Craig Richards

Craig Richards, American film and television producer/director was born in Oceanside, California USA. Second-born of eight children whose father, Gerald, was a career Marine, Craig's family moved to various assignments throughout the United States including Lincoln, Nebraska; LaCrosse, Wisconsin; Merrillville, Indiana; Quantico, Virginia; Twentynine Palms, California and Banning, California where his father retired and, with his mother, Ruth, opened a home appliance store and repair service. After high school and college to study graphic design and marketing, Craig began performing in live theatre in 1977 landing the lead roles in dramas such as \"Laura,\" comedies including \"Barefoot In The Park\" by Neil Simon, \"Born Yesterday\" by Garson Kanin and \"Finishing Touches\" among others, and directed the play \"Heaven Can Wait. \" In 1980 at the insistence of his agent, Craig moved to Los Angeles where he lived and worked until 2002. Mr. Richards performed in many feature films over three decades from the early 1980s and appeared in recent releases as the multiple-award-winning \"Lucky Star\" directed by Hans Skjersaa, \"Man Maid\" directed by Chris Lusvardi, \"Punk Love\" directed by Nick Lyon, \"Surrender\" directed by Tammy Sanderson, \"Corky Romano: 'Special' Agent\" starring Chris Kattan, \"Rat Race\" directed by Jerry Zucker, \"The Majestic\" directed by Frank Darabont and starring Jim Carrey and \"The Princess Diaries\" directed by Garry Marshall. Craig is also noted for his appearances in series television including \"Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,\" \"L.A. Law,\" \"Murphy Brown,\" \"The Jersey\" and starred as Captain Giles Slate in TV's sci-fi spoof \"The Micronots! \"\n\nCraig Richards was honored by his peers with the Inland Theatre League's \"Best Supporting Actor\" award for his 1978 performance as Bogey in \"Play It Again, Sam\" written by Woody Allen. Returning to his theatre roots in recent years, Mr. Richards earned critical acclaim for his live performance as Congressman William Cheyney in the dramatic suspense \"Final Reunion\" and has starred in such roles as Secret Service Agent Parker in \"Making the Call,\" as Sidney Black in the comedy \"Light Up The Sky,\" as shy and awkward Geoffrey in the comedy \"Stepping Out,\" as the charismatic Narrator in \"The Rocky Horror Show,\" as the menacing Jonathan Brewster in \"Arsenic and Old Lace\" and as the professional male exotic dancer Buddy 'Keno' Walsh in \"The Full Monty. \"\n\nMr. Richards wrote the screenplay for the feature-length family comedy \"Hawaiian Vacation\" which he'll direct for Dolphin Heart Productions, wrote the screenplay for the feature-length suspense/thriller \"Open\" which he'll direct and he is an executive producer and director for the new one-hour dramatic television series \"Smoke Eaters\" created by Kristen C. Brown and Kim Patterson. Craig Richards and lovely wife Rebecca Pinard Richards make their home in the scenic ski country of central Oregon with his son Nicholas, their son Connor and daughter Alexandra.