Richard Briers
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Richard Briers, CBE (born on January 14, 1934) is a popular English actor whose career encompasses the theatre, television, film and radio. His role in the long-running television situation comedy The Good Life made him a household name in the United Kingdom.
Biography
Born in Raynes Park, London, he is a cousin of the comedy actor Terry-Thomas.
He read a speech from Henry V at Ronnie Barker's memorial service in Westminster Abbey on 3 March 2006.
Career
Television
On television, Richard Briers is best known for his work in situation comedy.He first came to public attention in comedy series such as Brothers in Law (1962) and Marriage Lines (1963) (in which he played the male half of a newly-wed couple, opposite a young Prunella Scales).
In the long-running The Good Life (1975), one of the most successful British situation comedies of all time, Briers played Tom Good, a draftsman in a big company who decides, on his 40th birthday, to give up his job and try his hand at self-sufficiency, with the support of his long-suffering wife Barbara (played by Felicity Kendal) and the incomprehension of their neighbours the Leadbetters (played by Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith).
Later he also starred in Ever Decreasing Circles (1984); Doctor Who (1987); If You See God, Tell Him (1993); and in the semi-comic role of Hector in the BBC One drama series, Monarch of the Glen.
Briers is a familiar voice actor, with numerous commercials and the animated children's series Roobarb to his credit.
Theatre
Briers has spent much of his career in theatre work, including appearances in plays by Shakespeare and Shaw. In 1967 one of his earliest successes was playing alongside Michael Hordern and Celia Johnson in the London production of Alan Ayckbourn's Relatively Speaking.In the late 1980s, he starred alongside Caroline Langrishe in the Renaissance Theatre Company's production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" as Malvolio.
Film
He also appeared in films such as Henry V (1989), Much Ado About Nothing (1993) and Hamlet (1996).He provided the voice of Fiver in the 1978 film adaptation of Watership Down.
Radio
His work in radio includes playing Bertie Wooster in a series of adaptations of Jeeves novels by P. G. Wodehouse and more recently the play "Not Talking" Commissioned for “The Wire, (BBC Radio 3) by Mike Bartlett.External links
- [Richard Briers at the BBC Comedy Guide] with links to comedies in which he has appeared
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