Miles Richardson

Miles Richardson is a British actor born on 15 July 1963 in London. He comes from a theatrical family: his parents, Ian Richardson and Maroussia Frank, were both founding members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His father was originally from Edinburgh, and his maternal great-grandfather was the Russian philosopher Semyon Lyudvigovich Frank. Richardson grew up in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, and New York, and completed his training at Arts Educational Schools in 1982. He later earned a postgraduate degree from Warwick University in 2008, a qualification sponsored by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Richardson launched his professional career in 1982 with The TyneWear Theatre in Newcastle, where he performed in nine productions over nine months. Subsequent repertory work took him to Birmingham, York, Pitlochry, Clwyd, Leeds, and Nottingham. His touring credits include James Graham's This House and Barney Norris's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. He appeared at the Kennedy Center in Lulu, starring Anna Friel, and in 2009 traveled to Japan with director Gregory Doran to perform in Anjin: The Shogun and the English Samurai, a joint UK-Japan production telling the story of William Adams, the first Englishman in Japan. That production subsequently played at Sadler's Wells Theatre in 2013. He also appeared in Sir Derek Jacobi's productions of Richard II and Richard III.

Richardson made his West End debut in 1983, playing Fowler in Another Country alongside Colin Firth at the Queens Theatre, now the Gielgud Theatre. He later appeared in multiple roles in Ken Hill's adaptation of H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man, which transferred from the Theatre Royal Stratford East to the Vaudeville Theatre and the Comedy Theatre, now the Harold Pinter. From November 2013 to March 2014, he played Juror 10 in Twelve Angry Men at the Garrick Theatre. Beginning in September 2014, he appeared as James Reiss in King Charles III at the Wyndham's Theatre. During that run, when Tim Pigott-Smith sustained a broken collarbone, Richardson stepped into the lead role of Charles for five weeks until Pigott-Smith was able to return. The production won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2015. Having previously portrayed Charles I on film and Charles II on both film and stage, Richardson is believed to be the only actor to have played all three King Charleses. His most recent London appearances were in two Agatha Christie productions: Witness for the Prosecution and The Mousetrap.

King Charles III transferred to Broadway in 2015, marking Richardson's Broadway debut. His off-West End work has included Johnson in Love at the BAC, Journey's End with Samuel West and Kris Marshall at the King's Head, The Lovers, Playing Sinatra, and Candida with Paula Wilcox at the New End Theatre, Dear Brutus and Moment of Truth at the Southwark Playhouse, and Round About Hogarth at the Tabard Theatre. Across his stage career, Richardson has appeared in more than 80 plays.

From 2003 to 2008, Richardson was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in All's Well That Ends Well with Judi Dench, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and As You Like It. He had previously worked for the RSC as a child actor in the 1970s. As part of the RSC's Histories Ensemble, he performed in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Henry VI Parts 1, 2, and 3, and Richard III, a cycle that won three Olivier Awards in 2009 for Best Company Performance, Best Revival, and Best Costume Design. He returned to the RSC in 2015 to play Voltore in Volpone alongside Henry Goodman.

On screen, Richardson's credits include FBI: International, Industry, Outlander, The Crown, Lucan, Titanic, The Canterville Ghost, three episodes of Midsomer Murders, and four episodes of Doctors. He served as Tony Slattery's butler in P's and Q's and as Roger Moore's butler in Moore's final film, A Christmas Princess. As a voice artist, he portrayed the young Peter O'Toole in Venus and voiced the title role in the animated Life With Jesus. Since 2001, Richardson has also performed for Big Finish Productions, most notably in the recurring role of Irving Braxiatel.