Richard O'Sullivan

Richard O'Sullivan (1944-05-07 to 2026-09-04) was an English actor whose career ran from child stardom in 1950s British film and television to household-name sitcom fame in the 1970s and 1980s. He is best remembered as Robin Tripp in ITV's Man About the House (1973-1976) and its spin-off Robin's Nest (1977-1981), and as the title lead in LWT's adventure series Dick Turpin (1979-1982). He also starred in Doctor at Large, Doctor in Charge, Alcock and Gander, and Me and My Girl.

He was born in Chiswick to John and Ellen O'Sullivan (née Fleming) and grew up with a younger brother. Early schooling was at St John the Evangelist's RC Primary School in Brentford. After a family holiday in Ireland he returned with a strong Irish accent and was sent to the Corona Theatre School to soften it. He was on screen by age eight: an uncredited child in The Yellow Balloon (filmed 1952, released 1953), then the lead boy Roger Court opposite Trevor Howard and Alida Valli in The Stranger's Hand (1954). Through the 1950s and early 1960s he worked steadily for the Children's Film Foundation, BBC serials (including Little Lord Fauntleroy), The Adventures of Robin Hood, Carry On Teacher, and as Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, younger brother of Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra, in the 1963 epic Cleopatra. He also appeared in Cliff Richard musicals The Young Ones (1961) and Wonderful Life (1964). At about age twelve he joined Shakespeare company work at Stratford (Moth in Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Peter Hall, 1956, per Wikipedia).

Adult television work in the late 1960s (Danger Man, Dixon of Dock Green, Great Expectations as Herbert Pocket, and others) led to the role of Lawrence Bingham in LWT's Doctor at Large (1971) and Doctor in Charge (1972-1973). In 1972 he co-starred with Beryl Reid in Alcock and Gander. Writers Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer then cast him as trainee chef Robin Tripp in Man About the House, a mixed flat-share sitcom that ITV initially treated as risky. The series, with Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy, became a national favourite and helped seed the US remake Three's Company. When it ended, O'Sullivan continued as Robin in Robin's Nest, often cited as the first UK sitcom to show an unmarried couple cohabiting. He wrote the Robin's Nest theme (arranged by Brian Bennett) and published cookbooks Man About the Kitchen and Roastin' with Richard (1980). Concurrently he played Dick Turpin (1979-1982), praised by BFI Screenonline for athletic, Fairbanks-style adventure comedy. From 1984 to 1988 he starred as widower Simon Harrap (also spelled Harrup in some sources) in Me and My Girl with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Joan Sanderson. Later credits included Trouble in Mind (1991) and the 1996 one-off Holed with Tony Robinson. He was the subject of This Is Your Life on 1974-12-11 and appeared as a guest on George Layton's edition in 1999. In 2006 he recorded a commentary for the Carry On Teacher DVD.

Personally, he married model Diana Terry in 1971; they divorced the same year. He was partnered with co-star Sally Thomsett (1973-1976) and later with Robin's Nest co-star Tessa Wyatt (1978-1985); he and Wyatt had a son, Jamie (also referred to as James in 2026 family statements), born May 1980 per IMDb. He married Christine Smart in 1987; they divorced in 1994. After largely retiring from public life in 1996, he suffered a severe stroke in 2003 and lived thereafter at Brinsworth House, the Royal Variety Charity care home in Twickenham, for 23 years.

He died on 2026-09-04, aged 82, at Brinsworth House, surrounded by close family. The Royal Variety Charity confirmed the death. Life-President Giles Cooper called him "a master of effortless charm and impeccable comic timing" who brought "pure warmth, wit, and unforgettable joy to millions of living rooms." His son James O'Sullivan said his father was "as funny and charming in real life as he appeared on our TV screens," a "doting grandfather and a wonderful dad," and thanked Brinsworth staff for 23 years of care. Cause of death and resting place were not made public in the BBC, Independent, or charity statements reviewed for this profile.