Richard Marius Joseph Greene was a noted English film and
television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was
perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series The
Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran for 143 episodes from 1955 to 1959.
Greene was a Roman Catholic of Irish and Scottish ancestry,
and was born in Plymouth, Devon, England. His aunt was the musical theatre
actress Evie Greene. His father, Richard Abraham Greene and his mother,
Kathleen Gerrard, were both actors with the Plymouth Repertory Theatre. He was
grandson of Richard Bentley Greene and a descendant of four generations of
actors. Greene was educated at the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in Kensington,
London, and left at age 18. He started his stage career as the proverbial spear
carrier in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in 1933. A handsome young man, Greene
added to his income by modelling shirts and hats.
His professional career began aged 19 with a walk on role in
Julius Caesarat the Old Vic. He did some modelling work and appeared in a stage
production of Journey's End and had a small role in Sing As We Go (1934). He
joined the Jevan Brandon Repertory Company in 1936 where he appeared in Antony
and Cleopatra. He won accolades in the same year for his part in Terence
Rattigan's French Without Tears, which brought him to the attention of MGM,
Alexander Korda and Darryl F. Zanuck, who all made offers for films. On 17
January 1938 Greene signed with Fox. At 20, he joined 20th Century Fox as a
rival to MGM's Robert Taylor. His first film for Fox was John Ford's Four Men
and a Prayer (1938). Greene was a huge success, especially with female film
goers, who sent him mountains of fan mail which at its peak rivalled that of
Fox star Tyrone Power. Greene co-starred with Sonia Henie in My Lucky Star
(1938) and was reunited with Ford in Submarine Patrol (1939). Zanuck put him in
Kentucky (1938) with Loretta Young and Walter Brennan. Greene was the romantic
male lead in the Shirley Temple vehicle The Little Princess (1939) and was Sir
Henry Baskerville in the 1939 Sherlock Holmes film The Hound of the
Baskervilles. The film marked the first pairing of Basil Rathbone and Nigel
Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but it was Greene who was top billed.
Greene had a support part in Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
with Spencer Tracy and the lead in Here I Am a Stranger (1939). He co-starred
with Alice Faye and Fred MacMurray in Little Old New York (1940) and supported
Vera Zorina in I Was an Adventuress (1940). He had failed to become a major
star but he was still playing leads in "A" movies when World War Two
began. Greene tried to enlist in the Seaforth Highlanders in Vancouver, but
they would not give him a commission. He obtained a release from Fox and
travelled to England where he enlisted in the 27th Lancers, where he
distinguished himself. After three months, he went to Sandhurst and was
commissioned. He was promoted to captain in the 27th Lancers in May 1944. He was relieved from duty in 1942 to appear in
the British propaganda films Flying Fortress (1942) for Warners and Unpublished
Story (1942) with Valerie Hobson. In 1943, he appeared in the Anna Neagle
thriller, The Yellow Canary while on leave. He also appeared in a British
comedy Don't Take It to Heart (1944).
He later toured in Shaw's Arms and the Man, entertaining the
troops. Greene was discharged in December 1944 and appeared in the stage plays
Desert Rats. After the war starred in a British musical, distributed by Warner’s,
Gaiety George (1946) which was a flop. He returned to Hollywood, and appeared
in Fox's big budget Forever Amber (1947) - but in support of Cornel Wilde. He
went to Universal to play the villain in The Fighting O'Flynn (1948) with
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. At Fox he was third billed in The Fan (1949) based on the
play Lady Windimere's Fan. Greene returned to England to appear in That
Dangerous Age (1949) and Now Barabbas (1949). He went back to Universal in
Hollywood to play the hero in a Yvonne de Carlo eastern, The Desert Hawk
(1950). Director de Cordova said Greene was "everything a man or woman
could want in a desert hero."
In Britain he was in My Daughter Joy (1950), and Shadow of
the Eagle (1950). He went to Italy to make The Rival of the Empress (1951). In
Hollywood Edward Small asked him to play the male hero of Lorna Doone' (1951).
He stayed on to star in The Black Castle (1952) and support Peter Lawford in
Rogue's March (1952). For Small he made The Bandits of Corsica (1953) then he
was in another swashbuckler, Captain Scarlett (1953). Greene returned to
Britain looking for work. Greene got a role on stage in a production of I
Captured the Castle with Virginia McKenna. Then Yeoman Films of Great Britain
approached him for the lead role in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-59). He
was an immediate success in it. The series and a number of related marketing
products bearing his likeness, such as "Robin Hood Shoes," solved his
financial problems and made him a star.
During the series' run he made the occasional film such as
Contraband Spain (1955), Beyond the Curtain (1960), and Sword of Sherwood
Forest (1960) (as Robin Hood). He had a long love affair in the 1950s with
Nancy Oakes, wealthy daughter of mining tycoon Sir Harry Oakes. Amongst other
TV programmes, Greene was in A Man For Loving, The Doctors, The Morecambe and Wise
Show, Dixon of Dock Green, Scarf Jack, The Professionals episode Everest Was
Also Conquered and the Tales of the Unexpected episode "Mrs. Bixby and the
Colonel's Coat".
Greene died in 1985 of cardiac arrest at his home in
Norfolk, England, at age 66.
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