Cyril Ritchard
Also Known As: Cyrill Ritchard, Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard
Biography: Legendary for his preening, prancing, delightfully playful villain Captain Hook on the award-winning stage (as well as TV) opposite America's musical treasure Mary Martin, beloved musical star Cyril Ritchard had a vast career that would last six decades, but "Peter Pan" would become his prime legacy. Born in Australia just before the turn of the century, he was educated at St. Aloysius College and Sydney University wherein he slyly sidestepped a parental-guided career in medicine for entertainment, participating in numerous college productions that quickly got him "hooked." He began professionally in the chorus line of The Royal Comic Opera Company and quickly progressed to juvenile leads. A subsequent pairing with the already-established theatre actress Madge Elliott in 1918 proved successful, and the musical twosome eventually married in 1935. Together they would go on to become known as "The Musical Lunts" by their acting peers performing in scores of plays and revues together. Ritchard specialized in playing slick, dandified villains in musical comedy and developed a potent reputation of being a man of many talents. Not only directing and staging Broadway's finest, he became a renown performer of various operas and led many productions as such. Shortly before his wife's death of bone cancer in 1955, Ritchard ventured into TV infamy by repeating his Tony and Donaldson award-winning portrayal of Hook in Peter Pan (1955). He continued to earn acclaim and/or honors with such classic stage productions as "Visit to a Small Planet" (Tony-nominated), "The Pleasure of His Company" (Drama League award, Tony-nominated), "The Roar of the Greasepaint...the Smell of the Crowd" (Tony-nominated), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Sugar," the musical version of the classic Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot (1959) in which Ritchard played the Joe E. Brown role. Lesser regarded when it comes to film, he performed in the early Hitchcock classic Blackmail (1929) and made his last movie with the musical Half a Sixpence (1967) with Tommy Steele. While performing as the Narrator in a stage production of "Side by Side by Sondheim" in November 1977, Ritchard suffered a heart attack and died one month later. A one-of-a-kind talent, his nefarious, narcissistic humor was a career trademark that culminated in the role of a lifetime -- one that will certainly be enjoyed by children young and old for eons to come.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: December 01, 1897
Deathday: December 18, 1977
Adult: No
Gender: Male
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Known For:
Blackmail
Overview: London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.
Genres: Drama Thriller Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1929-07-11
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The Hobbit
Overview: Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit was just minding his own business, when his occasional visitor Gandalf the Wizard drops in one night. One by one, a whole group of dwarves drop in, and before he knows it, Bilbo has joined their quest to reclaim their kingdom, taken from them by the evil dragon Smaug. The only problem is that Gandalf has told the dwarves that Bilbo is an expert burglar, but he isn't...
Genres: Family Fantasy Animation Adventure TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1977-11-27
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Piccadilly
Overview: A young Chinese woman, working in the kitchen at a London dance club, is given the chance to become the club's main act.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1929-02-01
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Peter Pan
Overview: In this magical tale about the boy who refuses to grow up, Peter Pan and his mischievous fairy sidekick Tinkerbell visit the nursery of Wendy, Michael and John Darling. With a sprinkling of pixie dust, Peter and his new friends fly out the nursery window and over London to Never-Never Land. The children experience many wonderful and exciting adventures with the Lost Boys, Tiger Lily's Indian tribe, and Peter's arch enemy the dastardly pirate Captain Hook.
Genres: TV Movie Fantasy Family Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-12-08
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The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
Overview: A young shepherd, Lucas, is blinded by lightening, and some kindly nuns at a nearby abbey take him in. Sister Catherine describes snow to Lucas, who has never seen it. Lucas gets chosen to play an angel in the abbey's Christmas pageant, and the Christmas snow that falls during the pageant works a small miracle.
Genres: Animation
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-12-19
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Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes
Overview: Two con men convince a king that they have woven for him a suit made of magical cloth that only stupid or incompetent people are unable to see. Not wanting to seem dull, everyone pretends to admire the king's new clothes although he is completely naked.
Genres: Animation Family Comedy TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-02-21
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Hans Brinker
Overview: Melodrama on ice
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-12-14
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The Show Goes On
Overview: A mill worker with show biz dreams catches a big break when she's discovered by an ailing composer who's seeking the right singer for his songs.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-03-31
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The Daydreamer
Overview: A young Hans Christian Andersen goes in search of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise in order to make his studies easier. Each time he falls asleep, he experiences in his dreams the different characters he would later write about in fairy tales including The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Emperor's New Clothes.
Genres: Animation Adventure Family Fantasy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-06-01
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The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood
Overview: Everyone knows the story of Red Riding Hood. But every story has two sides and now the wolf has finally told his. This original musical comedy special, with songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, first aired on November 28, 1965 on ABC.
