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Richard Hope
Hope in 2010
Born	Kettering, England
Education	Trent Polytechnic BA (Hons) Law
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976–present
Website	www.richardhope.com

Richard Hope (11 October 1953 in Kettering, England) is a British actor who gained recognition from Brideshead Revisited as the doltish junior officer, Hooper, under Jeremy Irons' charge. He is best known for playing Harris Pascoe in the UK TV drama Poldark. His theatre career includes portraying Pierre Bezukhov in War and Peace at the Royal National Theatre and having starred as Levin in an adaptation of Anna Karenina by Helen Edmundson. In 2015, he played Hector in The History Boys. In 2018–2019, he starred in the West End production The Woman in Black as Arthur Kipps.

Career

In 1978, Laurence Olivier gave Hope his first professional TV part in an episode pf Laurence Olivier Presents named Saturday, Sunday, Monday by Eduardo De Filippo. Hope worked with Olivier again in 1981 when he appeared in the first and last episodes of Brideshead Revisited, in which he played Lieutenant Hooper.

Hope played Ford Prefect in the first stage production of Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with Ken Campbell's The Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool. He also appeared in their 22-hour epic The Warp and The Third Policeman. Campbell introduced him to Jérôme Savary. Hope made his first West End appearance with his musical theater company Le Grand Magic Circus in 1001 Nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1980.

He was Bertozzo in the UK Tour of Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1979) with Alfred Molina for The Belt and Braces Theatre Company directed by Gavin Richards ending at the Half Moon Theatre in London. Richards played Molina's part when it transferred six months later to the Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.

In 1981, Peter Gill cast him in Don Juan and Much Ado About Nothing which started his long association with The National Theatre.In 1984, he joined the Richard Eyre / David Hare Company playing Bill Smiley in the premiere of Pravda with Anthony Hopkins before switching to the role of Eaton Sylvester in two extended revivals in the Olivier Theatre. This also included ensemble productions of The Government Inspector with Rik Mayall and Jim Broadbent and Tim McInnerny's Hamlet, in which he played Horatio. He met Simon McBurney at the National Theatre Studio, where Hope helped devise and develop The Visit and Street of Crocodiles for Théâtre de Complicité. 1988 saw The Visit production as part of the 'Théâtre de Complicité at the Almeida' season, before the theatre closed for refurbishment; the production was revised in collaboration with The National Theatre in the Lyttleton stage in 1991. The production was invited to Spoleto Festival USA .

Hope played Salto in Handmade Films' 1987 thriller Bellman and True, written and directed by Richard Loncraine, and Hull City A.F.C. fan Malcolm in Mark Herman's comedy See You At Wembley, Frankie Walsh which won the Student Academy Award. In Piece of Cake directed by Ian Toynton he was ‘Skull' Skelton and he played Mortimer Tundish in both series of Debbie Horsfield's comedy-drama The Riff Raff Element, with Celia Imrie and Nicholas Farrell.

In 1996, he returned to the National Theatre as Pierre Bezukhov in the Shared Experience joint production of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, adapted by Helen Edmundson and directed by Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale. In 1998, he starred in another Tolstoy adaptation by Helen Edmundson, playing Levin in the Shared Experience production of Anna Karenina. Hope was associate director of this production which toured internationally, including runs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Lyric Theatre. Clive Barnes of the New York Post described it as ‘One of the true highlights of a lifetime of theatre-going'.

During 2000, under coach Geoff Thompson (author of Real Punching), Hope learned to wrestle for Jim Cartwright's Hard Fruit at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by James Macdonald. During a performance of Hard Fruit, Hope broke his wrist when he hit a punch post that was missing its padding; he continued the run of the show with an "authentic" bandaged hand. With Mark Rylance he was one of the six actors in Mike Alfreds' Cymbeline at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 2001. In 2002, the Royal National Theatre staged Simon Bent's adaptation of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany with Aidan McArdle as the title character and Hope as John Wheelwright.

Hope has been in several police dramas: Superintendent Harold Spence in Agatha Christie's Poirot, Barry Purvis for two series of Murder Investigation Team and semi-regular Rod Jessop, the local headmaster, in The Bill.

His first role in a musical was as Max Kellerman in Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre in 2010, staying for eighteen months. He played Horst Ehmke in Paul Miller's revival in Sheffield of Michael Frayn's play Democracy, which transferred to London's Old Vic Theatre in 2012. This was the third Frayn play he had performed in, having toured the UK in Donkeys' Years and Noises Off.

Hope returned to the Almeida Theatre as Gabriel York in Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling in 2009 and in 2012 as Albany in King Lear with Jonathan Pryce. In 2014, he played Queen Elizabeth I in the UK premiere of Sarah Ruhl's stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando at the Royal Exchange with Suranne Jones, directed by Max Webster. In 2015, Hope played Hector in Kate Saxon's production of Alan Bennett's The History Boys in the Sell A Door Theatre Company UK Tour. From 2015 to 2016, Hope continued his long-standing collaboration with Helen Edmundson, playing Sidney Godolphin in the original Royal Shakespeare Company production of her original play Queen Anne, starring Natascha McElhone. In 2017 Queen Anne transferred to the Haymarket Theatre with Romola Garai.

