Richard O'Sullivan (born 7 May 1944) is an English retired comedy actor. He is known for his role as Robin Tripp in the TV sitcoms Man About the House (1973–1976) and Robin's Nest (1977–1981) and as the title character in the period adventure series Dick Turpin (1979–1982). He also starred in Doctor at Large (1971), Doctor in Charge (1972–1973), Alcock and Gander (1972), Me and My Girl (1984–1988) and Trouble In Mind (1991).
Early life
O'Sullivan was born in 1944 to John and Ellen O'Sullivan (née Fleming) in Chiswick, where he grew up with his younger brother. His early education was at St John the Evangelist's RC Primary School in Brentford, Middlesex. After a family holiday in Ireland as a boy, he returned with a strong Irish accent and was sent to the Corona Theatre School to soften it. He appeared in his first film at the age of eight.
Career as child actor
O'Sullivan's first film appearance was as an extra playing one of the children singing in the Sunday School sequence of The Yellow Balloon, filmed in 1952 when he was eight years old and released in 1953. He then played the main character in The Stranger's Hand, starring Alida Valli and Trevor Howard, in 1953.
Possibly his earliest television work was the part he played in the Sherlock Holmes episode, "The Unlucky Gambler", broadcast on 18 July 1955. He appeared in the Children's Film Foundation's first serial, Raiders of the River, also produced in 1955. He also acted the part of Don Armado's pageboy Moth in Shakespeare's 'Love's Labour's Lost' directed by Peter Hall at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, in 1956. In the film It's Great to Be Young (1956), he appeared alongside John Mills. The following year, he played the title character in a BBC Television five part Sunday serial Little Lord Fauntleroy and then with Keith Michell and Belinda Lee in the opulent swashbuckler, Dangerous Exile, playing Louis XVII, the ten-year-old son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. In the 1963 blockbuster Cleopatra, he appeared as Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, the younger brother of the title character played by Elizabeth Taylor. since suffering a stroke in 2003.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1953 || The Yellow Balloon || Boy Singing at Sunday School || rowspan="2" | uncredited
|-
| Malta Story || Ninno Gozar
|-
| 1954 || The Stranger's Hand || Roger Court ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1954 || Dance Little Lady || Peter ||
|-
| The Green Scarf || Child Jacques ||
|-
| Loves of Three Queens || Benoni ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1955 || The Dark Avenger || Thomas Holland ||
|-
| Make Me an Offer || Charlie as a Boy
|-
| The Secret || John Martin ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1956 || Raiders of the River || Joey ||
|-
| Jacqueline || Michael ||
|-
| It's Great to Be Young || Lawson ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1957 || No Time for Tears || William Reynolds ||
|-
| Dangerous Exile || Louis XVII / Richard de Beauvais ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1959 || The Nun's Story || Pierre || uncredited
|-
| Carry On Teacher || Robin Stevens ||
|-
| Witness in the Dark || Don Theobald ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1960 || And Women Shall Weep || Godfrey Lumsden ||
|-
| A Story of David || Abiathar ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1961 || Spare the Rod || Fred Harkness ||
|-
| The Young Ones || Ernest ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1962 || The Prince and The Pauper || Hugo ||
|-
| The Webster Boy || Jimmy Webster ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1963 || Cleopatra || Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII ||
|-
| Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow || George Ransley ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1964 || Wonderful Life || Edward || US title: Swingers' Paradise
|-
| Every Day's a Holiday || Jimmy Dainty ||
|-
| 1968 || A Dandy in Aspic || Nevil ||
|-
| 1969 || The Haunted House of Horror || Peter ||
|-
| 1970 || Futtocks End || The Boots ||
|-
| 1972 || Au Pair Girls || Stephen ||
|-
| 1973 || Father, Dear Father || Richard ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1974 || Man About the House || Robin Tripp ||
|-
| Can You Keep It Up for a Week? || Mr. Rose ||
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role
|-
|1955 || Sherlock Holmes - The Case of the Unlucky Gambler || Andy Fenwick
|-
|1956 || Colonel March of Scotland Yard || Roger
|-
|1957 || Sword of Freedom || Alberto
|-
|1960 || The Four Just Men - The Man with the Golden Touch || Pietro
|-
|1966 || Danger Man || Aldo Shargis
|-
|1967 || Great Expectations || Herbert Pocket
|-
|1968 || The Ronnie Barker Playhouse || Arthur (episode 4, The Incredible Mr.Tanner)
|-
|1971<br>1972–1973 || Doctor at Large<br>Doctor in Charge || Lawrence Bingham
|-
|1971–1973 || Now Look Here || Keith
|-
|1972 || Alcock and Gander || Richard Gander
|-
|1973–1976<br>1977–1981 || Man About the House<br>Robin's Nest || Robin Tripp
|-
|1979–1982 || Dick Turpin || Dick Turpin
|-
|1984–1988 || Me and My Girl || Simon Harrap
|-
|1988||The Giftie||Paul
|-
|1991 || Trouble in Mind || Adam Charlesworth
|-
|1996 || Holed || Henry
|-
|1997 || Light Lunch || Himself
|}