A leading player with the Royal Shakespeare Company for many seasons.
Claimed in a 2006 interview that his father was the inventor of the Jaffa Cake
Father of the actor Miles Richardson.
He was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1989 for his services to drama.
Lived in Devon, UK, not far from Knightshayes Court, where his Sherlock Holmes film The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983) (TV) was filmed in 1983.
On 22 November 2010 his ashes were buried beneath the auditorium of the new Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Studied at the College of Dramatic Art, Glasgow.
Two days after his death, actress Helen Mirren dedicated her BAFTA win, for Best Actress in a Leading Role, for the film The Queen (2006), to Ian Richardson, at the 2007 BAFTA Film Awards. She mentioned how Richardson was very supportive towards her when she started out acting, and without him she may not have been so successful. [2007]
Was nominated for Broadway's 1976 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for portraying Henry Higgins in a revival of "My Fair Lady."