Cultural depictions of Richard II of England

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Richard II of England has been depicted in popular culture a number of times.

[edit] Literature

[edit] Television

Richard has been portrayed a number of times on television, mainly in versions of Shakespeare's play. In this context he has been played by:

  • Alan Wheatley in a BBC version, The Tragedy of King Richard II (1950)
  • Maurice Evans in an American version, Richard II (1954)
  • David William in the BBC series An Age of Kings (1960), which contained all the history plays from Richard II to Richard III
  • Hannes Messemer in a West German version, König Richard II (1968)
  • Ian McKellen in another BBC version, The Tragedy of King Richard II (1970)
  • Tamás Jordán in a Hungarian version, II. Richárd (1976)
  • Derek Jacobi in the BBC Shakespeare version, King Richard the Second (1978)
  • Michael Pennington in the BBC series The Wars of the Roses (1989), which included all of Shakespeare's history plays performed by the English Shakespeare Company
  • Aleksandr Romantsov in a Russian version, Richard Vtoroi (1992)
  • Fiona Shaw in a British TV film, Richard II (1997)
  • Michael Maertens in another German version, Richard II (2001)
  • Mark Rylance in another BBC film, Richard II (2003), broadcast live from the Globe Theatre in London

Richard has also been played on television by:

  • Andrew Osborn in a BBC adaptation of Richard of Bordeaux (1938)
  • Peter Cushing in another BBC adaptation of Richard of Bordeaux (1955)
  • Roger Allam in a BBC film, Henry IV (1995), a version of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1

[edit] Video

  • Richard was played by Mattie Osian in a straight-to-video film adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard the Second (2001).
  • David Birney played him in an American video Richard II (1982), which was intended to simulate an Elizabethan stage production of the play.