Richard O'Brien (born Richard Timothy Smith; 25 March 1942) is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...

'' in 1973, which has since remained in continuous production. He also co-wrote the screenplay along with director

Jim Sharman James David Sharman (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director since the 1960s, and is best known in ...

for the film adaptation, ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 independent musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay was written by Sharman and Richard O ...

'' (1975), and appeared on-screen as Riff Raff. The film became an international success and has received a large

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

. O'Brien co-wrote the musical '' Shock Treatment'' (1981) and appeared in the film as Dr. Cosmo McKinley. From 1990 to 1993, O'Brien presented the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

game show '' The Crystal Maze.'' He also provides the voice of Lawrence Fletcher in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

animated series ''

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...

'' (2008–2015; 2025–present), as well as its two films (2011 and 2020). His other acting credits include ''Flash Gordon'' (1980), '' Robin of Sherwood'' (1985), '' Spice World'' (1997), '' Ever After'' (1998), ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (2000), and '' Elvira's Haunted Hills'' (2001). After a long and successful career based in the United Kingdom, O'Brien gained dual citizenship with New Zealand in 2011, where he resided in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

. O'Brien identifies himself as

third gender Third gender or third sex is an identity recognizing individuals categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither a man nor a woman. Many gender systems around the world include three or more genders, deriving the concept either from ...

and uses he/him pronouns.

Early life

O'Brien was born Richard Timothy Smith in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. He emigrated with his family to

, New Zealand, at the age of 10, where his accountant father had purchased a sheep farm. He went to Tauranga Boys' College. It is known also that O'Brien attended Fairfield School in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...

in 1952. O'Brien worked as a barber at a barbershop in front of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

's Embassy Theatre. It was at this theatre where O'Brien attended many late-night picture shows and had the idea for

. He returned to England in 1964, after having learned how to ride horses (a skill which provided him with his break into the film industry as a stuntman in '' Carry On Cowboy'') and developing a keen interest in comic books and horror films. He launched his acting career using his mother's maiden name, O'Brien as there was already an actor named Richard Smith. He says that his upbringing in New Zealand "instilled him with egalitarian ideals that helped him transcend British class restrictions".

Career

To improve his acting skills, O'Brien took

method acting Method acting, known as the Method, is a range of rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, understanding, and expe ...

classes, and then joined several stage productions as an actor. In 1970, he went into the touring production of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'' for nine months, and spent another nine months in the London production. In the summer of 1972, he met director

who cast him as an Apostle and Leper in the London production of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

''. Sharman then cast O'Brien as Willie, the alien in his March 1973 production of Sam Shepard's ''The Unseen Hand'' at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

Upstairs. Sharman also helped make O'Brien's draft of a gothic-themed, schlock-horror comic-book fantasy romp into a reality. Sharman suggested changing the working title from ''They Came from Denton High'', and ''

'' opened at the Theatre Upstairs in June 1973. Within weeks it had become a box-office hit, moving from the Royal Court to the Classic Cinema, a cinema up for demolition on the King's Road, then to the King's Road Theatre (formerly a cinema known as the Essoldo) and eventually into the West End at the Comedy Theatre. After seeing the second night's performance of ''The Rocky Horror Show'' in the Theatre Upstairs, Jonathan King produced the original cast soundtrack in just over 48 hours during an off-stage weekend, and rushed it out on his UK Records label. He also became a 20% backer with producer Michael White, who put up the remaining 80%. During this period, O'Brien and his wife Kimi Wong recorded and released pop singles under the name Kimi and Ritz.

Later career

O'Brien continued writing musicals with arranger Richard Hartley, including: ''T. Zee'' (1976), ''Disaster'' (1978), ''The Stripper'' (1982 – based on the Carter Brown novel and produced in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

), and ''Top People'' (1984). O'Brien and Hartley also provided three songs for the film '' The Return of Captain Invincible'' (1983), starring Alan Arkin. O'Brien wrote his one-man revue ''Disgracefully Yours'' (1985) singing as Mephistopheles Smith. O'Brien has appeared in '' Jubilee'' (1977), '' Flash Gordon'' (1980), '' Dark City'' (1998), '' Ever After'' (1998) and ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' (2000), among others. Additionally he guest starred in five episodes in the third series of the HTV dramatisation of '' Robin of Sherwood'', as the corrupt

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

Gulnar. A music CD of the songs from ''Disgracefully Yours'' entitled ''Absolute O'Brien'' was released in 1998. O'Brien became the presenter of UK

