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Photo of Cyril Ritchard

Cyril Ritchard

Actor, Director, Writer
Born December 1, 1897Died December 18, 1977 (80 years)
Legendary for his preening, prancing, delightfully playful villain Captain Hook on the award-winning stage (as well as TV) opposite America's musical treasure Mary Martin, beloved musical star Cyril Ritchard had a vast career that would last six decades, but "Peter Pan" would become his prime legacy. Born in Australia just before the turn of the century, he was educated at St. Aloysius College and Sydney University wherein he slyly sidestepped a parental-guided career in medicine for entertainment, participating in numerous college productions that quickly got him "hooked." He began professionally in the chorus line of The Royal Comic Opera Company and quickly progressed to juvenile leads. A subsequent pairing with the already-established theatre actress Madge Elliott in 1918 proved successful, and the musical twosome eventually married in 1935. Together they would go on to become known as "The Musical Lunts" by their acting peers performing in scores of plays and revues together. Ritchard specialized in playing slick, dandified villains in musical comedy and developed a potent reputation of being a man of many talents. Not only directing and staging Broadway's finest, he became a renown performer of various operas and led many productions as such. Shortly before his wife's death of bone cancer in 1955, Ritchard ventured into TV infamy by repeating his Tony and Donaldson award-winning portrayal of Hook in Peter Pan (1955). He continued to earn acclaim and/or honors with such classic stage productions as "Visit to a Small Planet" (Tony-nominated), "The Pleasure of His Company" (Drama League award, Tony-nominated), "The Roar of the Greasepaint...the Smell of the Crowd" (Tony-nominated), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Sugar," the musical version of the classic Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot (1959) in which Ritchard played the Joe E. Brown role. Lesser regarded when it comes to film, he performed in the early Hitchcock classic Blackmail (1929) and made his last movie with the musical Half a Sixpence (1967) with Tommy Steele. While performing as the Narrator in a stage production of "Side by Side by Sondheim" in November 1977, Ritchard suffered a heart attack and died one month later. A one-of-a-kind talent, his nefarious, narcissistic humor was a career trademark that culminated in the role of a lifetime -- one that will certainly be enjoyed by children young and old for eons to come.
Movies & Shows on Plex
  • Blackmail
  • The Winslow Boy
  • The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
Known For
  • The Hobbit
  • Blackmail
  • Peter Pan
  • Piccadilly
  • The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
  • Half a Sixpence
  • Peter Pan
  • The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes
  • Hans Brinker
  • The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood
  • Tubby the Tuba
  • The Snoop Sisters
  • The Show Goes On
  • Symphony in Two Flats

Filmography

1977
The Hobbit · as Elrond (voice)
1975
1975
Tubby the Tuba · as The Frog (voice)
1972
The Snoop Sisters (TV Series) · as Morlock
1972
1969
Hans Brinker · as Mijnheer Kleef
1967
Half a Sixpence · as Harry Chitterlow
1966
The Daydreamer · as The Sandman (voice)
1966
1965
1964
NET Playhouse (TV Series) · as (segment "actor's Choice")
1961
Dr. Kildare (TV Series) · as Justin Fitzgibbons
1961
The DuPont Show of the Week (TV Series) · as Narrator
1960
Peter Pan · as Mr. Darling / Captain Hook
1957
The DuPont Show of the Month (TV Series) · as Sui-Generis The Sorcerer
1955
Playwrights '56 (TV Series)
1955
Peter Pan · as Mr. Darling / Captain Hook
1954
Producers' Showcase (TV Series) · as Captain Hook
1952
Omnibus (TV Series)
1952
Mister Peepers (TV Series) · as Peter Rhodes-Downing
1951
1951
Goodyear Television Playhouse (TV Series) · as Damon Lockridge
1951
The Red Skelton Show (TV Series) · as Aladdin
1950
The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Arnold
1948
1948
Studio One (TV Series) · as Pontius Pilate
1948
Woman Hater · as Reveller (uncredited)
1948
1947
Kraft Television Theatre (TV Series) · as Cast
1938
I See Ice! · as Paul Martine
1937
The Show Goes On · as Jimmy
1934
Danny Boy · as John Martin
1932
Reserved for Ladies · as Sir William Carter
1930
Symphony in Two Flats · as Leo Chavasse
1929
Blackmail · as The Artist
1929
Piccadilly · as Victor Smiles
1927

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