Richard Timothy Smith. known professionally as Richard O'Brien, is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, composer, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...

'' in 1973, which has remained in continuous production. He also co-wrote the screenplay along with director

Jim Sharman James David Sharman (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director from the 1960s to the present, and is b ...

for the film adaptation, ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 Musical film, musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White (producer), Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman an ...

'' (1975), and appeared on-screen as Riff Raff; the film became an international success and has received a large

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic ...

. O'Brien co-wrote the musical '' Shock Treatment'' (1981) and appeared in the film as Dr. Cosmo McKinley. O'Brien presented four series of the television game show '' The Crystal Maze'' (1990–1993) for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. He played the voice role of Lawrence Fletcher in the Disney Channel animated series ''

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast a ...

'' (2007–2015), as well as its two films (2011 and 2020). His other acting credits include ''Flash Gordon'' (1980), '' Robin of Sherwood'' (1985), ''

Ever After ''Ever After'' (known in promotional material as ''Ever After: A Cinderella Story'') is a 1998 American romantic period drama film inspired by the Charles Perrault fairy tale, "Cinderella". It is directed by Andy Tennant and stars Drew Barrymor ...

'' (1998), ''Dark City'' (1998), ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (2000), and '' Jackboots on Whitehall'' (2010). After a long and successful career based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, O'Brien gained

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

in 2011, where he resided in

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

. O’Brien identifies as

third gender Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usuall ...

and uses he/him pronouns.

Early life

O'Brien was born Richard Timothy Smith in Cheltenham,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. He emigrated with his family to

, at the age of 10, where his accountant father had purchased a sheep farm. He went to Tauranga Boys' College. He returned to England in 1964, after having learned how to ride horses (a skill which provided him with his break into the film industry as a

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

in '' Carry On Cowboy'') and developing a keen interest in

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

s and

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

s. He launched his acting career using his maternal grandmother's name, as there was already an actor named Richard Smith. He says that his time in New Zealand instilled him with a sense of egalitarianism and gave him "a great sense of freedom".

Career

To improve his acting skills, O'Brien took method acting classes, and then joined several stage productions as an actor. In 1970, he went into the touring production of '' Hair'' for nine months, and spent another nine months in the London production. In the summer of 1972, he met director

who cast him as an Apostle and Leper in the London production of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

''. Sharman then cast O'Brien as Willie, the alien in his March 1973 production of

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any writ ...

's ''The Unseen Hand'' at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal ...

Upstairs. Sharman also helped make O'Brien's draft of a

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-themed, schlock-horror comic-book fantasy romp into a reality. Sharman suggested changing the working title from ''They Came from Denton High'', and ''

'' opened at the Theatre Upstairs in June 1973. Within weeks it had become a box-office hit, moving from the Royal Court to the Classic Cinema, a cinema up for demolition on the

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

, then to the King's Road Theatre (formerly a cinema known as the Essoldo) and eventually into the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

at the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

. After seeing the second night's performance of ''The Rocky Horror Show'' in the Theatre Upstairs,

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

produced the original cast soundtrack in just over 48 hours during an off-stage weekend, and rushed it out on his UK Records label. He also became a 20% backer with producer Michael White, who put up the remaining 80%. During this period, O'Brien and his wife Kimi Wong recorded and released pop singles under the name

Kimi and Ritz Kimi and Ritz were a short-lived English pop vocal duo in the early 1970s, comprising Richard O'Brien (best known as the creator of cult stage musical ''The Rocky Horror Show'') and his then-wife, Kimi Wong. Although the duo only recorded six song ...

Later career

O'Brien continued writing musicals with arranger Richard Hartley, including: ''T. Zee'' (1976), ''Disaster'' (1978), ''The Stripper'' (1982 – based on the Carter Brown novel and produced in Australia), and ''Top People'' (1984). O'Brien and Hartley also provided three songs for the film ''

The Return of Captain Invincible ''The Return of Captain Invincible'' is a 1983 Australian superhero musical comedy film directed by Philippe Mora, and starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee. It was a box office disappointment on release but has become a cult film since then. ...

'' (1983), starring

Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...

. O'Brien wrote his one-man revue ''Disgracefully Yours'' (1985) singing as Mephistopheles Smith. O'Brien has appeared in ''

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...

'' (1977), ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established '' Buck Rogers'' ad ...

'' (1980), '' Dark City'' (1998), ''

'' (1998) and ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...

'' (2000), among others. Additionally he guest starred in five episodes in the third series of the HTV dramatisation of '' Robin of Sherwood'', as the corrupt

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Wh ...