's game show '' The Crystal Maze'' in 1990, specialising in sardonic put-downs, occasional eccentricities and playing his

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

at random intervals. The show ran from 1990 to 1995, with O'Brien presenting the first four series. It was regularly Channel 4's highest-rated programme, reaching a peak of 7 million viewers for the 1993 Christmas special. O'Brien left ''The Crystal Maze'' in 1993 after the fourth series; the show was then taken over by Edward Tudor-Pole. In other roles, O'Brien has conceptualised and played the role of the Child Catcher in the West End theatre production of ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

''. He also occasionally performs

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

-style music and comedy on stages around the world, singing songs from ''Rocky Horror'' among others. In 1995, he performed a select number of shows as the devilish charmer Mephistopheles Smith in a musical/comedy show he wrote entitled ''Disgracefully Yours'', to which he later gave permission to be adapted into a musical, first by Eubank Productions for the Kansas City Fringe Fest in 2006, and more recently by Janus Theatre Company for the Edinburgh Fringe 2007, simply entitled ''Mephistopheles Smith''. In late 2005, he appeared (as the spirit of the mirror) in the pantomime version of ''

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'', which played at the Milton Keynes Theatre. In the summer of 2006, he played the Child Catcher in the Queen's 80th birthday celebrations at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

. O'Brien performed in ''Thank-You for the Music'', a 90-minute

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

documentary for ITV, directed by Martin Koch, who previously directed the musical '' Mamma Mia!'' The documentary included a remake of the mini musical '"The Girl with the Golden Hair" which ABBA performed during their 1977 world tour and featured on '' ABBA: The Album'' (also 1977). The musical was performed at the Prince of Wales Theatre and featured O'Brien, Liz McClarnon and the Dynamos. He also hosted the 1993 Brit Awards. A patron of the Five Stars Scanner Appeal, which benefits the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. From 2001 to 2006 he hosted the annual Transfandango, gala gathering of ''Dearhearts and Trans 'n' Gentle People'' to raise money for the hospital. This has since been superseded by ''Richard O'Brien's Halloween Party''. A script for another rumoured sequel entitled '' Revenge of the Old Queen'' of ''Rocky Horror'', has been circulated on the web and reproduced on various fan sites, although it has been officially denied as O'Brien's work by his representatives. While he has worked on a screenplay by that title, it was never publicly released. He wrote the lyrics for ''The Stripper'' (based on the book by Carter Brown), a musical which had its British premiere at the

Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch The Queen's Theatre is a 507-seat mid-scale producing theatre located in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London. The theatre was originally located on Station Lane, Hornchurch, on a site that was used as a cinema and had be ...

(London) on 28 August 2009. In 2004, members of the Hamilton City Council in New Zealand honoured O'Brien's contribution to the arts with a statue of Riff Raff, the character he played in ''The Rocky Horror Show'', on the site of the former Embassy Cinema. In September 2007, he reprised his role as the Child Catcher for the final two weeks of the five year British run of ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. He then played the role in its Singapore engagement for the month of November, extended to 9 December. Also in December, he visited

, New Zealand, for ''An Evening With Richard O'Brien'', with presenter Mark Sainsbury and director Fiona Jackson. In December 2008, O'Brien donated his original script ''Pig in Boots'' to the Wireless Theatre Company, who converted it into an audio pantomime. The show was recorded live at the Headliners Comedy Club in front of a studio audience with live FX and music. The production was opened by an original interview with O'Brien. In October 2012, O'Brien judged "Stage Fright" with the Wireless Theatre Company as part of the London Horror Festival and performed an acoustic set of Rocky Horror songs. In March 2012, he gave a performance of song and autobiographical stories, ''It's Party Time with Richard O'Brien'' at the Hamilton Founders Theatre to celebrate his 70th birthday. In June 2012, he returned to Hamilton, New Zealand, to appear on stage as Fagin with the Hamilton Operatic Society's production of '' Oliver!'' at the Founders Theatre. O'Brien appeared in 2015 in ''

'' in the West End in a limited 11-performance run. In September 2016 O'Brien opened the second stage Embassy Park in Hamilton together with Mayor Julie Hardaker. In October 2016, he appeared as the Crystal Maze Computer in a one-off ''Celebrity Crystal Maze'' episode for the charity 'Stand Up To Cancer' on Channel 4.

