In our material, I would like to talk about such a famous American actor as Richard Bright. How successful was his career? What films did the artist star in? What is known about his personal life? The answers to these and other questions can be found in our article.
First roles
Actor Richard Bright was born on June 28, 1937 in the city of New York. The father of the future artist Ernest worked in a shipbuilding company. Matilda's mother was an ordinary housewife. Previously, no one in the boy’s family starred in films. However, this did not prevent our hero from making a rather successful career in film and television.
Richard Bright began participating in the filming at the age of 18. The debut for the guy was the role of a character named Ditch in the television series Studio One (1957). In the same year, the aspiring actor was involved in the creation of the project “Never Love a Stranger”. However, here Richard Bright got an inconspicuous, episodic role. With the release of the film on television, the name of the artist was not even indicated in the credits.
Then, for the young actor, shooting followed in a series of series, including: “Betting for tomorrow”, “Defenders”, “Somerset”. Each of these projects turned out to be long-playing, was popular with the audience and brought Richard Bright wide recognition.
Actor's finest hour
In 1972, Bright received an offer to take part in the filming of the epic gangster drama by cult director Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather. The plot of the film was based on the famous novel of the same name by the writer Mario Puzo, which was published in 1969.
During the creation of the tape, Richard had to work on the same set with such world-famous celebrities as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan. Bright got the role of a character named Al Neri - bodyguard Michael Corleone. The actor managed to get into the role of his own hero so successfully that the director of the film, Ford Coppola, decided to continue cooperation with him when filming the next two parts of the cinema saga.
Career development
After participating in the filming of The Godfather, Bright turned into a famous, sought-after actor. His schedule has become extremely busy. Basically, he got roles in the films of criminal content. Moreover, playing in such films, Richard equally successfully coped with revealing the images of both real villains and respectable, law-abiding citizens.
In 1984, the actor was once again lucky to get a role in the film, which was destined to become a cult. At this time, the artist was involved in the creation of a gangster film directed by Sergio Leone - “Once Upon a Time in America”. In the film, based on the successful novel by the writer Harry Gray, Richard Bright was to play a criminal named Joe, who takes part in criminal showdowns on the streets of New York during Prohibition.
It is worth noting that the cinematic creation of the director Sergio Leone was censored. Most of the outright bloody episodes and undisguised cruelty scenes were cut from a movie version intended for screening in movie theaters. Therefore, the tape was initially quite coldly received by critics, as well as by a wide audience. However, in preparation for the release of the picture on media for video players, its original structure was restored. After that, the film received the highest praise and received the status of one of the best works in the genre of gangster dramas. The criticism of Richard Bright, as well as other actors who took part in the filming, did not go without praise.
One of the main projects in the actor’s career was the series Law and Order, the first episodes of which appeared on television in 1990. Bright devoted more than ten years of his life to filming. It is noteworthy that in some years, the actor appeared in the project in a variety of roles. In particular, the artist participated in the spin-offs of the series entitled “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” (2002), as well as “Law and Order: Special Corps” (2005). The project was completely closed in 2010. The reason for the decision was a critical decline in television ratings.
Personal life
Richard Bright was married three times. The first darling of the famous actor was Eliza Granis. The couple gave birth to a daughter. The artist broke up with this woman in 1960.
In 1967, Bright connected fate with a girl named Susan Wallace. This union was destined to hold out for a decade. In 1977, Richard divorced Susan, and then married the famous actress Rutanya Alda, who bore him a son. With his last wife, the actor lived until his death, until in 2006, as a result of an accident, his life was tragically cut short under the wheels of a car.
Richard Bright, movies
During his long career in American cinema, the actor has played roles in more than nine dozen films. Probably, it makes no sense to list the unobtrusive work of the artist. We note only the most successful paintings with Bright:
- "Godfather".
- "The escape".
- "The wave of crime."
- The Godfather 2.
- "Hair".
- "Once upon time in America".
- "Cut and run."
- "Marathon runner".
- "Red heat."
- The Godfather 3.
- "Law and order"
- "Beautiful girls."
- "Law and Order: Criminal Intent."
- "Clan Soprano."
- Law and Order: Special Corps.