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Cyril Ritchard
Age: 80 (passed away Dec. 18th, 1977)
Height:
Birth Place: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Born: Dec. 31st, 1969
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Cyril Ritchard's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Legendary for his preening, prancing, delightfully playful villain Captain Hook on the award-winning stage (as well as TV) opposite America's musical treasure Mary Martin, beloved musical star Cyril Ritchard had a vast career that would last six decades, but "Peter Pan" would become his prime legacy. Born in Australia just before the turn of the century, he was educated at St. Aloysius College and Sydney University wherein he slyly sidestepped a parentally-guided career in medicine for entertainment, participating in numerous college productions that quickly got him "hooked." He began professionally in the chorus line of The Royal Comic Opera Company and quickly progressed to juvenile leads. A subsequent pairing with the already-established theatre actress Madge Elliott in 1918 proved successful, and the musical twosome eventually married in 1935. Together they would go on to become known as "The Musical Lunts" by their acting peers performing in scores of plays and revues together. Ritchard specialized in playing slick, dandified villains in musical comedy and developed a potent reputation of being a man of many talents. Not only directing and staging Broadway's finest, he became a renown performer of various operas and helmed many productions as such. Shortly before his wife's death of bone cancer in 1955, Ritchard ventured into TV infamy by repeating his Tony and Donaldson award-winning portrayal of Hook. He continued to earn acclaim and/or honors with such classic stage productions as "Visit to a Small Planet" (Tony-nom), "The Pleasure of His Company" (Drama League award, Tony-nom), "The Roar of the Greasepaint...the Smell of the Crowd" (Tony-nom), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Sugar," the musical version of the classic Billy Wilder film "Some Like It Hot" in which Ritchard played the Joe E. Brown role. Lesser regarded when it comes to film, he performed in the early Hitchcock classic Blackmail (1931) and made his last movie with the musical Half a Sixpence (1967) with Tommy Steele. While performing as the Narrator in a stage production of "Side by Side by Sondheim" in November 1977, Ritchard suffered a heart attack and died one month later. A one-of-a-kind talent, his nefarious, narcissitic humor was a career trademark that culminated in the role of a lifetime -- one that will certainly be enjoyed by children young and old for eons to come.
TRIVIA:
- His very first role (in Australia) was in a production of "The Pink Lady" in which he played "the Satyr," a foreshadowing of the devilish merry-making to come.
- When he died in 1977, he was survived by a foster son.
- Staged, and occasionally appeared in, several operas at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, most notably Offenbach's "La Perichole", in which he also appeared as the Viceroy, and Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", in which he played the role of the mute servant, Ambroggio.
- Won Broadway's 1955 Tony Award as Best Supporting of Featured Actor (Musical) for playing Captain Hook, his signature role, in "Peter Pan," a performance he recreated in several television versions. Was also nominated for four other Tony Awards: in 1957, as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "A Visit to a Small Planet;" in 1959, as both Best Actor (Dramatic) and Best Director for "The Pleasure of His Company;" and in 1965 as Best Actor (Musical) for "The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd.:
- Starred in a 1950 radio version of "David Copperfield" with Richard Burton in the titular role and Cyril playing Micawber.
- A devout Catholic, he attended daily mass religiously in New York, where he lived, or in whatever city he happened to be appearing.
- At one time owned a poodle named "Trim" a derivative of his sir name "Trimnell-Ritchard."
- Awarded a Tony in 1955 for Supporting Actor in the musical, 'Peter Pan'.
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