He played recurring characters Malokeh and Bleytal (Silurians) in Doctor Who, and has recorded several related audios with Big Finish, including Dr Who - Doom Coalition 3: "Absent Friends", which won the BBC Audio Drama Award 2017.

From May 2018 through March 2019, Richard played Arthur Kipps in The Woman in Black by Susan Hill adapted into a stage play by Stephen Mallatratt at the Fortune Theatre, London. Richard had already played Jerome in the 2004 BBC Radio 4 version directed by John Taylor as a Fiction Factory production.

In 2019, he returned as Harris Pascoe, Ross Poldark's banker and friend, for his fifth season of Poldark with screenplay by Debbie Horsfield. He previously worked with Horsfield on The Riff Raff Element. He also appeared in an episode of Casualty.

In 2024 Hope returned to Royal Court Theatre as Wally Saunders in Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, directed by Nick Hytner, with John Lithgow, Elliot Levey, Rachael Stirling, Romola Garai and Tessa Bonham Jones.

Stage

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio work

References

1. "Richard Hope - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
2. Smith, C. S. (13 October 2014). The New York Times Theater Reviews 1997-1998. Routledge. ISBN 9781136750342. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
3. ^ "Cast". The Woman In Black. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
4. Brideshead Revisited (TV Mini Series 1981) - IMDb. Retrieved 14 November 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
5. Billington, Michael (13 October 2016). "Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist – a heady blend of vaudeville and politics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
6. ^ "Hope; Richard". National Theatre Archive.
7. "The Government Inspector". National Theatre Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
8. "Pravda". National Theatre Archive. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
9. Complicite. "Complicite - Richard Hope". www.complicite.org.
10. Nightingale, Benedict (14 February 1991). "Review: The Visit (1991)". The Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
11. "War of the words".
12. https://secure.pqarchiver.com/nypost/doc/333766773.html?FMT=FT
13. Marks, Peter (13 November 1998). "THEATER REVIEW; A Classic Russian Tale of Infidelity, Sparely Told". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
14. "Red-hot telling of love in a cold climate". 28 September 1998. Archived from the original on 26 February 2016 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
15. ^ "Hard Fruit - Royal Court". Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
16. ^ "Cymbeline / Shakespeare's Globe". www.shakespearesglobe.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
17. ^ "A Prayer for Owen Meany". National Theatre Archive.
18. ^ Hickling, Alfred (15 March 2012). "Democracy – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
19. "Theatre review: When the Rain Stops Falling at Almeida Theatre". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
20. ^ "King Lear". Digital Theatre. Archived from the original on 30 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
21. ^ Anglesey, Natalie (26 February 2014). "Review: Orlando @ Royal Exchange".
22. ^ host, just. "Welcome thegoodreview.co.uk - Justhost.com". thegoodreview.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
23. ^ http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/review-history-boys-everyman-theatre/story-26260873-detail/story.html
24. ^ "The History Boys review: Poldark star Richard Hope gives 'stunning' performance alongside fresh cast". Cambridge News. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 15 December 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
25. "Cast and creative | Queen Anne". Royal Shakespeare Company. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
26. "Queen Anne". Royal Shakespeare Company. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
27. Billington, Michael (11 July 2017). "Queen Anne review – Romola Garai is a sensational schemer in gripping history play". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
28. "Woman in Black, The [drama]". Radiolistings.co.uk. 24 January 2012. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
29. "Fiction Factory Productions". Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
30. Coren, Michael (21 October 2024). "When I met Roald Dahl, he said antisemitic things — but trying to cancel him is wrong". The Standard. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
31. "Much Ado About Nothing, Gill/Chitty, National Theatre, August 1981". www.ahds.rhul.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
32. "Richard Hope". National Theatre. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
33. "Hamlet, Berry/Dyer, National Theatre Touring, January 1986". www.ahds.rhul.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
34. "Review of The Gentleman From Olmedo". www.cix.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
35. "War and Peace". National Theatre Archive. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
36. "Hard Fruit". Royal Court Theatre. Archived from the original on 6 April 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
37. "Albemarle - Archive". Archived from the original on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
38. "Programme notes" (PDF). www.shakespearesglobe.com. 2015.
39. Loveridge, CurtainUp, Lizzie. "Life After George, a CurtainUp London review". www.curtainup.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
40. "Sonia Friedman Productions". www.soniafriedman.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
41. "Theatre Reviews - UK, London, West End, Broadway, Fringe - The Stage". The Stage.
42. "Review of When the Rain Stops Falling at the Almeida Theatre 2009". London Theatre. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
43. "Giant". Royal Court. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
44. "Harbour". Reel King Media. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
45. "NY Times".
46. "Doctors spoilers: There's BIG trouble for Karen Hollins..." What's on TV. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
47. * Richard Hope at IMDb

External links

• Official website
• Richard Hope at IMDb

• English male stage actors
• English male film actors
• English male radio actors
• English male television actors
• Living people
• National Youth Theatre members
• Actors from Kettering
• 1953 births
• Male actors from Northamptonshire