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