Julian Richings (born September 8, 1955) is an English-born Canadian actor. He has become a familiar figure to Canadian cinema and television audiences, appearing in over 50 films and 20 separate television series.
After training in drama at the University of Exeter and touring North America with a British stage production, Richings moved to Toronto, Canada in 1984. Within five years, he had become a regular on the second season of the War of the Worlds TV series. Other roles followed, and he gained critical acclaim as the bitter, aging punk rock legend Bucky Haight in Bruce McDonald's 1996 release Hard Core Logo. He had a brief appearance in Vincenzo Natali's 1997 Cube. In 1999 he played a secondary character in the sci-fi movie Thrill Seekers, alongside Casper Van Dien and Catherine Bell. In 2000, Richings appeared as Bellanger in The Claim, and earned a Genie Award nomination for best supporting actor. Richings was also a member of the repertory cast of the A&E TV original series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001-2002).
Richings is familiar to horror fans for appearing as the nearly-blind security guard Otto in Stephen King's 2004 miniseries Kingdom Hospital, and for his manic performance in heavy makeup as Three Finger in Wrong Turn. Dramatic roles include stagehand Mr. Turnbull in the 2004 film Being Julia, where he appeared for a second time with Annette Bening (much of his role was cut from the final release of Open Range in 2003). The picture in this entry is from his appearance as Orr, a casually cruel loan shark who provides most of the menace in the 2004 Canadian film The Last Casino. In 2006, his activities included appearing in a brief speaking role as the Mutant Theatre Organizer in X-Men: The Last Stand, and playing a lethal vampire killer alongside David Carradine in the direct-to-DVD horror film The Last Sect. 2007 has seen him a driver in the Clive Owen film Shoot 'Em Up, in another turn as a dissipated and aging punk rocker in The Third Eye, as transvestite psychologist "Dr. Heker" in The Tracey Fragments, and in a number of small roles in other films, including Skinwalkers and Saw IV. He will appear in Louis Bélanger's upcoming film The Timekeeper, which starts Roy Dupuis, scheduled for release in early 2008.
He has a wide range of activities, appearing in movies, television shows, commercials, and plays, as well as doing voiceover work and teaching classes in the acting craft.
He was presented with two Dora Awards in the late 1980s, and continues to perform professionally in the Toronto area with a number of theatre groups.
Richings resides in the Toronto area with his wife and two children.
Julian Richings was born in Oxford, England and has become a familiar figure to Canadian cinema and television audiences, appearing in over 50 films and 20 separate television series. After training in drama at the University of Exeter and touring North America with a British stage production, Mr. Richings moved to Toronto, Canada in 1984. Within five years, he had become a regular on the second season of the Canadian _War of the Worlds(1988)_ TV series. Other roles followed, and he gained critical acclaim as the bitter, aging punk rock legend Bucky Haight in 'Bruce McDonald''s mock-documentary Hard Core Logo (1996). His appearance in Vincenzo Natali's Cube (1997) was brief, but definitely memorable. In 2000, Mr. Richings appeared as Francis Bellanger, an itinerant railroad worker who falls in love with a prostitute (played by 'Shirley Henderson'), in _The Claim (2000)_, and the role earned him a 'Genie Award' nomination for best supporting actor. His performance as the nearly-blind security guard Otto in 'Stephen King''s _Kingdom Hospital (2004)_ was considered especially impressive by many critics. A busy stage actor as well, Mr. Richings was presented with two 'Dora Awards' in the late 1980s, and continues to perform professionally in the Toronto area. He tends to appear in small, experimental theaters and has been known to work for free if he thinks the material is interesting enough. In addition to acting, Mr. Richings has taught seminars and classes on acting and on movement for actors in the Toronto area for nearly twenty years. Mr. Richings is married and has two children. He resides with his family in Toronto.
