Richard O'Brien

For other uses, see Richard O'Brien (disambiguation).

Richard O'Brien
O'Brien in 2008
O'Brien in 2008
BornRichard Timothy Smith
(1942-03-25) 25 March 1942 (age 82)
Cheltenham, England
Occupation
  • Actor
  • writer
  • musician
  • television presenter
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • New Zealand
EducationTauranga Boys' College
Years active1965–present
Notable works
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1971; div. 1979)​
Jane Moss
​
​
(m. 1983; div. 2006)​
Sabrina Graf
​
(m. 2013)​
Children3

Richard O'Brien (born Richard Timothy Smith; 25 March 1942)[1][2][3] is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show The Rocky Horror Show in 1973, which has since remained in continuous production. He also co-wrote the screenplay along with director Jim Sharman for the film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and appeared on-screen as Riff Raff. The film became an international success and has received a large cult following.[4][5] O'Brien co-wrote the musical Shock Treatment (1981) and appeared in the film as Dr. Cosmo McKinley.

From 1990 to 1993, O'Brien presented the Channel 4 game show The Crystal Maze. He also provides the voice of Lawrence Fletcher in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb (2008–2015; 2025–present), as well as its two films (2011 and 2020). His other acting credits include Flash Gordon (1980), Robin of Sherwood (1985), Spice World (1997), Ever After (1998), Dungeons & Dragons (2000), and Elvira's Haunted Hills (2001).

After a long and successful career based in the United Kingdom, O'Brien gained dual citizenship with New Zealand in 2011, where he resided in Tauranga.[6] O'Brien identifies himself as third gender and uses he/him pronouns.[7]

  1. ^ "Rocky Horror's Richard O'Brien on ageing, Mick Jagger and finding love later in life". Stuff. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  2. ^ BBC. "Richard O'Brien (born 1942)". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. ^ Wayback Machine. "Richard O'Brien - 1942-". www.encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Culture Re-View: How did 'Rocky Horror' become such a cult favourite?". euronews. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  5. ^ "How Rocky Horror Became a Cinematic Institution". Time. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NZcit-2011-11-30 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Fidgen, Jo (18 March 2013). "Richard O'Brien: 'I'm 70% man'". BBC News. Retrieved 20 February 2021.