Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August, 1918 in Plymouth, Devon, England - 1 June, 1985 in Norfolk, England) - some sources list his birthdate as 1914 - was a noted English movie and television actor. His aunt was the musical theatre actress Evie Greene. His father, Richard Abraham Greene and his mother, Kathleen Gerrard, were both actors with the Plymouth Repertory Theatre. A matinee idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran 143 episodes from 1955 to 1960.

He was of Irish and Scottish Catholic extraction, being born in Plymouth, Devon, England. Son of four generations of actors, Greene was educated at Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in Kensington, London and left at age 18. He started off his stage career as the proverbial spear carrier in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in 1933. A good looking young man, Greene helped his income by modeling shirts and hats.

Greene joined the Jevan Brandon Repertory Company in 1936 where he won accolades in the same year for his part in Terence Rattigan's French Without Tears which bought him to the attention of Alexander Korda and Darryl F. Zanuck. Aged 20, he joined 20th Century Fox as a rival to MGM's Robert Taylor. His first film for Fox was John Ford's Four Men and a Prayer. Greene was a huge success, especially with female film goers who sent him mountains of fan mail which at its peak rivaled that of Fox star Tyrone Power. One of his most notable roles was Sir Henry Baskerville in the 1939 Sherlock Holmes film The Hound of the Baskervilles. The film marked the first pairing of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

Greene interrupted his acting life to serve in World War II in the Royal Armoured Corps of the Twenty Seventh Lancers where he distinguished himself and after three months went to Sandhurst and was commissioned in the 27th Lancers in May 1944 with the rank of Captain. He was relieved from duty to appear in the British propaganda films "Flying Fortress" and "Unpublished Story," in 1942, and appeared in "The Yellow Canary" while on furlough in 1943. He later toured in Shaw's "Arms and the Man" entertaining the forces. Greene was discharged in December 1944 and appeared in the stage plays "Desert Rats" and "I Capture the Castle".

The war however effectively ruined Greene's rising career and though he did well in the popular Forever Amber (1947), Greene then found himself cast in a series of swashbuckling roles. Having turned away from films in favor of stage and screen and having been through a divorce from Patricia Medina, who he was married to from 1941 to 1951, Greene was cash strapped when Yeoman Films of Great Britain approached him for the lead role in The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Greene took the role, and was an immediate success. It also solved all his money problems and made him into a star. Greene married Brazilian heiress Mrs.Beatriz Robledo Summers (1960 - 1980, when they separated) and together they purchased a stud farm in County Wexford, Ireland. Within five years he was listed among the top breeders of thoroughbred horses in England and Ireland. He also pursued his interest in sailing, successfully competing in yacht racing. He rarely accepted roles from then onwards, seeming to lose interest in the whole industry. His unfulfilled ambition had been to ride in the (British) Grand National. Greene underwent surgery in 1982 for a brain tumor and never fully recovered. He died of cardiac arrest three years later in Norfolk.

Richard Green was a boxing referee. He was the referee for WBA Lightweight Title fight between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim on November 13, 1982, the famous fight where Kim lost his life at just 23 years of age. Green blamed himself for allowing the fight to go on and for Kim's death, taking his own life on July 1, 1983. He was 46. Green had also been third man in the ring for the Larry Holmes-Muhammad Ali fight in 1980.

Richard Greene has been the Imperial Wizard of the Mississippi chapter of the White Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan since 1999.

