Don Richardson (April 30, 1918 – January 10, 1996) was an American actor, director, acting teacher, as well as an author.

Career

Richardson was an original member of the Group Theatre, which was the nucleus of Acting in the United States. His fellow Group Theatre members included

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Grou ...

, Stella Adler, and

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...

, although Richardson was the only student who said, "The Method isn’t what acting is about." Richardson directed three Broadway productions and over 800 television shows, including ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...

'' (TV series) (1965), '' One Day at a Time'' (TV series) (1975–1976), ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...

'' (TV series) (1966–1968), '' The Defenders'' (TV series) (1961–1963), and ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...

'' (TV series) (1968–1971). His work remains in the permanent collection of The Museum of Broadcasting,

The Jewish Museum of New York The Jewish Museum is an art museum and repository of cultural artifacts, housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in the former Felix M. Warburg House, along Museum Mile on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The first Jewish museum in the Unit ...

, and

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the a ...

. Richardson taught acting at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, Colombia’s

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

and

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

in New York and California. He was awarded a professorship at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

in Israel. As an acting coach, he wrote and published the book ''Acting Without Agony: An Alternative to the Method'', which is still used today by his successors. Richardson's students include

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

Anne Bancroft Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two ...

Zero Mostel Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and on ...

, and

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...

Personal life

Richardson had a two-year relationship with his student

which began in the Autumn of 1948, despite the disapproval of her parents.

Filmography

Directing credits

*'' The Oregon Trail'' (TV series) (1977) *'' One Day at a Time'' (TV series) (1975–1976) *''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situa ...

'' (TV series) (1974) *'' Arnie'' (TV series) (1970–1972) *''

'' (TV series) (1968–1971) *''

Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the ...

'' (TV series) (1968–1970) *''

The High Chaparral ''The High Chaparral'' television series, which was broadcast on NBC from 1967 to 1971, is an American Western action adventure drama set in the 1870s. It stars Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell. The series was made by Xanadu Productions ...

'' (TV series) (1969–1970) *'' Mission: Impossible'' (TV series) (1968) *''

'' (TV series) (1966–1968) *'' Custer'' (TV series) (1967) *''Vacation Playhouse'' (TV series) (1966) *'' The Long, Hot Summer'' (TV series) (1965–66) *''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

'' (TV series) (1965) *'' The Virginian'' (TV series) (1964–65) *''

'' (TV series) (1965) *''

Broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

'' (TV series) (1965) *'' The Defenders'' (TV series) (1961–1963) *''

The Doctors and the Nurses ''The Nurses'' is a serialized primetime medical drama that was broadcast in the United States on CBS from September 27, 1962, to May 11, 1965. For the third and final season, the title was expanded to ''The Doctors and the Nurses'' and it ran un ...

'' (TV series) (1962–1963) *'' Sam Benedict'' (TV series) (1963) *'' Margie'' (TV series) (1961–1962) *''The Chevy Mystery Show'' (TV series) (1960) *'' Play of the Week'' (TV series) (1959–1960) *''Don Juan in Hell'' (TV movie) (1960) *''Lullaby'' (TV movie) (1960) *''The World of Sholom Aleichem'' (TV movie) (as Donald Richardson) (1959) *''The Elgin Hour'' (TV series) (1954–1955) *''

Mama Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent * Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places * Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlemen ...

'' (TV series) (1955) *''

Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The U.S. Steel Hour''. It fi ...

'' (TV series) (1954) *'' The Motorola Television Hour'' (TV series) (1953–1954) *'' Kraft Theatre'' (TV series) (1953) *'' The Adventures of Ellery Queen'' (TV series) (1950–1952)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Don 1918 births 1996 deaths Male actors from New York City American television directors American acting coaches 20th-century American male actors