Richard Ainley (22 December 1910 – 18 May 1967) was a British stage and film

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Biography

He was born in Middlesex, England, the son of

Henry Ainley Henry Hinchliffe Ainley (21 August 1879 – 31 October 1945) was an English actor. Life and career Early years Ainley was born in Morley, West Yorkshire, Morley, near Leeds, on 21 August 1879, the only son and eldest child of Richard Ainley (18 ...

and a half-brother of

Anthony Ainley Anthony Ainley (20 August 1932 – 3 May 2004) was a British actor. He was the fourth actor to portray The Master (Doctor Who), the Master in ''Doctor Who''. Early life Ainley was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, the son of the actor Henry Ainley ...

. Ainley made his stage debut in 1928, initially using the stage name Richard Riddle, taking his mother's maiden name. His American debut came in ''Foreigners'' at the Belasco Theater in 1939. His first motion picture appearance was in 1936 as Sylvius in ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'', in which his father also appeared. Other roles included Ferdinand in the television movie of ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' (1939), Dr. Hale in '' Shining Victory'' (1941), and a

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

official in the thriller '' Above Suspicion'' (1943). Ainley married three times, firstly to actress Ethel Glendinning. He was divorced from his first two wives; his third wife Rowena Woolf died in 1968. He retired from film work following a disabling wound received while he was serving in the army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to return to the stage. He was briefly principal of the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...

in the early 1960s.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Richard Ainley (1910-1967), Actor
from the

National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom) The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

1910 births 1967 deaths British Army soldiers English male stage actors English male film actors English male television actors Actors from the London Borough of Harrow British Army personnel of World War II 20th-century English male actors Military personnel from the London Borough of Harrow People from Stanmore {{England-actor-stub