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Richard O’Sullivan died on 4 September 2026 at Brinsworth House in Twickenham, aged 82. His son James described him as funny, charming, kind-hearted, good-humoured and a wonderful dad. And that seems like a very fitting summary of the man, because Richard O’Sullivan’s television image was always built on exactly those qualities.
Richard packed an awful lot into his acting career, and that is partly because he started so young. He was a cheeky child actor who appeared alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. He worked with Cliff Richard. He was a doctor, a chef, a restaurateur, a highwayman and a widowed father. And for millions of television viewers, he was simply Robin. Robin Tripp.
THE EARLY YEARS
Richard O’Sullivan was born in Chiswick, west London, on 7 May 1944. After a family holiday in Ireland he came back with a strong Irish accent, which was not terribly helpful for a young English actor, and so he was sent to the Corona Stage Academy to soften it. That decision had rather more consequences than simply making him sound less Irish.
His first screen appearance came at the age of just eight. He appeared in more than twenty films during his childhood and teenage years, working with Trevor Howard, appearing in Carry On Teacher and taking the title role in the BBC adaptation of Little Lord Fauntleroy. At the age of twelve he appeared in Sir Peter Hall’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford. That is a rather impressive CV before you have even sat your O-levels.
In 1963, aged just nineteen, he played Ptolemy XIII in Cleopatra, the enormous Hollywood epic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Enormous sets, spectacular costumes, a cast of thousands and somewhere in all of that was a young man from Chiswick in west London. From there, after periods of resting and a spell as a petrol pump attendant, he found his way back to television.
DOCTOR AT LARGE AND THE DISCOVERY OF COMIC TIMING
The role that really introduced Richard to television audiences as an adult comic actor came in 1971 when he was cast as Dr Lawrence Bingham in Doctor at Large. Doctor at Large led into Doctor in Charge, and it was here that his comic timing really became apparent. Richard O’Sullivan was not simply a handsome young man who happened to land a successful sitcom. He could act. He had excellent timing. He could play comedy without constantly appearing to be aware that he was in one.
MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE
Man About the House was first broadcast in 1973. The premise was wonderfully simple: three young people sharing a flat, two women and one man, and absolutely no hanky-panky, as they might have said in 1973. The idea was considered genuinely daring at the time. Britain in the early 1970s was still a rather conservative society.
Richard played Robin Tripp as charming without being unbearable, cheeky without being nasty, romantic without becoming syrupy, and he did a very good line in being exasperated without becoming aggressive. The chemistry between Richard, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett was central to the show’s success, and the comic dynamic provided by Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as the Ropers downstairs gave the show a brilliantly drawn supporting world.
The show ran for six series from 1973 to 1976 and produced two successful spinoffs. George and Mildred followed the Ropers to a suburban housing estate. Robin’s Nest followed Robin Tripp as he opened a restaurant with his girlfriend Vicky, played by Tessa Wyatt, with whom Richard began a real-life relationship during filming. Richard also wrote the theme tune for Robin’s Nest and produced a tie-in cookbook, Man About the Kitchen. It is an early example of stars using their on-screen persona to extend their brand, something we are considerably more familiar with today.
DICK TURPIN
Rather than simply extending his sitcom career, Richard took the lead role in Dick Turpin, a period adventure series that ran from 1979 to 1982. Richard’s Turpin was not the dark, violent highwayman of history. He was a lovable rogue and cheeky adventurer who could get himself into trouble and then charm his way out of it. Whether he was wearing a chef’s whites, a doctor’s coat or a highwayman’s hat, Richard had a natural lightness. He could carry a series, he could make the audience like him, and he could do it without overplaying.
ME AND MY GIRL
Me and My Girl, which began in 1984 and ran until 1988, was a very different vehicle for Richard. He played Simon Harrap, a widowed father of a teenage daughter. The comedy came from family life rather than the sexual politics of the earlier shows, and it really demonstrated that he was capable of evolving beyond the character that had made him famous.
THE LATER YEARS
Richard O’Sullivan effectively retired in 1996. In 2003 he suffered a stroke and subsequently moved to Brinsworth House in Twickenham, the residential home run by the Royal Variety Charity for retired and infirm members of the entertainment profession. He was still remembered there. Still recognised. Still loved.
When Meghan Markle visited Brinsworth House, she apparently met Richard and asked him whether he missed acting and show business. His reported answer was simply: No. Then he carried on with his drink. Whether that story is entirely accurate, Oliver cannot say. But there is something wonderfully Richard O’Sullivan about it. Charming, understated, and entirely on his own terms.
Thank you, Richard. Rest in peace.
Do you have fond memories of Man About the House, Robin’s Nest or Dick Turpin? Leave a comment below or join the conversation on any of our social media pages.
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Take care,
Oliver
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