Gulnar. A music CD of the songs from ''Disgracefully Yours'' entitled ''Absolute O'Brien'' was released in 1998. He became the presenter of UK

's game show '' The Crystal Maze'' in 1990, specialising in sardonic put-downs, occasional eccentricities and playing his

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

at random intervals. The show ran from 1990 to 1995, with O'Brien presenting the first four series. It was regularly Channel 4's highest-rated programme, reaching a peak of 7 million viewers for the 1993 Christmas special. O'Brien left ''The Crystal Maze'' in 1993 after the fourth series; the show was then taken over by Edward Tudor-Pole. After two series without O'Brien, the show was cancelled. In other roles, O'Brien has conceptualised and played the role of the Child Catcher in the West End theatre production of ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film sta ...

''. He also occasionally performs

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

-style music and comedy on stages around the world, singing songs from ''Rocky Horror'' among others. In 1995, he performed a select number of shows as the devilish charmer Mephistopheles Smith in a musical/comedy show he wrote entitled ''Disgracefully Yours'', to which he later gave permission to be adapted into a musical, first by Eubank Productions for the Kansas City Fringe Fest in 2006, and more recently by Janus Theatre Company for the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

2007, simply entitled ''Mephistopheles Smith''. In late 2005, he appeared (as the spirit of the mirror) in the pantomime version of ''

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as ...

'', which played at the Milton Keynes Theatre. In the summer of 2006, he played the Child Catcher in the Queen's 80th birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace. O'Brien performed in ''Thank-You for the Music'', a 90-minute

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

documentary for ITV, directed by Martin Koch, who previously directed the musical ''

Mamma Mia! 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 ...

'' The documentary included a remake of the mini musical '"The Girl with the Golden Hair" which ABBA performed during their 1977 world tour and featured on '' ABBA: The Album'' (also 1977). The musical was performed at the Prince of Wales Theatre and featured O'Brien, Liz McClarnon and the Dynamos. He also hosted the 1993

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

. A patron of the Five Stars Scanner Appeal, which benefits the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. From 2001 to 2006 he hosted the annual Transfandango, gala gathering of ''Dearhearts and Trans 'n' Gentle People'' to raise money for the hospital. This has since been superseded by ''Richard O'Brien's Halloween Party''. A script for another rumoured sequel entitled ''

Revenge of the Old Queen Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." ...

'' of ''Rocky Horror'', has been circulated on the web and reproduced on various fan sites, although it has been officially denied as O'Brien's work by his representatives. While he has worked on a screenplay by that title, it was never publicly released. He wrote the lyrics for ''The Stripper'' (based on the book by Carter Brown), a musical which had its British premiere at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch (London) on 28 August 2009. In 2004, members of the Hamilton City Council in

honoured O'Brien's contribution to the arts with a statue of Riff Raff, the character he played in ''The Rocky Horror Show'', on the site of the former Embassy Cinema. Richard O'Brien cropped

In September 2007, he reprised his role as the Child Catcher for the final two weeks of the five year British run of ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. He then played the role in its

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

engagement for the month of November, extended to 9 December. Also in December, he visited

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the count ...

for ''An Evening With Richard O'Brien'', with presenter Mark Sainsbury and director

Fiona Jackson Fiona Jackson (born 29 July) is a filmmaker currently based in New Zealand. Born in Bath, England, Jackson moved to California in 1993 where she began her career in the film industry as a stunt performer and assistant for film, television and b ...

. In December 2008, O'Brien donated his original script ''Pig in Boots'' to the Wireless Theatre Company, who converted it into an audio pantomime. The show was recorded live at the Headliners Comedy Club in front of a studio audience with live FX and music. The production was opened by an original interview with O'Brien. In October 2012, O'Brien judged "Stage Fright" with the Wireless Theatre Company as part of the London Horror Festival and performed an acoustic set of Rocky Horror songs. In March 2012, he gave a performance of song and autobiographical stories, ''It's Party Time with Richard O'Brien'' at the Hamilton Founders Theatre to celebrate his 70th birthday. In June 2012, he returned to Hamilton, New Zealand, to appear on stage as Fagin with the Hamilton Operatic Society's production of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before ...

'' at the Founders Theatre. O'Brien appeared in 2015 in ''

'' in the

in a limited 11-performance run. In September 2016 O'Brien opened the second stage Embassy Park in Hamilton together with Mayor

Julie Hardaker Julie Hardaker was the Mayor of Hamilton, New Zealand, from October 2010 to October 2016. Born in New Zealand, she was self-employed in Australia in the 1980s. After graduating from the University of Waikato, she joined the Hamilton law firm McC ...

