Friday, February 09, 2007

Ian Richardson is Dead

I know I am a bit late with this but I wanted to pay tribute to the actor Ian Richardson who died earlier today. His performance as Francis Urquhart in the House of Cards trilogy is one of the most memorable in any political drama of modern times. He was a brilliant character actor and his delivery of Michael Dobbs's memorable line "You might say that; I couldn't possibly comment", has ensured its entry into any book of political quotations.
UPDATE: A reader has corrected me. The "You might say that line" was not written by Michael Dobbs. It was in the screenplay. Apologies for the error.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

He was a quality actor ,I enjoyed him in Porterhouse Blue, Smiley ,4th Protocol, a very good jobbing actor.

Paul Linford said...

He'll be remembered for that performance of course, but he was equally brilliant playing opposite Alec Guinness's George Smiley as the mole Bill Haydon, in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Anonymous said...

Francis Urquhart was a shining light among shits..first among equals and not averse to a little al fresco murder to further his career.

Isn't it wonderful that our real MPs are paragons of probity and trust.

It is rumoured that he was "played" by Ian Richardson. No, that is not true at all. Richardson was a distinguished, first class actor.

Urquhart was real, a heroically Shakespearean shit. Unfortunately events have overtaken him and Nulab make him look more like Aguecheek than Iago.

Archbishop Cranmer said...

His Grace is immeasurably saddened to hear of the passing of this most talented of thespians.

It is said that all Whips end up in hell. His Grace hopes and prays that the Lord will look favourably upon Mr Richardson, who merely portrayed their black arts, and thereby shone much light into a world of darkness.

Requiem aeternam.

+Cranmer

Anonymous said...

No-one going to mention him in Gormenghast? A truly creepy performanceI thought.

Anonymous said...

Noone comments much on how a Soviet agent became Prime Minister even though George Smiley exposed him

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

He was a wonderful actor and I can't imagine anyone else as Urquhart.

Anonymous said...

A brilliant actor, although I can only judge him on his Urquhart role. He's the major inspiration for me doing GCSE Drama.

Anonymous said...

What about the dictaphone scene at the end of one of the episodes...

Chilling eh? His voice will live for ages because of that.

Anonymous said...

His "Urquhart" was without doubt a turning point in polical drama. It was at this point that I started to take a more serious interest in politics. A wonderful actor, cos by all accounts, he was a very nice man.

Anonymous said...

He was an actor who took a script and made it his own.

He will be sorely missed.

RIP Mr Richardson, we loved you when you lived and will love you always.

Bela said...

I first saw him in the film of The Marat/Sade in 1967 and subsequently in all the parts he played with the RSC between 1969 and 1975. I will never forget his Richard II, Berowne, Angelo, Ford... etc. etc. He was brilliant.

I was fortunate enough to have met him in the mid-70s (I and two other girls were sharing his house in Stratford-upon-Avon, while he was staying somewhere else). He used to come and chide us for not mowing the lawn often enough. We all adored him.

I am very sad today.

Anonymous said...

I saw him perform at Chichester in Moliere's "The Miser" and Pinero's "The Magistrate". I dropped him a note to say how much I enjoyed his performances and received a very gracious thank you letter in reply.
As the first comment on this post says, he was a quality actor.

Anonymous said...

(I and two other girls were sharing his house in Stratford-upon-Avon, while he was staying somewhere else).

You could have omitted the subordinate clause and we should have thought even more of his energy and charm

Anonymous said...

How many times when I was an Association Chairman did I yell "Francis Urqhart, where are you when I need you"? Lots.

Sad loss of a wonderful actor.