Richard O’Brien

Richard O'Brien

Richard Timothy Smith, known as Richard O’Brien, is an English-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show The Rocky Horror Show in 1973, which has remained in almost continuous production. He also co-wrote the screenplay of the film adaptation, also appearing in the film as Riff Raff. He presented four series of the television game show The Crystal Maze for Channel 4.

About Richard O’Brien in brief

Summary Richard O'BrienRichard Timothy Smith, known as Richard O’Brien, is an English-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show The Rocky Horror Show in 1973, which has remained in almost continuous production. He also co-wrote the screenplay of the film adaptation, also appearing in the film as Riff Raff. He presented four series of the television game show The Crystal Maze for Channel 4. He played the voice role of Lawrence Fletcher in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb, as well as its two films. He has also appeared in the films Dark City, Ever After, Dungeons & Dragons, Elvira’s Haunted Hills, and Jackboots on Whitehall. He gained dual citizenship with New Zealand in 2011, where he resided in Tauranga. He is married to Kimi Wong, and the couple have two children, a son and a daughter. He was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and moved to New Zealand at the age of 10. He says that his time in New Zealand instilled him with a sense of egalitarianism and gave him \”a great sense of freedom\”.

He has appeared in Jubilee, Flash Gordon, Dark City and Ever After, among others. He appeared in five episodes of the HTV dramatisation of Robin of Sherwood, as the corrupt druid Gulnar. In 1990 he became the presenter of UK Channel 4’s game show Crystal Maze in sardonic eccentricities. In other roles he has played the role of Catcher in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a conceptualised role in the stage production of Child in the Big Top. He and his wife Kimi have recorded and released pop singles under the name Kimi and Ritz. The couple have a son, a daughter, and a step-son, both of whom live in the United States. They also have two step-daughters, who live in Los Angeles and New York City. They have been married for more than 20 years and have two sons, a boy and a girl, respectively. O’Brien has written several musicals with arranger Richard Hartley, including: T. Zee, Disaster, The Stripper, and Top People. He also provided three songs for the film The Return of Captain Invincible, starring Alan Arkin.