Richard O'Brien
| Richard O'Brien | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Richard Smith 25 March 1942 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Occupation | Actor, writer, broadcaster, voice actor, theatre performer |
| Citizenship | British and New Zealand |
| Period | 1965–present |
| Notable works |
The Rocky Horror Show (Writer and Actor) Robin of Sherwood (Series 3, as Gulnar) The Crystal Maze (Presenter) Phineas and Ferb (Voice of Lawrence Fletcher) |
| Spouse | Kimi Wong (m. 1971–19??, divorced) Jane Moss (m. 1983–2006, divorced) Sabrina Graf (m. 2013–present) |
| Children | Linus O'Brien, Amelia O'Brien and Joshua O'Brien |
| Website | |
| www |
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Richard O'Brien (born Richard Smith; 25 March 1942) is an English actor, television presenter, writer and theatre performer. He was born in England, and is a dual citizen of New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
O'Brien wrote the musical stage show The Rocky Horror Show, which has remained in almost continuous production. He also co-wrote the screenplay of the film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show released in 1975, appearing in the film as Riff Raff. O'Brien also appeared in the hugely popular ITV series Robin of Sherwood in 1986, as Gulnar, alongside Jason Connery. He presented the television show The Crystal Maze for Channel 4 from 1990 to 1993 and is the voice of Lawrence Fletcher, the title characters' father in Phineas and Ferb.
O'Brien was born Richard Smith in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. In 1951, O'Brien emigrated with his family to Tauranga, New Zealand, where his father had purchased a sheep farm. He returned to England in 1964, after learning how to ride horses (a skill which provided him with his break into the film industry as a stuntman in Carry On Cowboy) and developing a keen interest in comic books and horror films. He launched his acting career using his maternal grandmother's name, as there was already an actor named Richard Smith.
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 Jim Sharman who cast him as an Apostle and Leper in the London production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Sharman then cast O'Brien as Willie, the alien in his March 1973 production of Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs.
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