performances
1959	Look After Lulu!	New	London	5 months
1960	A Taste of Honey		Los Angeles
1960	A Taste of Honey	Booth, Lyceum	New York	376 performances
1961	The Changeling	Royal Court	London
1961	Luther	Royal Court	London	28 performances
1961	Luther	Phoenix	London	239 performances
1962	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Royal Court	London	29 performances
1962	Semi-Detached	Saville	London
1963	Natural Affection	Booth	New York	31 performances
1963	Luther	Lunt-Fontanne, St. James	New York	6 months
1963	Semi-Detached	Music Box	New York	12 performances
1963	Arturo Ui	Lunt-Fontanne	New York	8 performances
1964	The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore	Brooks Atkinson	New York	5 performances
1964	The Seagull	Queen's Theatre	London
1964	St Joan of the Stockyards	Queen's Theatre	London	3 weeks
1969	Hamlet	Roundhouse	London	10 weeks
1969	Hamlet	Lunt-Fontanne	New York	52 performances
1972	The Threepenny Opera	Prince of Wales	London
1972	I, Claudius	Queen's Theatre	London
1972	Anthony and Cleopatra	Bankside Globe Playhouse	London
1976	The Lady from the Sea	Circle in the Square Theatre	New York
1979	As You Like It	Center Theatre	Long Beach
1983	Toyer	Kennedy Center	Washington
1984	Dreamhouse	L.A. Stage Co.	Hollywood

Awards and nominations

Accolades for Richardson's directed features

Directed Academy Award Performances

Under Richardson's direction, these actors have received Oscar nominations for their performances in these respective roles.