Richard Riehle - Hanging in!
Richard Riehle was born and educated in the Midwest. He got a BA cum laude in Speech and Drama from the University of Notre Dame, an MFA in Theater Arts from the University and a diploma in acting from The John Fernald Academy.
For most of the next 20 years he worked in regional theaters around the country, starting in summer stock in Indiana up to his Broadway debut in "Execution of Justice". During that time, he was pretty peripatetic, hardly staying in any place as long as a year, performing at the Yale Rep, the Guthrie, and many theaters along the so called I-5 Rep on the West Coast from the Alaska Rep to the Seattle Rep, the Oregon and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals, and ACT in San Francisco to the Arizona Theater Company and many theaters in between.
He earned his Equity card touring the state of Michigan with the MeadowBrook Theater, his AFTRA card doing local TV and commercials, and his SAG card doing "Joyride", an AIP film in Washington. While living in New York in the 80's he began doing more film and TV including most of the daytime serials and films such as "Black Rain and Glory".
After Glory was released he went to LA for the pilot season and was cast as Principal Rooney in NBC's sit com of "Ferris Bueller". Over the years, he's also been a regular in such series as "Grounded for Life" as Walt, "Married to the Kellys" as Uncle Dave, and "The Legend of Korra" as Bumi. And within his first couple of years in LA he did a number of other pilots and an exciting string of movies including "Fried Green Tomatoes", "The Fugitive", "Free Willy" and "Of Mice and Men", as well as guest spots on a number of shows miniseries, and TV movies.
With that kind of a start, he was excited to settle into living and working in LA for the most part, occasionally returning to New York to do a Broadway show like "The Iceman Cometh" with Kevin Spacey or "The Man Who Had All The Luck" by Arthur Miller who took part in rehearsals. In 2015 he did a new play, "Straight White Men", that he performed in at the Kirk Douglas Theater in LA as well as in Toronto, Athens, Brussels, and Ann Arbor.
Since he came to LA, in 1990, he's been fortunate enough to work fairly steadily, going back and forth between film and TV, working with a lot of terrific and talented people. Recently he's found himself doing a lot of independent films, with very committed and passionate young artists, and that's made him even more excited and invigorated about pursuing his craft. And he hopes to continue to do so for as long as he can.
Be Prepared | It's so much about being in the right place at the right time, but when your break comes, you better be ready and able to produce. |
Be Grateful | It's such a matter of luck - There's so many people as skilled as you, so many unknowns in every choice - that you shouldn't take rejection personally, but be thankful for every opportunity. |
Be Happy | This is such a small community - if you're fortunate, you will be working with the same people again - Help to make it a pleasant experience and everyone will look forward to working with you again. |
Be Patient | Do whatever it takes to "hang in there" and outlast your competition! |
Representation
Talent Agency
http://www.smsagency.com
info@smsagency.com
6100 Wilshire Blvd.
Suite 1500
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: 323-655-1313
Fax: 323-389-1577
Manager
http://www.wrightent.com
Representative: Emily Saex (emily@wrightent.com)
14724 Ventura Boulevard
Suite 1201
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Phone: 323-874-9898
Fax: 323-874-9899
* Zack Driscoll
** Josh Silfen, © 2010 - Disney
*** © 2011 Image Entertainment