Editing Tony Richardson (section)

== Career ==
[[File:Tony Richardson's house.jpg|thumb|Richardson's house from 1928 to 1948, 28 Bingley Road, Saltaire, Shipley]]
In 1955, in his directing debut,<ref>David Parkinson, 'Richardson, Cecil Antonio [Tony] (1928–1991)', ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2004</ref> Richardson produced [[Jean Giraudoux]]'s ''[[The Apollo of Bellac]]'' for television with [[Denholm Elliott]] and [[Natasha Parry]] in the main roles.<ref name=times>"Giraudoux Play on Television 'The Apollo of Bellac'", ''[[The Times]]'', 13 August 1955</ref> Around the same time he began to be active in Britain's [[Free Cinema]] movement, co-directing the non-fiction short ''[[Momma Don't Allow]]'' (also 1955) with [[Karel Reisz]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Momma Don't Allow (1956) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b69e93c9d |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809193436/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b69e93c9d |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 August 2016 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref>

Part of the [[British New Wave|British "New Wave"]] of directors, he was involved in the formation of the English Stage Company, along with his close friend George Goetschius and [[George Devine]]. He directed [[John Osborne]]'s play ''[[Look Back in Anger]]'' at the [[Royal Court Theatre]], and in the same period he directed Shakespeare in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]]. Then in 1957 he directed [[Laurence Olivier]] as Archie Rice in Osborne's next play ''[[The Entertainer (play)|The Entertainer]]'', again for the Royal Court.

In 1959, Richardson co-founded [[Woodfall Film Productions]] with [[John Osborne]] and producer [[Harry Saltzman]], and, as Woodfall's debut, directed the film version of ''[[Look Back in Anger (1959 film)|Look Back in Anger]]'' (1959), his first feature film. ''[[The Entertainer (1960 film)|The Entertainer]]'' (1960), ''[[A Taste of Honey (film)|A Taste of Honey]]'' (1961), and ''[[The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film)|The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner]]'' (1962), based on the novel by [[Alan Sillitoe]], also were produced by Woodfall.
[[File:Richardson plaque.jpg|thumb|[[British Film Institute|BFI]] plaque commemorating Richardson's contribution to cinema]]
Many of Richardson's films, such as ''A Taste of Honey'' and ''The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'', were part of the acclaimed [[kitchen sink realism]] movement popular in Britain at the time, and several of his films continue to be held as cornerstones of the movement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tony Richardson & The Kitchen Sink |url=http://make-a-noise.net/1/post/2019/08/tony-richardson-the-kitchen-sink.html |access-date=29 August 2022 |website=Make A Noise! |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 May 2021 |title=10 essential films from the 'Kitchen sink realism' movement |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/kitchen-sink-realism-movement-10-best-films/ |access-date=29 August 2022 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1964, Richardson received two [[Academy Awards]] (Best Director and Best Picture) for ''[[Tom Jones (1963 film)|Tom Jones]]'' (1963) based on the novel by [[Henry Fielding]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 November 1991 |title=Tony Richardson; Leading Film Director for 30 Years |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-15-mn-1455-story.html |access-date=29 August 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> In the same year he joined the ''Who Killed Kennedy Committee?'' set up by [[Bertrand Russell]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Bertrand |title=Autobiography |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |page=707}}</ref>

His next film was ''[[The Loved One (film)|The Loved One]]'' (1965), in which he worked with established stars, including [[John Gielgud]], [[Rod Steiger]] and [[Robert Morse]], and worked in Hollywood both on location and on the sound stage.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=12 October 1965 |title=Screen: A Searing Look at the Funeral Profession:Waugh's 'Loved One' Adapted to Film |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/12/archives/screen-a-searing-look-at-the-funeral-professionwaughs-loved-one.html |access-date=29 August 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In his autobiography, he confesses that he did not share the general admiration of [[Haskell Wexler]], who worked on ''The Loved One'' as both [[director of photography]] and a producer.<ref>Richardson, p. 163</ref>

