Richard Easton
Richard Easton | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Richard Easton March 22, 1933 |
| Died | December 2, 2019 (aged 86) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1951–2013 |
John Richard Easton[1] (March 22, 1933 – December 2, 2019) was a Canadian stage, television and film actor. Easton began his career with Ottawa's Canadian Repertory Theatre, followed by a long career on the stage at the Crest Theatre, Stratford Festival, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, in various Broadway theatre roles, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Renaissance Theatre Company.[2] He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Brian Hammond in the 1970s BBC serial The Brothers.[3]
Life and career
Easton was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of Mary Louise (née Withington) and Leonard Idell Easton, a civil engineer. He started acting in a children's theatre group. He played Hamlet in high school and studied with Eleanor Stuart. He made his professional acting debut with the Brae Manor Playhouse in 1947. In 1951, at the age of seventeen, he moved to Ottawa to join the Canadian Repertory Theatre.[2] In 1953, he joined the Stratford Festival in its inaugural season and inaugural production of Richard III.[2]
From 1956 through 1958, Easton appeared in six Crest Theatre stage productions in Toronto.[4]
His first appearance in New York came in 1957 in an off-Broadway production by the Phoenix Theatre. He next appeared at the Stratford, Connecticut Shakespeare Festival. He appeared with the APA Repertory in 1961 in Hamlet, Exit the King in 1967 and The Misanthrope in 1969.[2]
From 1972 to 1976, Easton appeared as Brian Hammond in the 1970s BBC serial The Brothers.[5] He also had television guest appearances on Doctor Who, L.A. Law, Frasier, and Ed.[6][7]
After The Brothers, Easton worked in British repertory theatre, leading to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company until 1986, when he joined the Renaissance Theatre Company.[2] With the Renaissance company he played Jaques in As You Like It and Claudius in Hamlet.[2]
In 2001, Easton won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actor in Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love.[4]
In 2002, Easton starred in the title role in a three-part documentary, Benjamin Franklin, on PBS.[8] Between 2005 and 2011, Easton again appeared as Benjamin Franklin in a series of commercials and videos about Freemasonry, produced for the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts A.F. & A.M.
On October 18, 2006, while performing Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia on stage during the show's second preview at the Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater, Easton suffered a heart attack and collapsed. His heart stopped beating, but after co-star Martha Plimpton realized that Easton's fall was serious and asked the audience if a doctor was present, a stagehand stepped up to perform CPR. An ambulance was called and Easton was revived with defibrillation.[9][10] He underwent a procedure to correct a heart arrhythmia, briefly delaying the opening of the play, in which he played a central role.[11] He made a full recovery and returned to the play soon after the incident.[12]
In 2008, Easton was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[13]
In 2011, Easton made a guest appearance in the second season of Boardwalk Empire, appearing as Jackson Parkhurst in the episode "Gimcrack & Bunkum".[14]
One of his last notable appearances in media was as the voice of Nigel, the eccentric celebrity fanatic in the game Grand Theft Auto V.
