Richard Ainley
Ainley in 1937.
Born	(1910-12-22)22 December 1910 Stanmore, Middlesex, England
Died	18 May 1967(1967-05-18) (aged 56) Muswell Hill, London, England
Years active	1936–1943
Spouses	Ethel Glendinning Betzi Beaton Rowena Woolf
Parent	Henry Ainley (father)
Relatives	Anthony Ainley (half-brother)

Richard Ainley (22 December 1910 – 18 May 1967)^[1] was a British stage and film actor.

Biography

He was born in Middlesex, England, the son of Henry Ainley^[2] and a half-brother of Anthony Ainley.

Ainley made his stage debut in 1928, initially using the stage name Richard Riddle,^[1] taking his mother's maiden name.^{[citation needed]} His American debut came in Foreigners at the Belasco Theater in 1939.^[2]

His first motion picture appearance was in 1936 as Sylvius in As You Like It, in which his father also appeared.^[1] Other roles included Ferdinand in the television movie of The Tempest (1939), Dr. Hale in Shining Victory (1941), and a Foreign Office official in the thriller Above Suspicion (1943).

Ainley married three times, firstly to actress Ethel Glendinning. He was divorced from his first two wives; his third wife Rowena Woolf died in 1968.

He retired from film work following a disabling wound received while he was serving in the army^[which?] during World War II to return to the stage. He was briefly principal of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the early 1960s.

Filmography