Among stars that Richardson directed were [[Jeanne Moreau]], [[Orson Welles]], [[Rob Lowe]], [[Milton Berle]], [[Trevor Howard]], [[David Hemmings]], [[Nicol Williamson]], [[Tom Courtenay]], [[Lynn Redgrave]], [[Marianne Faithfull]], [[Richard Burton]],<ref>Until dismissed by Richardson for repeatedly failing to show up on set as contracted (Richardson, pp. 212–3)</ref> [[Jodie Foster]], [[Anthony Hopkins]], [[Mick Jagger]], [[Katharine Hepburn]], [[Seth Green]], [[Tommy Lee Jones]] and [[Judi Dench]]. His musical composers included [[Antoine Duhamel]], [[John Addison]] and [[Shel Silverstein]]. His screenwriters were [[Jean Genet]], [[Christopher Isherwood]], [[Terry Southern]], [[Marguerite Duras]], [[Edward Bond]] (adapting [[Vladimir Nabokov]]) and [[Edward Albee]]. Richardson and Osborne eventually fell out<ref>Heilpern, pp.346–51</ref> during production of the film ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)|Charge of the Light Brigade]]'' (1968). The basic issue was Osborne's unwillingness to go through the rewrite process, more arduous in film than it is in the theatre. Richardson had a different version. In his autobiography (p.&nbsp;195), he writes that Osborne was angry at being replaced in a small role by [[Laurence Harvey]] to whom the producers had obligations. Osborne took literary revenge by creating a fictionalised and pseudonymous Richardson – a domineering and arrogant character whom everyone hated – in his play ''The Hotel in Amsterdam''.

Richardson's work was stylistically varied. ''[[Mademoiselle (1966 film)|Mademoiselle]]'' (1966) was shot noir-style on location in rural France with a static camera, [[Black and white#Media|monochrome film stock]] and no music. ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'' (1968) was part epic and part animated feature. ''[[Ned Kelly (1970 film)|Ned Kelly]]'' (1970) was what might be called an Aussie-western. ''[[Laughter in the Dark (film)|Laughter in the Dark]]'' (1969) and ''[[A Delicate Balance (film)|A Delicate Balance]]'' (1973) were psycho-dramas. ''[[Joseph Andrews (film)|Joseph Andrews]]'' (1977), based on another novel by Henry Fielding, was a return to the mood of ''Tom Jones''.

In 1970, Richardson was set to direct a film about [[Vaslav Nijinsky]] with a script by Edward Albee. It was to have starred [[Rudolf Nureyev]] as Nijinsky, [[Claude Jade]] as [[Romola de Pulszky|Romola]] and [[Paul Scofield]] as [[Diaghilev]], but producer [[Harry Saltzman]] cancelled the project during pre-production.

In 1974, he travelled to Los Angeles to work on a script (never produced) with [[Sam Shepard]], and took up residence there.<ref>Richardson, p.&nbsp;242.</ref> Later that year, he began work on ''[[Mahogany (1975 film)|Mahogany]]'' (1975), starring [[Diana Ross]], but was fired by [[Motown]] head [[Berry Gordy]] shortly after production began, owing to creative differences.

He wrote and directed the comedy-drama ''[[The Hotel New Hampshire (film)|The Hotel New Hampshire]]'' (1984), based on [[John Irving]]'s [[The Hotel New Hampshire|novel of the same name]] and starring [[Jodie Foster]], [[Beau Bridges]] and [[Rob Lowe]]. Although it was a box-office failure, the film received a positive critical reception.

Richardson made four more major films before his death. His last, ''[[Blue Sky (1994 film)|Blue Sky]]'' (1994), was not released for nearly three years after he died. [[Jessica Lange]] won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the film.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blue Sky: the 1990s nuclear drama that won Jessica Lange her second Oscar |date=19 January 2021 |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/blue-sky-jessica-lange-oscar |access-date=29 August 2022 |publisher=British Film Institute |language=en}}</ref>

In 1966, Richardson is alleged to have financed the escape from [[Wormwood Scrubs prison]] of the spy and [[double agent]] [[George Blake]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10116541/John-Quine.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10116541/John-Quine.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=John Quine |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |date=12 June 2013 |access-date=8 February 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/britain/cold-war-superspy-george-blake-who-escaped-from-a-uk-jail-and-became-a-russian-hero-dies-at-98-39902931.html |title=Cold War 'superspy' George Blake, who escaped from a UK jail and became a Russian hero, dies at 98 |date=26 December 2020 |work=Irish Independent |access-date=28 December 2020 |quote=On the night of October 25, 1966, the trio (financed by Oscar-winning movie director Tony Richardson)}}</ref>