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Discover more about the stars of BBC Drama. |
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 Richard Wilson
Richard has had a long career as an actor and director, with many great roles to his name, including starring in Born and Bred. Despite that, he'll probably always be best known as grumpy Victor Meldrew and his catchprase "I don't believe it" from One Foot In The Grave.
Try our quick quiz about Richard Wilson!
| What's he been in? |
| Richard Wilson's has recently been playing Dr Donald Newman in cosy 1950s medical drama Born and Bred. He joined in series three, and stars alongside Oliver Milburn, Clive Swift, Maggie Steed and Jenna Russell.
He also appears in the new series of Doctor Who starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. He plays Doctor Constantine, in a spleen-tremblingly scary two-parter.
He's undoubtedly best known for his portrayal of irascible retiree Victor Meldrew in six seasons - and numerous specials - of One Foot In The Grave. His character's saying, "I don't believe it!" became a catchphrase across Britain, so much so that Richard will now only perform it for charity. He even cameoed in an episode of sitcom Father Ted, where he was driven to distraction by Ted's constant repetition of the phrase.
Prior to One Foot In The Grave, Richard has had numerous comedy roles, many involving doctoring or vicaring.
Early in his career he played Rev Martin Hooper in My Good Woman with Leslie Crowther and Sylvia Sims. A few years later he appeared in A Sharp Intake of Breath, where he and Alun Armstrong thwarted the hapless Mr and Mrs Barnes (David Jason and Jacqueline Clarke) on a weekly basis. This was followed by the part of Dr Gordon Thorpe in massively popular 70's sitcom Only When I Laugh with James Bolam and Peter Bowles.
Then there were the un-clerical or medical roles of Richard Lipton in newspaper satire Hot Metal, and Eddie Clockerty in rock 'n' roll comedy Tutti Frutti alongside Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson. He also played Foreign Secretary Nigel Lipman in Whoops Apocalypse, and appeared in The Trouble With Mr Bean with Rowan Atkinson.
Amongst the many dramas Richard has appeared in are Selling Hitler, In The Red, The Lord of Misrule, the film A Passage to India (in which later Born and Bred co-star Clive Swift also appeared), and TV comedy-drama Jeffrey Archer, The Truth, in which he played Prince Philip.
Richard is also a very experienced stage actor, with roles including Mr Darling/Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the Royal Festival Hall*, Uncle Vanya in Uncle Vanya and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, both at the Traverse Theatre*, Edinburgh.
*The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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| Did you know? |
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He's a supporter of the Labour Party.
Richard was awarded an OBE for services to drama in 1994.
Before becoming an actor, Richard worked as a research scientist.
He is a highly experienced director, with a long list of theatre and TV credits to his name. Amongst the many awards he has won are the TMA Best Director Award 2000 for Mr Kolpert and the John Whiting Award, for Imagine Drowning at the Hampstead Theatre*.
Richard is a patron of the Royal Court Theatre*
Between 1996 and 1999, he was Rector of The University of Glasgow.
He's the author of "I don't believe it: Richard Wilson's Book of Absurdities" - as the name suggests, a lightweight read consisting of humorous and amazing facts.
*The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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| Personal Details |
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He was born in Greenock, Scotland, on 9 July 1936.
His real name is Iain Wilson.
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