Cyril Ritchard
Legendary for his preening, prancing, delightfully playful villain Captain Hook on the award-winning stage (as well as TV) opposite America's musical treasure Mary Martin, beloved musical star Cyril Ritchard had a vast career that would last six decades, but "Peter Pan" would become his prime legacy. Born in Australia just before the turn of the century, he was educated at St. Aloysius College and Sydney University wherein he slyly sidestepped a parental-guided career in medicine for entertainment, participating in numerous college productions that quickly got him "hooked." He began professionally in the chorus line of The Royal Comic Opera Company and quickly progressed to juvenile leads. A subsequent pairing with the already-established theatre actress Madge Elliott in 1918 proved successful, and the musical twosome eventually married in 1935. Together they would go on to become known as "The Musical Lunts" by their acting peers performing in scores of plays and revues together. Ritchard specialized in playing slick, dandified villains in musical comedy and developed a potent reputation of being a man of many talents. Not only directing and staging Broadway's finest, he became a renown performer of various operas and led many productions as such. Shortly before his wife's death of bone cancer in 1955, Ritchard ventured into TV infamy by repeating his Tony and Donaldson award-winning portrayal of Hook in Peter Pan (1955). He continued to earn acclaim and/or honors with such classic stage productions as "Visit to a Small Planet" (Tony-nominated), "The Pleasure of His Company" (Drama League award, Tony-nominated), "The Roar of the Greasepaint...the Smell of the Crowd" (Tony-nominated), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Sugar," the musical version of the classic Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot (1959) in which Ritchard played the Joe E. Brown role. Lesser regarded when it comes to film, he performed in the early Hitchcock classic Blackmail (1929) and made his last movie with the musical Half a Sixpence (1967) with Tommy Steele. While performing as the Narrator in a stage production of "Side by Side by Sondheim" in November 1977, Ritchard suffered a heart attack and died one month later. A one-of-a-kind talent, his nefarious, narcissistic humor was a career trademark that culminated in the role of a lifetime -- one that will certainly be enjoyed by children young and old for eons to come.
Known For
Credits
- 1977 · The Hobbit as Elrond (voice)
- 1975 · The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow as Father Thomas (voice)
- 1975 · Tubby the Tuba as The Frog (voice)
- 1973 · The Snoop Sisters as Morlock
- 1972 · Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes as Emperor Klockenlocher (voice)
- 1969 · Hans Brinker as Mijnheer Kleef
- 1967 · Half a Sixpence as Harry Chitterlow
- 1966 · The Daydreamer as The Sandman (voice)
- 1966 · The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner as Host
- 1965 · The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood as Big Bad Wolf
- 1964 · Mr. Scrooge as Ebenezer Scrooge
- 1963 · The Danny Kaye Show as Self
- 1962 · The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
- 1962 · The Merv Griffin Show as Self
- 1962 · The Owl and the Pussycat as
- 1961 · The Mike Douglas Show as Self - Co-Host
- 1961 · Dr. Kildare as Justin Fitzgibbons
- 1960 · Peter Pan as Mr. Darling / Captain Hook
- 1958 · The Christmas Tree as Promenade Member
- 1958 · Kraft Music Hall as Self
- 1958 · Aladdin as Sui-Generis, the Sorcerer
- 1957 · DuPont Show of the Month as Sui-Generis the Sorcerer
- 1957 · Tonight Starring Jack Paar as Self
- 1956 · The Dinah Shore Chevy Show as Self
- 1956 · The Steve Allen Show as Self - rehearsing for 'Jack and the Beanstalk'
- 1956 · The Steve Allen Show as Self - Dr. Frankenstien
- 1956 · The Steve Allen Show as Self - Guest
- 1956 · Tony Awards as Self - Presenter
- 1956 · Peter Pan as Mr. Darling / Captain Hook
- 1955 · Dearest Enemy as Gen. Howe
- 1955 · Playwrights '56 as
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Artist (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1955 · Peter Pan as Mr. Darling / Captain Hook
- 1954 · Producers' Showcase as Captain Hook
- 1952 · Omnibus as
- 1952 · Pontius Pilate as Pontius Pilate
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as
- 1950 · Lux Video Theatre as Arnold
- 1950 · What's My Line? as Self - Mystery Guest
- 1948 · Studio One as
- 1948 · Studio One as Pontius Pilate
- 1948 · Studio One as Monty Gavenhurst
- 1948 · Woman Hater as Reveller (uncredited)
- 1948 · The Philco Television Playhouse as
- 1948 · The Winslow Boy as
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
- 1938 · Dangerous Medicine as Dr. Noel Penwood
- 1938 · I See Ice as Paul Martine
- 1937 · The Show Goes On as Jimmy
- 1937 · It's a Grand Old World as
- 1932 · Service for Ladies as Sir William Carter
- 1930 · Symphony in Two Flats as Leo Chavasse
- 1930 · Just for a Song as Craddock
- 1929 · Blackmail as The Artist
- 1929 · Piccadilly as Victor Smiles