Easton died on December 2, 2019, at the age of 86.[15][16][17]
Filmography
Film
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1976 | Feelings | (Unknown Role) | |
| 1983 | Young Warriors | Bartender | |
| 1989 | Henry V | Constable of France Charles D'Albret | |
| 1991 | Dead Again | Father Timothy | |
| 2000 | Finding Forrester | Prof. Matthews | |
| 2005 | Stealing Martin Lane | Ed | |
| 2005 | It's About Time | Mr. Dawson | |
| 2005 | Pizza | Mr. Mitchell | |
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road | Mr. Givings | |
Television
| Television | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1959 | Play of the Week | Beliaev | 1 episode |
| 1960 | The DuPont Show of the Month | 1 episode | |
| 1963 | No Hiding Place | Simon McCowen | 1 episode |
| 1972–1976 | The Brothers | Brian Hammond | 85 episodes |
| 1982 | Doctor Who | Captain Stapley | 4 episodes |
| 1997 | Frasier | Mel White | Episode: "Ham Radio" |
| 2002 | Benjamin Franklin | Benjamin Franklin | PBS mini series 3 episodes |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Richard Sutton | Episode: "Bound" |
| 2007 | Alexander Hamilton | George Washington | Voice |
| 2011 | Boardwalk Empire | Jackson Parkhurst | Episode: "Gimcrack & Bunkum" |
| 2011 | Mildred Pierce | Charlie Hannen | Episode: 3 |
Stage
- Richard III - Sir Thomas Vaughan (1953 Stratford Festival production)
- King Lear - Edgar (1955 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre production)
- The School for Scandal (1956 Crest Theatre production)
- The Italian Straw Hat (1956 Crest Theatre production)
- The Three Sisters (1956 Crest Theatre production)
- Antony and Cleopatra (1956 Crest Theatre production)
- She Stoops to Conquer (1957 Crest Theatre production)
- Salad Days (1958 Crest Theatre production)
- Hamlet - Hamlet (1961 APA Repertory Theatre production)
- Exit the King - Berenger (1967 APA-Phoenix Theatre production)
- The Misanthrope - Alceste (1969 APA-Phoenix Theatre production)
- Hamlet - Claudius (1969 Lyceum Theatre production)
- As You Like It - Jaques (1986 Renaissance Theatre Company production)
- Hamlet - Claudius (1986 Renaissance Theatre Company production)
- The Invention of Love - A. E. Housman, aged 77 (2001)
- Noises Off - Selsdon Mowbray (2001 Royal National Theatre production)
- Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 - Henry IV (2003 Lincoln Center production)
- The Coast of Utopia - Alexander Bakunin/Leonty Ibayev/Stanislaw Worcell (2006 Lincoln Center production)
- Elling - Alfons (2010 Broadway production)
Video games
| Videogames | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role |
| 2007 | Manhunt 2 | Watchdogs member |
| 2013 | Grand Theft Auto V | Nigel |
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Film/TV Show/Play | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play | The Invention of Love | Won |
| 2001 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Won |
References
- ^ "Richard Easton Biography (1933-)". Film Reference.
- ^ a b c d e f Benson & Conolly 1989, p. 190.
- ^ "Richard Easton". IMDb. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ a b Illidge 2005, p. 107.
- ^ "Richard Easton". BFI. Archived from the original on June 1, 2018.
- ^ "Richard Easton". TVGuide.com.
- ^ "Richard Easton". Aveleyman.
- ^ "Benjamin Franklin [Part Two] (2002)". BFI. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019.
- ^ Miller, Stuart (April 21, 2007). "Sometimes Not Just Curtains Fall Onstage". The New York Times. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
- ^ LincolnCenterTheater (April 16, 2010). "Richard Easton". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
- ^ "The Coast Is Clear: Stoppard's Utopia Opens on Broadway". Playbill. November 27, 2006. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
- ^ Ethan Hawke's Co-Star Literally Died On Stage | The Graham Norton Show, June 2018, retrieved May 2, 2021
- ^ Gans, Andrew (October 10, 2008). "Hamlisch, Lane, Birch, Tunick and Azenberg Among Theater Hall of Fame Inductees". Playbill. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014.
- ^ "Boardwalk Empire". TVGuide.com.
- ^ "Wednesday Thoughts". Mockingbird Hill Cottage. December 4, 2019.
- ^ Barnes, Mike (November 12, 2019). "Richard Easton, Broadway Veteran and Tony Winner, Dies at 86". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Genzlinger, Neil (December 12, 2019). "Richard Easton, Stage Veteran and Tony Winner, Dies at 86". The New York Times.
Sources
- Benson, Eugene; Conolly, L. W., eds. (1989). The Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatre. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195406729.
- Illidge, Paul (2005). Glass Cage: The Crest Theatre Story. Toronto: Creber Monde (Canada). ISBN 0968634796.