Richard O'Sullivan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard O'Sullivan (born May 7, 1944 in Chiswick, Middlesex) is an English actor, notable for his sitcom roles in the 1970s and 1980s.
After a family holiday in Ireland as a boy, O'Sullivan returned with a strong Irish accent and was sent to stage school to try to get rid of it, thus starting a distinguished acting career. He appeared in his first film at the age of eight.
His earliest recognised work was the film It's Great to be Young! where he appeared alongside John Mills. He also starred in Carry On Teacher but did not join the Carry On team for further movies.
In the early 1960s he appeared in two Cliff Richard films: The Young Ones, and Wonderful Life. O'Sullivan also had a small part in the film Cleopatra.
For the rest of the 1960s he was a jobbing actor until he was offered the major role of Dr. Lawrence Bingham in the "Doctor in the House" series ("Doctor at Large" and "Doctor in Charge"). In 1972, he was a main role in Alcock and Gander, and his comic timing was such that he was offered the lead role in sitcom Man About the House, written by the same writers as Alcock and Gander, in 1973, which made him a household name.
Three years later, he reprised his role as Robin Tripp when Man About the House (with Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce, Brian Murphy and Doug Fisher) came to a natural end and the writers conceived a spin-off called Robin's Nest (with Tessa Wyatt), in which Tripp set up a restaurant with his fiancee. Again, this show was a big success and the first UK sitcom to feature an unmarried couple cohabiting. While he was playing a chef he wrote a recipe book, it was published in 1980 and called "Man About The Kitchen".
Spoof chat show host Alan Partridge (real life comedian Steve Coogan) claimed this was his favorite sitcom. During this period he also appeared in adverts for British Gas.
He then took the title role in a TV series based on Dick Turpin and also played the widower in sitcom Me and My Girl (with Tim Brooke-Taylor, Joan Sanderson and Joanne Ridley). In the 1990s his profile decreased although he was rarely short of work.
In recent years, O'Sullivan disappeared from the public eye and was believed to be living a reclusive life. His last appearance on television was as a guest on an episode of This Is Your Life held in honour of his Doctor... co-star George Layton (O' Sullivan had been honoured by the show previously, in 1974).
O'Sullivan fell ill late in 2003. He is now living in Brinsworth House, a retirement home for actors and performers in England, run by the Entertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund. Man About The House and Robin's Nest are regularly repeated on British television.
