RICHARD GIBSON
Actor
Official Website
Richard Gibson has been an actor since receiving his first break as Marcus in Joseph Losey's classic film The Go-Between. He is best known for playing Herr Flick, the Gestapo officer, in the BBC TV French Resistance comedy, 'Allo 'Allo!
He was born in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to England to become a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral in London. While still at school, he played Apollo in the popular BBC series Tom Brown's Schooldays, and the young Anthony Farrant (played by Michael York as an adult) in the film version of Graham Greene’s England Made Me.
His theatre credits include seasons at The Bristol Old Vic, Birmingham Rep, Leicester Haymarket, The Lyric Hammersmith, Greenwich Theatre, The King’s Head Theatre, Watford Palace, Bath Theatre Royal and Chichester Festival Theatre, in productions such as: She Stoops To Conquer, Dogg’s Hamlet, Cymbeline, Love’s Labour’s Lost, French Without Tears, In Praise of Love, The Dame of Sark, The Browning Version, The Winslow Boy, Candida, St Patrick’s Day, Bulldog Drummond, Salad Days and Cowardy Custard.
On film, he has also been seen in Omagh, The Key to Rebecca, The Legend of St Patrick and The Birthday, and has played major roles in numerous television productions, including: The Gate of Eden, The Children of The New Forest, William Treadwell's Daily Journal, Park Ranger, The Coral Island, Wainwright’s Law, Poldark, Penmarric, My Father’s House, Prospects, Hadleigh, Armchair Detective, The Tempest, The Upper Hand, Four on Four and others. In 2003, he guest starred for Big Finish Productions in the Doctor Who audio drama Flip-Flop.
Recent theatre credits include: Cosmo Constantine in Call Me Madam, at the Gatehouse Theatre in Highgate, Gaev in The Cherry Orchard at the Union Theatre in London, Gonzalo in The Tempest at the Stafford Shakespeare Festival, directed by Calre Prenton. He appeared at the Finborough Theatre in London as Lord Paul in the revival of the musical Free as Air, by Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds, and as Soskin in David Pinski's Yiddish play Treasure, adapted by Colin Chambers. In recent times his abilities as a musician have been in increasing demand. In 2016, in
Stepping Out at the Mill at Sonning, he played Geoffrey, which included boogie-woogie piano and a full programme of tap dancing. As Dad in Alan Bennett's Untold Stories at the Watermill Theatre, directed by Tom Attenborough, he played the violin in a string quartet, in music specially composed by George Fenton. For Christmas 2017, he appeared as Baron Hardup in Cinderella at the Lighthouse, Poole, following his previous year’s performance as an Ugly Sister – also in Cinderella, at Winchester's Theatre Royal.
He took part in the stage version of ’Allo! 'Allo!, which toured the UK and Australia, before running in the West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre and the London Palladium. Although an accomplished violinist, as Herr Flick, he was required to play to an indifferent standard, wearing black leather gloves.
Due to the enduring popularity of 'Allo! 'Allo!, he and Kim Hartman often appear together – in character as Flick and Helga, and as themselves and have made numerous cabaret appearances, using songs and sketches. In 2012, as guest speakers on the Fred Olsen ships, Boudicca and Balmoral, they travelled to the Canary Islands and up the Amazon River. They were also invited by Saga cruises to perform on board the Saga Sapphire in the Mediterranean. They have been guest performers at the Malfest Arts Festival in Malpas, Cheshire, and appeared at the War and Peace Show at the Hop Farm in Kent.
Richard has made numerous guest appearances as himself in UK television shows such as:
Blankety Blank, Celebrity Squares, Wogan, Going Live!, Pebble Mill, Comedy Connections,
Jo Brand's Great Wall of Comedy, Comic Relief, Children in Need, Big Brother's Bit on the Side, The Return of 'Allo 'Allo!, Stars Reunited, and many more in other parts of the world. In 2006, he was a regular guest on The Daily Telegraph's World Cup Pubcast, where he usually took the role of Herr Flick, providing a more biased view of the proceedings, and was recently officially recognised as the ninth funniest man in Holland. In 2008, Richard was guest of honour at the Ostend Film Festival , and in 2014, appeared with fellow 'Allo, 'Allo! cast members at the Sofia International Film Festival. Partnered with Vicki Michelle, he was a winner on Pointless Celebrities, which first aired in August 2016.
Richard also continues to work as a radio actor, scriptwriter and voiceover artist, and is an accomplished after-dinner speaker. As an actor, he is represented by Jenny Rhodes at Paul Byram Associates and for voiceovers by Harvey Voices.
