Background
Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard was born on December 1, 1898 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to Herbert Trimmnel-Ritchard and Margaret Collins. His father was a successful businessman and hotel owner and his mother was a homemaker.
( A collection of more than seventy nursery rhymes decked...)
A collection of more than seventy nursery rhymes decked out in fanciful musical settings is split-level entertainment of the happiest kind -- a children's record to be relished by adults!
https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Goose-Nursery-Rhymes-Ritchard/dp/0060584572?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0060584572
(Black & white film As a companion to the historic 1956 te...)
Black & white film As a companion to the historic 1956 telecast of Peter Pan released on DVD last year, VAI is now offering the original 1955 telecast of Peter Pan for the first time on DVD. This performance mounted just days after the show closed on Broadway in 1955, was previously available only on Blu-ray, and stars the incomparable Mary Martin as Peter Pan. The entire production was staged, choreographed, and adapted by Jerome Robbins. Bonus features: An exclusive interview with Heller Halliday, daughter of Mary Martin and Richard Halliday, who played the role of Liza in Peter Pan on Broadway, and in both the 1955 and 1956 telecasts; and a 1955 NBC Telesales Promo, which provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the production.
https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Pan-Original-1955-Telecast/dp/B01JGFK8YW?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01JGFK8YW
Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard was born on December 1, 1898 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to Herbert Trimmnel-Ritchard and Margaret Collins. His father was a successful businessman and hotel owner and his mother was a homemaker.
He studied at Jesuit primary and secondary schools and attended St. Aloysius College and the University of Sydney.
His father hoped he would become a doctor, but he opted for the theater. In 1917 the gangling nineteen-year-old made his theatrical debut as a chorus boy. Over the next seven years he became a respected actor, singer, and director in his native country.
Years later he declared, "I always think the way I developed comedy acting was as I was taken to my room to be spanked by my father, I had to think of something to make him laugh. If I could, it was a pretty weak spanking. " When his career began he not only cut short his medical studies but also his family name. As he explained, "It couldn't fit on the marquee, so I gave the first part to my dog. "
In 1925 he made his debut on the London stage with Madge Elliott. The couple so charmed London and Australian audiences over the next several years that Noël Coward dubbed them "the musical Lunts. "
During World War II, Ritchard performed in several serious plays in London. His most notable success was in 1942 as Algernon Moncrieff with Sir John Gielgud in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.
Between 1943 and 1945 he spent most of his time touring Egypt and Europe to entertain Allied troops. In 1946 he moved to New York, where in 1947 he made his Broadway debut with Gielgud in the Theatre Guild's well-received production of William Congreve's comedy Love for Love. The tall, elegant man - he stood six feet, two inches tall and weighed 194 pounds - with the "lordly presence" soon followed that triumph with another in 1948, when he starred in John Van Druten's comedy Make Way for Lucia.
In 1949 he returned to London to star in Ann Veronica. The next year he starred in the London production of The Schoolmistress. His transatlantic life reached its pinnacle in 1952 when he starred with Katharine Hepburn in George Bernard Shaw's The Millionairess in both London and New York productions. In addition, in 1958 he performed with Cornelia Otis Skinner on Broadway in a musical version of Samuel Taylor's The Pleasure of His Company.
His greatest role was his triumph in 1954 as Captain Hook opposite Mary Martin's Peter Pan on Broadway in a musical version of J. M. Barrie's classic play. The Christian Science Monitor review noted, "In the course of a marvelously inventive performance, he runs the acting gamut from Restoration comedy to British review.
He not only runs it, he dances it in versatile exhibitions of the tango, tarantella, and waltz. " For his efforts he won the 1954 Tony Award for best supporting actor. He repeated the performance in a live color production on NBC-TV on March 7, 1955, and again on January 3, 1956.
He and the entire cast received rave reviews. In November 1955 the production received the Sylvania Award for being the "television show of the year. " Sadly, at the height of his professional acclaim his wife died on August 8, 1955. He had been devoted to her for twenty years. Even long after her death he always referred to her as "my dearest darling. " To help deal with his grief he immersed himself in his work. In late 1955 he appeared on the "Milton Berle Show" and on "Mr. Peepers. "
In February 1956 he costarred with Julie Harris in NBC-TV's production of Ferenc Moln r's The Good Fairy. In July he returned to NBC in their adaptation of Die Fledermaus, entitled Rosalinda. That fall he appeared with Celeste Holm in NBC's Jack and the Beanstalk. He capped this great run with his starring role in Gore Vidal's 1957 stage comedy Visit to a Small Planet. In addition to acting on television, he directed numerous plays in London and New York.
Although his career peaked in the 1950's, Ritchard continued to direct and perform all over the world until the end of his life.
In 1965 he starred in the musical stage play The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd in New York City. In 1972 he returned to Broadway in the musical Sugar. Two years later he directed and performed in the The Gypsy Baron. Throughout his life Ritchard was something of a bon vivant. He also had a country house in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
On November 25, 1977, during a matinee performance of Side by Side by Sondheim in Chicago Ritchard suffered a massive heart attack on stage. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he eventually lapsed into a coma and died three weeks later. He was buried in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
(Black & white film As a companion to the historic 1956 te...)
( A collection of more than seventy nursery rhymes decked...)
book
book
Quotations: "I live far beyond my means, which is about the only way to live in a Central Park West apartment. "
He was a member of the Fifth Avenue Club, also called the Knickerbocker Club.
He had square and smiling pale face.
He married Madge Elliott in 1935.