Tony Richardson

Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, 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 British New Wave filmmaking movement.

His films ''Look Back in Anger'' (1959), '' The Entertainer'' (1960), '' A Taste of Honey'' (1961), and '' The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'' (1962) 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.

Early life

Richardson was born in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1928 to Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist, and his wife, Elsie Evans (née Campion). 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 (the ETC), in addition to being the theatre critic for the university magazine ''Isis''. Those he cast in his student productions included Shirley Williams (as Cordelia), 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."Giraudoux Play on Television 'The Apollo of Bellac'", ''The Times'', 13 August 1955 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'' (also 1955) 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'' (1959), his first feature film. '' The Entertainer'' (1960), '' A Taste of Honey'' (1961), and '' The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'' (1962), 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 (Best Director and Best Picture) for '' Tom Jones'' (1963) 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'' (1965), 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 (adapting Vladimir Nabokov) and Edward Albee. Richardson and Osborne eventually fell out during production of the film ''Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1968). 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 (p. 195), 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'' (1966) 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'' (1968) was part epic and part animated feature. ''Ned Kelly'' (1970) was what might be called an Aussie-western. '' Laughter in the Dark'' (1969) and '' A Delicate Balance'' (1973) were psycho-dramas. ''Joseph Andrews'' (1977), 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 (never produced) with Sam Shepard, and took up residence there. Later that year, he began work on ''Mahogany'' (1975), 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'' (1984), 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'' (1994), 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

Richardson was married to English actress Vanessa Redgrave from 1962 to 1967. The couple had two daughters, Natasha (1963–2009) and Joely (born 1965), then he 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, p.233

Death

Richardson was bisexual. He died of complications from AIDS on 14 November 1991 at the age of 63.

Filmography

Film

Short film

Feature film

Television

TV movies

TV series

Theatre

''sources: Adler; Little & McLaughlin; Richardson''

Bibliography

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References

External links

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BFI: Tony Richardson

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Tony
1928 births
1991 deaths
20th-century English businesspeople
20th-century English LGBTQ people
20th-century English memoirists
20th-century English screenwriters
Actors from Shipley, West Yorkshire
AIDS-related deaths in California
Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford
Best British Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Directing Academy Award winners
Bisexual businesspeople
Bisexual male writers
Bisexual memoirists
Bisexual screenwriters
British LGBTQ film directors
British people of English descent
Directors Guild of America Award winners
Directors of Best Picture Academy Award winners
English bisexual male actors
English bisexual writers
English film directors
English film producers
English LGBTQ businesspeople
English LGBTQ screenwriters
English television directors
English television producers
English theatre directors
LGBTQ film producers
LGBTQ theatre directors
Male actors from West Yorkshire
People educated at Ashville College
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
Redgrave family
Writers from West Yorkshire