Richard B. Shull

Richard Bruce Shull (February 24, 1929 – October 14, 1999) was an American character actor whose Broadway career spanned more than four decades, from 1956 to 1999. Born in Evanston, Illinois, he was the son of Zana Marie Shull (née Brown), a court stenographer, and Ulysses Homer Shull, a manufacturing executive. He received his secondary education at York High School in Elmhurst, Illinois, and went on to attend the University of Iowa. Following a period of service in the U.S. Army, Shull entered the theater world not as a performer but as a stage manager, a role that preceded his eventual transition to acting.

His first significant acting opportunity came in 1970 when he was cast in Minnie's Boys on Broadway. The production marked the beginning of a sustained stage career that would include credits such as Goodtime Charley, in which he performed the duet "Merci, Bon Dieu," as well as Fools, The Front Page, A Flea in Her Ear, Wake Up, Darling, and Victor/Victoria. His work in Goodtime Charley earned him both a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, both in 1975. Shull was still actively performing on Broadway at the time of his death, appearing in Epic Proportions in 1999.

Alongside his stage work, Shull accumulated approximately thirty film credits over the course of his screen career. His movie appearances included The Anderson Tapes (1971), Klute (1971), Slither (1973), The Fortune (1975), Splash (1984), Garbo Talks (1984), Unfaithfully Yours (1984), Housesitter (1992), and Private Parts (1997). On television, he appeared in episodes of Love, American Style, Ironside, Good Times, The Rockford Files, Alice, Lou Grant, Hart to Hart, and Diana, among other programs. He starred as a police detective in the series Holmes & Yoyo and appeared as a judge in Billy Joel's 1984 music video for "Keeping the Faith." He also had a role in the Tales from the Darkside episode "Do Not Open This Box," which aired in 1988 as part of the series' fourth season.

Shull also worked as a writer. In 1960 he authored the play Fenton's Folly, which was later adapted into the independent German-language film Fentons völlig verrückte Erfindung (1967), shot in Austria. He wrote the story for the 1966 thriller Aroused and co-authored, with William L. Rose, the dramatic film Pamela, Pamela You are... (1968).

His interests extended well beyond the stage and screen. In 1963 he became a member of The Lambs, the historic theater club, served on its council, and remained affiliated with the organization until his death. He was also a member of The Players, a New York City arts club, and the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York. In 1986 he was invested into The Baker Street Irregulars, the literary society devoted to Sherlock Holmes, receiving the investiture title "An Actor, and a Rare One." In 1995 he co-founded the North American Araucanian Royalist Society (NAARS) with Daniel Paul Morrison, an organization dedicated to studying the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia, founded in 1860 by the Mapuche people of South America. The NAARS devoted a substantial portion of the tenth issue of its official journal, The Steel Crown, to Shull's life.

Shull died of a heart attack at his home in New York City on October 14, 1999, at the age of 70. He was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.