Comments on: Ian Richardson Dies

Ian Richardson Dies

twine42 — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:03:25 -0800

On Friday, Ian Richardson died in his sleep. He was probably best known in the UK for the BBC "House of Cards" trilogy starring as the scheming politician Francis Urquhart with his now infamous "You might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment." Busy until his death, he recently featured in the TV series "Midsomer Murders" and played Death in the Sky One adaptation of Terry Pratchett's "Hogfather". Sadly, to many he was just the guy who asked for Grey Poupon mustard.

By: twine42

twine42 — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:04:48 -0800

Apologies is this is a duplicate. I can't believe that his death has gone unnoticed by the great MeFi, but I can't see anything on the first two pages of the site...

By: hal9k

hal9k — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:09:42 -0800

RIP, Mean Mr. Mustard. .

By: maudlin

maudlin — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:12:14 -0800

Aw, man. He was awesome. (And he played Death? Yet another damn reason to see that film.)

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:19:45 -0800

Not to mention his outstanding Bill Haydon in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

By: imperium

imperium — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:28:04 -0800

By: vhsiv

vhsiv — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:36:55 -0800

By: MrMustard

MrMustard — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:41:32 -0800

hal9k - I'm fine, honestly. And if you met me, you'd find I'm actually quite generous.

By: twine42

twine42 — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:45:03 -0800

maudlin, he did the voice of Death. The 'actor' was either a mask or CGI.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:53:11 -0800

. House of Cards--which I had not previously seen--was largely responsible for entertaining me while I was home recovering from appendicitis last summer. And his "but I couldn't possibly comment" line has definitely entered my daily lexicon. What a loss. Such a subtle actor.

By: afx237vi

afx237vi — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:57:51 -0800

Not really familiar with most of his work, but he was brilliant as Tulkinghorn in Bleak House.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:05:11 -0800

Sorry to be pedantic, but it's "You might very well think that..." This wikipedia entry misses the point also-- Urquhart said it as a coded way of answering "yes" when it would be inappropriate for him to do so in so many words; not as a way of avoiding saying yes or no. It was not an ambiguous response. Pardon the derail.

By: breezeway

breezeway — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:05:57 -0800

I'm sorry to hear of his passing. He was a terrific actor; "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and the "House of Cards" trilogy are two of the best TV productions I've ever seen, due in large part to Ian Richardson. Every time I watch PM's questions on C-Span (that's all we get of Parliament in the US) I think of FU. Brilliant. RIP. One of the greats.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:37:34 -0800

twine42, Death is all about THE VOICE anyway, but thanks for the clarification.

By: Pallas Athena

Pallas Athena — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:44:32 -0800

I was surprised and sad to see his obituary. When I read The Lord Of The Rings, it's always him I see as Denethor. Acting-wise, he was The Man.

By: matteo

matteo — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 09:08:41 -0800

Brazil

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 09:12:43 -0800

. In addition to playing in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Richardson had his own turn at multiple roles (a la Alec Guinness) in the adaptation of Private Schultz.

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 09:27:35 -0800

The Hogfather was great!

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 10:00:47 -0800

Sadly, to many he was just the guy who asked for Grey Poupon mustard. You might say that, but I couldn't possibly comment.

By: matty

matty — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 10:18:15 -0800

Even more sad than the mustard connection - the Comment Counter (aka MetaDigg) is indicating that he won't be nearly as missed around here as A.N.S.

By: Mocata

Mocata — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 10:38:57 -0800

What's Grey Poupon mustard? I saw him onstage last summer in The Alchemist at the National and he was fantastic as Sir Epicure Mammon, really very funny and wistful rather than blustering.

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 10:43:23 -0800

Oh crap. What a loss. .

By: Space Kitty

Space Kitty — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 11:00:13 -0800

Dammit! I've been using the 'you might say that' bit for some time now but had no idea where it originated. What a shame!

By: moss

moss — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 11:16:15 -0800

By: bicyclefish

bicyclefish — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 11:25:53 -0800

Actually, the Wikipedia page does seem to be on the mark: sez the catchphrase was used "when he wanted to agree with a statement made to him but was 'politically unable' to agree or disagree publicly..."

By: jiawen

jiawen — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 11:26:57 -0800

And let's not forget Dark City. Great actor, too bad.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:55:25 -0800

House of Cards was awesome. Never have I admired such a loathsome character in any show. Sad to hear this, I'm glad he was able to pass in his sleep.

By: Paragon

Paragon — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 13:40:34 -0800

Nothing lasts forever. Even the longest, the most glittering reign must come to an end someday. [sly look at the camera] .

By: hal9k

hal9k — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:32:34 -0800

Thank you, jiwan. Forgot about that! [At the final tuning] Mr. Book: SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN FOREVER!

By: feelinglistless

feelinglistless — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:56:09 -0800

This was really sad news, one of the great underrated actors has left the British stage. Sometimes Doctor Who author Lance Parkin always wrote character in all of his novels that would be played by Ian Richardson and even wrote an unpublished epilogue to one of the novels in which he actually played The Doctor and here it is: http://www.unitnews.co.uk/story.php?article_id=7 Doctor Who Magazine once ran a poll, before the new series came out and Richardson came second as the readers favourite choice behind Paul McGann for a film version. His son Miles is a stallwart of the Big Finish audio range.

By: davidinmanhattan

davidinmanhattan — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 18:03:38 -0800

Dark City Highlander (TV series) To Play the King House of Cards The Final Cut M. Butterfly Brazil Some of my all-time favorites. One of my most-favorite actors. All in all, 99 film & TV titles. An amazing, under-rated, under-recognized, yet extraordinary artists. I will miss him.