Genres: Fantasy Family TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-11-28
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Half a Sixpence
Overview: "If I had the money, I'd buy me a banjo!" says struggling sales clerk Arthur Kipps. Soon he'll inherit enough to buy a whole bloomin' orchestra. But can his newfound wealth buy happiness?
Genres: Music Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1967-12-21
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Service for Ladies
Overview: Max Tracey is the head waiter at a London hotel. He falls in love at first sight with Sylvia Robertson, an aristocratic woman, and poses as a prince to win her love. In this venture, he is aided by Mr. Westlake, a Ruritanian monarch who owes him a favour. When Sylvia discovers Max's deception, she is appalled, but the situation is resolved when her father tells her that he was once a hotel dishwasher.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-01-14
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The Owl and the Pussycat
Overview: A film version of Edward Lear's narrative poem about the owl and the pussycat who went to sea in a pea-green boat
Genres: Animation
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-01-01
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Tubby the Tuba
Overview: When Tubby the Tuba sets out to find a melody all of his own, his journey results in this enchanting and exciting musical tale. Tubby joins the circus and striving to be part of an orchestra, he travels to the Singing City where along the way he encounters many wonderful characters.
Genres: Family Animation
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-04-30
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I See Ice
Overview: George Bright is a props man in an ice ballet company, and a keen amateur photographer who accidentally snaps crooks at work. Comic complications ensue....
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-02-10
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Peter Pan
Overview: This musical version of the tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up aired live on television on March 7, 1955. It was so popular that it was restaged the following year, and again four years later.
Genres: Fantasy Music TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-03-07
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The Winslow Boy
Overview: In pre-WW1 England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-09-24
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Dangerous Medicine
Overview: After a young girl is jailed for a murder she didn't commit, a doctor helps her escape to capture the real killer and clear her name.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-07-23
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Mr. Scrooge
Overview: A Christmas Carol retelling
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-01-01
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Just for a Song
Overview: A jealous agent uses a girl singer to break up a double act.
Genres: Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1930-03-11
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Symphony in Two Flats
Overview: A young composer goes blind, and shortly afterward enters his most recent work in a competition. He believes he's won, but doesn't know that his wife couldn't bear to tell him that he didn't. Complications ensue.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1930-07-16
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The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner
Overview: Hosted by Cyril Ritchard, with performances by Florence Henderson, Barbara Harris, Stanley Holloway, John Cullum, Patricia McBride and Edward Villella. Songs include; On A Clear Day, The Heather On The Hill, Wait Till Were Sixty-Five, Wouldnt It Be Loverly?, Camelot, Why Cant A Woman Be More Like A Man?, How Could You Believe Me?, I Remember It Well, Without You, Gigi, Im Getting Married In The Morning, Hurry, Its Lovely Up Here, Melinda, On The S.S. Bernard Cohn, What Did I have That I Dont Have?, Ive Grown Accustomed To Her Face, Its Almost Like Being In Love, Bonnie Jean, Waltz At Maxims (She Is Not Thinking Of Me), I Could Have Danced All Night, On The Street Where You Live, and Come Back To Me.
Genres: Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-02-21
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Pontius Pilate
Overview: The story, set 15 years after the Crucifixion, of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who is depicted as a victim of circumstances.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-04-07
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The Christmas Tree
Overview: The Christmas Tree is a 1958 Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-television film that was broadcast on NBC on December 14, 1958. It is based on the short story "An Affair at the Inn" by Charles J. Finger. A number of stars in short skits, including Carol Channing and Cyril Ritchard on skates.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-12-14
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Peter Pan
Overview: This SECOND live broadcast aired a year after the success of the first. Utilizing much of the same cast, it nevertheless is its own unique performance which charmed millions of households in 1956.
Genres: Music Fantasy Family TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-01-09
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It's a Grand Old World
Overview: An unemployed man wins the football pools, and decides to buy a country house for his actress girlfriend.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-01-01
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Aladdin
Overview: Cole Porter's version of the story of Aladdin--his only musical written especially for television.
Genres: Comedy Drama Adventure Romance TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-02-21
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Dearest Enemy
Overview: This live TV adaptation of the Broadway musical "Dearest Enemy" from 1925 is based on an American Revolutionary War incident in September 1776 when Mary Lindley Murray, under orders from General George Washington, detained General William Howe and his British troops by serving them cake, wine and conversation in her Kips Bay, Manhattan home long enough for some 4,000 American soldiers, fleeing their loss in the Battle of Brooklyn, to reassemble in Washington Heights and join reinforcements to make a successful counterattack.
Genres: Music War TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-11-26
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Woman Hater
Overview: A confirmed bachelor and a woman who claims to hate men get together and find romance.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-10-13
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