Richard O'Brien (born Richard Timothy Smith, 25 March 1942) is an English–New Zealand actor and writer best known for creating The Rocky Horror Show, a stage musical that was subsequently turned into the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. O'Brien played the character of Riff Raff in both the original stage production and the film. He attempted to continue the success of Rocky Horror by penning a sequel. After several drafts, the script was ultimately filmed as Shock Treatment (which was not well-received at the time but has since gained a cult following of its own). A second sequel, Revenge of the Old Queen, never made it past the script stage.
O'Brien's other roles of note include Gulnar in Robin of Sherwood and Mr. Hand in Dark City. He is also known for hosting the game show The Crystal Maze.
Selected Filmography:
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): Riff Raff
- Jubilee (1978) (1978): John Dee
- Flash Gordon (1980): Fico
- Shock Treatment (1981): Dr. Cosmo McKinley
- Robin of Sherwood (1986): Gulnar
- The Ink Thief (1994): The Ink Thief
- Spice World (1997): Damien
- Ever After (1998): Pierre Le Pieu
- Dark City (1998): Mr. Hand
- Dungeons & Dragons (2000): Xilus
- Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015): Lawrence Fletcher
- Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011): Lawrence Fletcher
- Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020): Lawrence Fletcher
Tropes:
- One-Hit Wonder: Although he has done cabaret and pantomime shows and wrote the lyrics for a musical called The Stripper, O'Brien has never replicated the success of Rocky Horror. He is fully aware of this and seems content to live off the cult phenomenon for the rest of his life.
