Richard Coleman
Introduction '''Richard Coleman''' (20 January 1930 – 16 December 2008) was a British film, television and stage actor.
Early life Richard Coleman was born Ronald Coleman in Peckham, London in 1930.He was educated at Wilson's Grammar School, Peckham. After three years' National Service in the R.A.F., he worked as a salesman in a West End gentleman's outfitters. While there he became interested in amateur dramatics, joining "The Taverners", a group which visited local inns and public houses, giving performances of Shakespeare. Bob and Frances Fish, who ran The Taverners, recognised Coleman's potential and entered him in 1951 for the Leverhulme Scholarship to RADA, which he won. To make ends meet during the Academy's vacations, he was forced to do a variety of jobs, including working on the Thames River Bus and selling razors. He graduated from RADA in 1953 with the Principal’s Medal. He adopted the stage name Richard Coleman, to avoid confusion with the film star Ronald Colman.He then spent two years with the Worthing Repertory Company, appearing in many plays.
Career ===Theatre===Coleman made his professional acting debut in 1955, playing Albert Tufnell, A.B., in the stage adaptation of ''Sailor Beware! ''starring Peggy Mount, which opened in The Strand Theatre in London's West End on Wednesday 16 February 1955 and ran for 1231 performances. He also appeared in ''The World of Suzie Wong'', ''The Big Killing'', ''A Murder is Announced'', ''The Mousetrap'' and had three years from 1968-70 playing both Andrew Hunter and Robert Danvers in the London West End stage version of ''There's a Girl in My Soup''. Later in his career Coleman became a theatre producer and, among other ventures, toured Canada in 1976 with a well-received production of "Absurd Person Singular", starring John Thaw.A full list of the plays in which Coleman appeared is:1955-58     Sailor, Beware! (Albert Tufnell, A.B. )1959        Suzie Wong (Ben Jeffcoat)1962        The Big Killing1968-70     There's A Girl in My Soup (Andrew Hunter and Robert Danvers)1975        How It Can Ruin Your Health1975        Cheaper by the Dozen1976        Absurd Person Singular (Tour of Canada)1976        The Roaring Forties (George)1977        The Chiltern Hundreds (Beecham)1977        A Murder is Announced1978        Suddenly At Home (Glenn Howard)1979        An Ideal Husband (Sir Robert Chiltern)1982        Public Relations1982        In Praise of Love.He also appeared in: Lady Windermere's Fan (Lord Windermere), Staircase (Charles Dyer), The Mousetrap, Two and Two Make Sex and Not Now Darling.===Television===He played David Redway in the situation comedy ''...And Mother Makes Three'' (1972-3), and its sequel ''...And Mother Makes Five'' (1974-6), opposite Wendy Craig. Other television roles included Nick Allardyce in ''The Adventures of Ben Gunn'' (1958), Alan-a-Dale in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1958–60), and Jack Royston in the short lived Anglia Television soap opera ''Weavers Green'' (1966). Coleman also made guest appearances in television series such as ''Dixon of Dock Green'', ''No Hiding Place'', ''Emergency Ward 10'', ''Sergeant Cork'', ''Zero One'', ''The Avengers'', ''Z-Cars'', ''Thriller (A Coffin for the Bride)'', ''Robin's Nest'', ''Surgical Spirit'', ''Champion House'', "Letters From The Dead", ''Whodunnit?'' (Worth Dying For) (1975), and ''Virtual Murder''. He was a panellist on "Whose Baby?" (1973) in all 13 episodes of the first series and all 14 episodes of the second series.===Film===Coleman appeared in a number films including ''The Dam Busters'' (1955), ''Yangtse Incident'' (1957), ''Girls at Sea'' (1958), ''The Navy Lark'' (1959), ''Ben-Hur'' (1959), Hell is a City (1960), ''The Day The Earth Caught Fire'' (1961), 80,000 Suspects (1963), ''Rotten to the Core'' (1965) ''Naked Evil'' (1966) and Who Dares Wins (1982). He also had a cameo role in the film ''10 Rillington Place'' (1971) as the police constable who arrests the murderer John Christie.
Personal life Coleman was married to the actress Peggy Sinclair. They had two daughters. At the end of the 1980s they went to live in rural France, where he indulged his lifelong love of dogs, good food and fine wine. He died from cancer in France on 16 December 2008, aged 78.
Filmography  Year Title Role Notes1955 ''The Dam Busters''  RAF Officer  Uncredited1957 ''Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst''  Lt. Cmdr. Skinner 1958 ''Girls at Sea''  Capt. Robert 'Bobby' Randall 1959 ''The Navy Lark''  Lt. Bates R.N. 1959 ''Ben-Hur''  Metellus  Uncredited1963 ''80,000 Suspects''  Scott James  Uncredited1965 ''Rotten to the Core''  Inspector Hewlett  Uncredited1966 ''Naked Evil''  Inspector Hollis 1967 ''Countdown to Danger''  Captain Wright  Children's Film Foundation1971 ''10 Rillington Place''  Police Constable #4 1972 ''Hide and Seek''  Police Sergeant  Children's Film Foundation1981 ''The Comoedia''  Virgilio 1982 ''Who Dares Wins''  Mr. Martin
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