Richard Riehle
- Actor
- Producer
Richard Riehle was born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, to Mary Margaret (Walsh), a nurse, and Herbert John Riehle, an assistant postmaster. He is of German and Irish descent. Richard attended the University of
Notre Dame, where he became heavily involved with the University
Theatre. Appearing in such productions as "Luther", "Antigone",
"Rhinoceros", "Romeo and Juliet", and "How To Succeed In Business
Without Really Trying", he also took on the task of stage manager on
many of these productions, and it was not unusual to find him helping
to build the sets or manage the costumes during this period. Graduating
with a B.A. (cum laude) in 1970, Richard traveled to Salzburg and
Innsbruck to study German, a language in which he is fluent.
Progressing to Academy of Dramatic Art in Rochester, Michigan, Richard
has had extensive experience as a stage actor, as well as teaching
acting, and made his Broadway debut in 1986 with "Execution of
Justice". One of his major triumphs in the theatre has been alongside
Kevin Spacey in the acclaimed 1999 revival of O'Neill's "The Iceman
Cometh", in which he played the drunken, corrupt ex-cop Pat McGloin.
Brief appearances in Rooster Cogburn, The Duchess and Dirtwater Fox,
Joy Ride, and Twice in a Lifetime, as well as in such TV fare as Escape
From Hell (1977), Joe Kennedy: The Forgotten Kennedy (1977), and the
NBC series "Hot Pursuit" (1984) have disguised an expanding repertory
theatre portfolio. Richard has also contributed to such diverse
undertakings as Bay Area Radio's Eugene O'Neill Project (playing
Smithers to Joe Morton's Brutis Jones in "The Emperor Jones") and the
Adams-Jefferson Project of Carleton College, participating in a series
of recordings of the correspondence between the two US Presidents. To
this day, Richard has maintained his involvement in theatre workshops
and encouraging the dramatic arts under the auspices of the Mark Taper
Forum and A.S.K. However, since his scene-stealing cameo as the
Quartermaster in 1989's Glory, with his trademark bushy mustache and
heavyset frame, Richard has acquitted himself as one of the best, and
busiest, character players on TV and in the movies.