. In October 2016, he appeared as the Crystal Maze Computer in a one-off ''Celebrity Crystal Maze'' episode for the charity 'Stand Up To Cancer' on Channel 4.

Personal life

In a 2009 interview, O'Brien spoke about an ongoing struggle to reconcile cultural

gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cen ...

s and described himself as

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

or "of a

". O'Brien stated, "There is a continuum between male and female. Some are hard-wired one way or another, I’m in between." He expounded on this in a 2013 interview where he talked about using

estrogen Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal a ...

for the previous decade, and that he views himself as 70% male and 30% female. In 2017, O'Brien caused controversy when he said that he supported the statements of

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literatu ...

and Barry Humphries that transgender women are not real women. He offered his sympathy to the trans community. In a 2020 interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', O'Brien was reported as stating: "I think anybody who decides to take the huge step with a sex change deserves encouragement and a thumbs-up. As long as they’re happy and fulfilled, I applaud them to my very last day. But you can’t ever become a natural woman". In June 2010, the media reported that O'Brien had been denied New Zealand citizenship owing to his being too old under the country's immigration criteria. He commented, "They build a statue of me and celebrate me as a New Zealander, but I have to go on my knees and do all sorts of things, and I'm probably too old." O'Brien's application appeared to garner public support and the decision was later overturned on appeal. In August 2010, New Zealand's '' Dominion Post'' reported that O'Brien would be allowed residency and possibly citizenship as an "exceptional" case. According to the ''

Waikato Times The ''Waikato Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Hamilton, New Zealand and owned by media business Stuff Ltd. It has a circulation to the greater Waikato region and became a tabloid paper in 2018. The newspaper has won the title of Ne ...

'', he was officially registered as a New Zealand citizen on 14 December 2011. On 16 August 2010, he appeared on an episode of '' Celebrity Cash in the Attic'', where he donated the takings from his sale of memorabilia to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. O'Brien has been married three times and has three children. He and actress Kimi Wong were married on 4 December 1971 and had a son Linus in May 1972. He has a son and daughter from his second marriage to designer Jane Moss. On 7 July 2012, aged 70, he proposed to Sabrina Graf, aged 35, a native of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, whom he had been dating for three years. They married on 6 April 2013 at their home in Katikati, Bay of Plenty.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

Discography

Singles

* "Merry Christmas Baby" (

) (1973) * "Eddie" (Richard O'Brien) (1973) * "Merry Christmas Baby (DJ version)" (Kimi and Ritz) – Epic Records (1974) * "I was in love with Danny (but the crowd was in love with Dean)" (Kimi and Ritz) (1974) * "Pseud's Corner" (Richard O'Brien) (1975) * "Liebesträume" (

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

/Richard O'Brien) (performed by Kimi and Ritz) (1975) * "There's a Light" (Kimi and Ritz) (1975)

Albums

* ''Absolute O'brien'' (1999) ( Oglio Records)

Soundtracks and cast recordings

* ''

'' (Original London cast) (1973) * ''

'' (1975) * '' Shock Treatment'' (1981)

Awards and nominations

Awards

* 1998: Berlin International Film Festival Award - Special Teddy (for ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'') * 2000: Gaylactic Spectrum Award (for ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'')

Nominations

* 1974:

Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award is generally given to the album producer, principal vocalist(s), and the composer and lyricist if they have written a new score which comprises 51% or more play ...

(for ''The Rocky Horror Show'') * 1999: Fangoria Chainsaw Award - Best Supporting Actor (for ''Dark City'') * 2001: Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (for ''The Rocky Horror Show'')2001 Tony Awards
broadwayworld.com, accessed April 28, 2011

References

External links

* *
Richard O'Brien at RockyMusic.org
*
RiffRaffStatue.org
for the tribute statue in Hamilton, New Zealand
Pig In Boots
Richard O'Brien's Pig in Boots – Audio Pantomime produced by The Wireless Theatre Company {{Authority control Genderqueer people Living people English male film actors English television presenters English male television actors English male voice actors Male actors from Gloucestershire Musicians from Gloucestershire People from Cheltenham English LGBT actors LGBT composers English LGBT musicians British LGBT singers English LGBT writers English emigrants to New Zealand Naturalised citizens of New Zealand Male-to-female cross-dressers Non-binary writers Non-binary musicians British non-binary actors Non-binary voice actors