Richard O'Sullivan (born 7 May 1944) is an English
comedy actor, who is known for his role as Robin Tripp in the 1970s sitcoms
Man About the House (1973–76) and
Robin's Nest, and as the title character in the period family adventure series
Dick Turpin. O'Sullivan also starred in
Doctor at Large,
Doctor in Charge,
Trouble in Mind,
Alcock and Gander and
Me and My Girl.
Career
His first film was as the main character in
The Stranger's Hand starring
Trevor Howard in 1953. Possibly his earliest television work was the part he played in the
Sherlock Holmesepisode of "The Unlucky Gambler" broadcast on 18 July 1955. However, his earliest recognised work was a part in the film
It's Great to Be Young (1956) where he appeared alongside
John Mills. He appeared alongside
Keith Michell and
Belinda Lee in the opulent swashbuckler,
Dangerous Exile (1957) as
Louis XVII, the ten-year-old son of
Louis XVI and
Marie Antoinette. Also during this period he featured in two episodes of the television series
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1957) alongside
Richard Greene, including as Will Dale in the episode "The Challenge of the Black Knight", as well as in the same company's
Sword of Freedom series (1957) playing Alberto in the episode "Chart of Gold". He also acted in one
Carry On film,
Carry On Teacher (1959) in the small role of student Robin Stevens. Around the same time, he was cast in the role of Pierre van der Mal who appears in an early scene of
The Nun's Story (also 1959), in which he bids farewell to his sister Gabrielle (
Audrey Hepburn) as she leaves home to enter the convent. Also around this time he had a leading role in an episode of the
Sapphire Films/
ITC series
The Four Just Men ("The Man With The Golden Touch", 1959), as Neapolitan street urchin Pietro who foils a robbery.
In the early 1960s, he appeared in two
Cliff Richard films:
The Young Ones (1961), and
Wonderful Life (1964). O'Sullivan also featured alongside
Elizabeth Taylor in the film
Cleopatra (1963) as Cleopatra's young brother,
Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII.
For the remainder of the 1960s, he was a jobbing actor appearing in such TV series as
Dr. Syn: the Scarecrow,
Emergency Ward 10,
Redcap,
Danger Man,
No Hiding Place,
Dixon of Dock Green and
Strange Report among others, until he was offered the role of Dr. Lawrence Bingham in the
LWT sitcom
Doctor at Large (1971), a role which continued in the later
Doctor in Charge (1972–73). Meanwhile, he also had a main role in the
Thames Television comedy
Alcock and Gander (1972) with
Beryl Reid.
In 1973, he starred as Robin Tripp, a trainee chef, in the flatshare sitcom
Man About the House written by
Johnnie Mortimer and
Brian Cooke. When the series ended in 1976, he continued playing Robin Tripp in the spin-off sitcom
Robin's Nest, in which Robin sets up a
bistro with funding from his girlfriend Vicky's (
Tessa Wyatt) father James Nicholls (
Tony Britton).
Robin's Nest was a big success and the first UK sitcom to feature an unmarried couple cohabiting. To tie-in with the series, he wrote a recipe book called
Man About the Kitchen, which was published in 1980. He also wrote the
Robin's Nest theme tune, which was arranged by
Brian Bennett. During this period, O'Sullivan also appeared in adverts for
British Gas.
In 1979 he starred in the title role of
LWT's young person's drama series
Dick Turpin, which ran until 1982. He then played the
widower Simon Harrup in the sitcom
Me and My Girlbroadcast from 1984 to 1988, co-starring
Tim Brooke-Taylor and
Joan Sanderson and also produced by LWT. He also appeared in a one-off comedy-drama
The Giftie, shown on Channel Four in 1988, in which he and a friend discovered a photocopier at work that could duplicate living copies of themselves, and unwisely set about doing so, predictably leading to mistaken identities and chaos. In the 1990s, his profile decreased although he was never short of work. His final acting role was in a 1996 one-off satire entitled
Holed with
Tony Robinson about a suburban golf club.
Later life
O'Sullivan largely retired from public life in 1996. His last appearance on television was as a guest on a 1999 edition of
This Is Your Life held in honour of his
Doctor... co-star
George Layton. O'Sullivan had himself been the subject of the show in 1974.
In 2006, O'Sullivan recorded a commentary for the DVD release of
Carry On Teacher.
He has lived in
Brinsworth House, a retirement home for entertainers, since suffering a stroke in 2003.