Personal life

In a 2009 interview, O'Brien spoke about an ongoing struggle to reconcile cultural

gender role A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...

s and described himself as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

or "of a

" as Anton Rodgers once told him. O'Brien stated, "There is a continuum between male and female. Some are hard-wired one way or another, I'm in between". He expounded on this in a 2013 interview where he talked about using oestrogen for the previous decade, and that he views himself as 70% male and 30% female. In 2017, O'Brien caused controversy when he said that he supported the statements of

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

and Barry Humphries that transgender women are not real women. He offered his sympathy to the trans community. In a 2020 interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', O'Brien was reported as stating: "I think anybody who decides to take the huge step with a sex change deserves encouragement and a thumbs-up. As long as they're happy and fulfilled, I applaud them to my very last day. But you can't ever become a natural woman". In a 2023 interview, O'Brien stated "We all know that nobody asks to be born straight or gay. We seem to be going backwards slightly, don't we, on this whole issue. I thought we'd have got over that. I thought we all understood now that people are born gay and people are born transgender. It's not a choice. I thought we'd all agreed on that. But lately, we're becoming confused by the whole subject once again. I prefer a more tolerant society". In June 2010, the media reported that O'Brien had been denied New Zealand citizenship owing to his being too old under the country's immigration criteria. He commented, "They build a statue of me and celebrate me as a New Zealander, but I have to go on my knees and do all sorts of things, and I'm probably too old." O'Brien's application appeared to garner public support and the decision was later overturned on appeal. In August 2010, New Zealand's '' Dominion Post'' reported that O'Brien would be allowed residency and possibly citizenship as an "exceptional" case. According to the ''

Waikato Times The ''Waikato Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Hamilton, New Zealand, and owned by media business Stuff Ltd. It has a circulation to the greater Waikato region and became a tabloid paper in 2018. The newspaper has won the title of N ...

'', he was officially registered as a New Zealand citizen on 14 December 2011. On 16 August 2010, he appeared on an episode of '' Celebrity Cash in the Attic'', where he donated the takings from his sale of memorabilia to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. O'Brien has been married three times and has three children. He and actress Kimi Wong were married on 4 December 1971 and had a son Linus in May 1972. He has a son and daughter from his second marriage to designer Jane Moss. On 7 July 2012, aged 70, he proposed to Sabrina Graf, aged 35, a native of Germany, whom he had been dating for three years. They married on 6 April 2013 at their home in Katikati, Bay of Plenty.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

Discography

Singles

* "Merry Christmas Baby" ( Kimi and Ritz) (1973) * "Eddie" (Richard O'Brien) (1973) * "Merry Christmas Baby (DJ version)" (Kimi and Ritz) – Epic Records (1974) * "I was in love with Danny (but the crowd was in love with Dean)" (Kimi and Ritz) (1974) * "Pseud's Corner" (Richard O'Brien) (1975) * "Liebesträume" (

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

/Richard O'Brien) (performed by Kimi and Ritz) (1975) * "There's a Light" (Kimi and Ritz) (1975)

Albums

* ''Absolute O'brien'' (1999) ( Oglio Records)

Soundtracks and cast recordings

* ''

'' (Original London cast) (1973) * ''

'' (1975) * '' Shock Treatment'' (1981)

Awards and nominations

Awards

* 1998: Berlin International Film Festival Award - Special Teddy (for ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'') * 2000: Gaylactic Spectrum Award (for ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'')

Nominations

* 1974: Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album (for ''The Rocky Horror Show'') * 1999: Fangoria Chainsaw Award - Best Supporting Actor (for ''Dark City'') * 2001: Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical (for ''The Rocky Horror Show'')2001 Tony Awards
broadwayworld.com, accessed 28 April 2011

References

External links

* *
Richard O'Brien at RockyMusic.org
*
RiffRaffStatue.org
for the tribute statue in Hamilton, New Zealand
Pig In Boots
Richard O'Brien's Pig in Boots – Audio Pantomime produced by The Wireless Theatre Company {{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Richard 1942 births 20th-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English LGBTQ people English emigrants to New Zealand English LGBTQ broadcasters English LGBTQ composers English LGBTQ singers English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors English non-binary actors English non-binary musicians English non-binary writers English television presenters Living people Male actors from Cheltenham Male-to-female cross-dressers Musicians from Gloucestershire Naturalised citizens of New Zealand New Zealand non-binary people Non-binary composers Non-binary singers Writers from Cheltenham