Richard O’Sullivan, 1944 – present
Man About The House will be 50 years old later this year so we thought we’d take a look back at the career of Richard O’Sullivan.
Best known for his role as Robin Tripp in Man About The House and Robin’s Nest he had a TV career that lasted until his retirement in the 1990’s.
Quick Bio
Richard O’Sullivan was born on 7th May 1944 to to John and Ellen O’Sullivan (née Fleming) in Chiswick.
His early years education was at St John the Evangelist’s RC Primary School in Brentford, West London. A family holiday in Ireland as a young boy had a young Richard returning with a strong Irish accent. In order to soften it he was sent to Corona Theatre School.
He married Diana Terry in 1971, it was short lived as they divorced later the same year. In 1978 he began a relationship with his then co-star Tessa Wyatt with whom he had a son, Jamie. The couple split in 1985. Two years later, in 1987, O’Sullivan married his second wife Christine Scott, they divorced in 1994.
Richard O’Sullivan largely retired from public life in 1996. His last TV appearance was as a guest on a 1999 edition of This Is Your Life held in honour of his Doctor… co-star George Layton. In 2006, O’Sullivan recorded a commentary for the DVD release of Carry On Teacher.
In 2003 it is reputed that O’Sullivan suffered a stroke. Today he lives in Brinsworth House, a retirement home in Twikenham, which enjoyed a vist from the Duchess of Sussex
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Early Career
O’Sullivan is reputed to have appeared in his first film at the age of eight, as an extra playing one of the children singing in the Sunday School sequence of The yellow Balloon filmed in 1952 and released in 1953. He went on to play the main character in the film, again in 1953.
His earliest television work was a part in the Sherlock Holmes episode “The Unlucky Gambler”, in July 1955. Other roles in film and TV followed including an appearance in early Carry On film “Carry On Teacher” in 1959.
1960’s and hitting the big one
In the early 1960s, O’Sullivan appeared in two Cliff Richard films; The Young Ones in 1961 and three years later in 1964, Wonderful Life. In the 1963 blockbuster Cleopatra he appeared as Pharoah Ptolemy XIII, the younger brother of the title character played by Elizabeth Taylor.
For the remainder of the 1960’s, Richard O’Sullivan was a jobbing actor appearing in such TV series as Dr Syn: the Scarecrow, Emergency Ward 10, Redcap, Danger Man, No Hiding Place, Dixon of Dock Green and Strange Report.
All that was about to change when in 1971 he took on the role of Lawrence Bingham in the hit sitcom Doctor At Large, a role which continued in the later Doctor in Charge (1972–73).
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In the meantime, he also had a main role in another ITV comedy Alcock and Gander in 1972 alongside Beryl Reid.
However, now an ITV sitcom regular it would be a 1973 sitcom, Man About The House that would make him household name.
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in 1974 Richard O’ Sullivan was the subject of This Is your Life
The spin off to Man About The House Robin’s Nest began in 1977, another huge success giving O’Sullivan another starring role reprising his character Robin Tripp.
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Change Of Tempo
In 1979 he took on the role of Dick Turpin
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Back To Comedy
In 1984 it was back to sitcom starring alongside Tim Brooke-Taylor in Me and My Girl
When Me and My Girl finished in 1988, O’Sullivan starred in the one off TV movie The Giftie
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Still going strong in 1990’s he starred in a short-lived sitcom Trouble In Mind
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His final TV role was alongside Tony Robinson in 1996 one off satire ‘Holed’