Before achieving his greatest fame in the 1950s as television's Robin Hood, handsome Richard Greene had a significant if largely unremarkable film career, turning in several skilful leading man performances in the late 1930s before becoming type-cast in routine costume adventures. Like his friendly rival, 'Tyrone Power', Greene's good looks aided his entry into films but ultimately proved detrimental to his development as a film actor. A descendant of four generations of film actors, and the grandson of film pioneer William Friese Greene, Richard Marius Joseph Greene seemed destined for a career as a movie actor. Born August 25, 1918 (Some sources list his birth date as 1914) in the port city of Plymouth, Devonshire, England, Greene was educated at the Cardinal Vaughn School in Kensington. At an early age he became determined to pursue the acting profession, making his stage debut in 1933 at the Old Vic as a spear carrier in a production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". By this time the formally gawky teenager was rapidly maturing into an exceedingly good looking young man with an athletic build, dark wavy hair, and a pleasant speaking voice. So handsome was he, in between acting gigs he supplanted his income as a shirt and hat model. After a small role in a 1934 revival of "Journey's End and a bit part in the British musical film, Sing As We Go (1934), Greene joined the Brandon Thomas Repertory Company in 1936, traveling the length and breadth of the British Isles in a variety of productions. His first major break came in 1936 when he won accolades on the London stage as the juvenile lead in Terrence Rattigan's "French Without Tears" which brought him to the attention of Alexander Korda then Darryl F. Zanuck. Fox signed the youngster in January, 1938, brought him to America, and immediately cast him in his first film: as the youngest of four brothers in John Ford (I), Four Men and a Prayer (1938). His excellent reviews and camera friendly physical appearance (which inspired mountains of fan mail from adoring feminine moviegoers) convinced Zanuck to rush Greene into a series of top notch films which showed him to advantage and might have been the springboard to more substantive roles and super stardom had fate and World War II not intervened. Greene gave several notable performances as a Fox contractor. He was a banker's son turned horse trainer in the popular horse breeding epic, Kentucky (1938), a murdered baronet's son in the eerie Sherlock Holmes mystery, _Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)_, a college student estranged from his alcoholic father in Here I Am a Stranger (1939), and steamboat inventor Robert Fulton in the fanciful historical drama, Little Old New York (1940). At the peak of his popularity, with a growing resume of critically acclaimed film work, and fan mail rivaling Fox's number one heartthrob, Ty Power, Greene abandoned his studio contract in 1940 and returned to his homeland to aid in the war effort: an admirable personal decision which would have negative professional consequences. Enlisting in the Royal Armoured Corps of the Twenty Seventh Lancers, he distinguished himself throughout World War II eventually becoming a captain. He was discharged in December, 1944. During the war he was given three furloughs to appear in three British propaganda features. After the conflict ended Greene and his young bride, beautiful British actress, 'Patricia Medina' (whom he married in 1941) remained in England for a time where both appeared on stage and in British movies. Richard's films included the charming comedy, Don't Take It to Heart (1944), and the disappointing biopic, Gaiety George (1946). In 1946 the ambitious Greene (accompanied by his wife who'd been offered a Fox contract) returned to Hollywood hoping to take up where he'd left off. When his dreams of regaining his lost momentum did not materialize, he opted to take whatever film work he could find. After landing a solid supporting role in the wildly popular costumer, Forever Amber (1947), he found himself cast as a swashbuckling hero in a long series of films, the most memorable of which was Black Castle, The (1952) in which the heroic Greene battled an evil one-eyed Bavarian count. By the 1950s the increasingly restless actor turned away from filmmaking in favor of the stage and television. His TV credits of the period included memorable performances on several life drama series including, "Studio One" and "U. S. Steel Hour". In 1955 Yeoman Films of Great Britain approached the still youthful looking middle aged star to play the legendary Robin of Locksley in a proposed series, "Adventures of Robin Hood" aimed at the American market. The disillusioned, newly divorced (in 1951), financially strapped actor eagerly signed on. The result was one of the most memorable and successful series of the decade, lasting five years, consisting of 143 half hour episodes which made Greene a major television star and a rich man. When the series ended the veteran actor purchased an Irish country estate and settled into a life of leisure with his new wife, Brazilian heiress, Beatriz Summers. Together they pursued many of his hobbies including traveling, sailing, and breeding champion horses. By the 1960s and 1970s Greene appeared less and less interested in his profession, only occasionally accepting acting work. His latter films were mostly forgettable action adventures and horrors. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1980. Two years later he suffered serious injuries in a fall followed by a diagnosis of a brain tumor. In the autumn of 1982 he underwent brain surgery from which he never fully recovered. Richard Greene died in Norfolk, England on June 1, 1985. He was survived by a daughter by his second marriage. Although his movie career was ultimately a disappointment to him, eventually he came to accept, even embrace his cinematic fate as a swashbuckling hero. "This swashbuckler stuff is a bit rough on the anatomy," he revealed in a 1950s interview, "but I find it more exhilarating than whispering mishmash into some ingénue's pink little ear." Of his most famous swashbuckling role, Robin Hood, Greene expressed a special fondness and pride. "Kids love pageantry and costume plays. But the most important thing is: Robin can be identified with any American hero. He's the British Hopalong!"