Richard Lee Lawson (born March 7, 1947) is an American actor who has starred in movies and on television. He is perhaps best known for his roles in genre films; he portrayed Ryan in the 1982 film ''

Poltergeist In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional desc ...

'', and Dr. Ben Taylor in the 1983 NBC miniseries '' V''.

Life and career

Born Rickey Lee Lawson in

Loma Linda, California Loma Linda ( Spanish for "Beautiful Hill") is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, that was incorporated in 1970. The population was 24,791 at the 2020 census, up from 23,261 at the 2010 census. The central area of the ...

, Lawson was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

and became a medic. He served 21 months in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and was wounded in action. After completing his military duty, he embarked on an acting career. His first feature film role (uncredited) was that of a gay man targeted for murder in the classic 1971 movie ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFP ...

''. In 1973, he played Willis in '' Scream Blacula Scream''. His other well known roles include the 1979 movie '' The Main Event'', and the 1984 drama '' Streets of Fire'', where he played Officer Ed Price. Lawson's first ongoing starring role in a television series was in Australian drama ''

Hotel Story ''Hotel Story'' was an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions (now Crawfords Australia) for the Ten Network in 1977. The series, intended as a replacement for '' The Box'', was set in a luxury international hotel. The regul ...

'' in 1977, however, that series was cancelled before the first episode aired. He later starred in the 1980s series ''

Chicago Story ''Chicago Story'' is an American crime drama television series that aired for 13 episodes on NBC from March 6 to June 11, 1982, following a 2-hour television film pilot that was broadcast earlier on March 15, 1981. Synopsis The series followed ...

''; he took the ongoing role of

Nick Kimball '' Dynasty'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. The series, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy f ...

on the prime time

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'' from 1986 to 1987, appeared in ''

The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd ''The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on NBC from May 21, 1987 to June 29, 1988 and on Lifetime from April 17, 1989 to April 13, 1991. It was created by Jay Tarses and stars Blair Brown in ...

'' as Detective Nathaniel Hawthorne from 1989 to 1991, and was in the day time soap opera '' All My Children'' as Lucas Barnes from 1992 to 1994. Lawson has made many guest appearances on television, including roles on ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, ...

'', ''

Get Christie Love! ''Get Christie Love!'' is an American crime drama TV series starring Teresa Graves as an undercover African-American female detective which originally aired on ABC from January 22, 1974, until April 5, 1975. The starring television role made Gr ...

'', '' Sister, Sister'', ''

Soul Food Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans, originating in the Southern United States.Soul Food originated with the foods that were given to enslaved Black people by their white owners on Souther ...

'', ''

The Bernie Mac Show ''The Bernie Mac Show'' (often shortened to ''Bernie Mac'' in syndication) is an American sitcom television series created by Larry Wilmore, that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001 to April 14, 2006. The series featured Bernie ...

'', ''

The Division ''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The ...

'' and '' Strong Medicine''.

Personal life

Lawson was married to his first wife, actress

Denise Gordy Denise Georgette Gordy (born November 11, 1949) is an American former film and television actress and singer. She is a niece of Motown founder Berry Gordy. Family and career Denise Georgette Gordy was born in Detroit, Michigan. She is a daughter ...

, from New Year's Eve 1978 until 1989.Ancestry.com. Nevada, Marriage Index, 1956-2005 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. They have one daughter, actress

Bianca Lawson Bianca Jasmine Lawson is an American film and television actress. She is known for her regular roles in the television series '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'', '' Goode Behavior'', ''Pretty Little Liars'', and ''Rogue''. She has also had r ...

, born in 1979. Lawson also has a son named Ricky, born in 1992. On March 22, 1992, Lawson survived the

USAir Flight 405 USAir Flight 405 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight between LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio. On March 22, 1992, a USAir Fokker F28, registration flying the route, crashed in poor weat ...

plane crash, after take-off from

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia ...

, in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. During the summer of 2013, he began dating

Tina Knowles Tina may refer to: People * Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places *Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia *Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomon ...

, fashion designer and mother of singers Beyoncé and

Solange Knowles Solange Piaget Knowles (; born June 24, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, performance artist, and actress. Expressing an interest in music from an early age, Knowles had several temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, whi ...

. Lawson and Knowles had known each other for over 30 years, as she was the best friend of his late sister. As a result, Lawson stated that he had "always admired her from afar and up close too." The couple married on April 12, 2015.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Richard 1947 births Living people Male actors from California American male film actors United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War American male soap opera actors People from Loma Linda, California Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents African-American male actors American male television actors United States Army soldiers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people