Biography

Richard Beaumont

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Richard Beaumont was born on April 5, 1961 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Scrooge (1970), Lorna Doone (1976) and Churchill's People (1974). He died on April 26, 2022.

He died eleven days after his son Bobby had died at the age of 36.
Performed "Entertainment - My Arts" a compilation of comedy skits ripping off TV, Theatre, Films and everything in between.
He ran Blag Youth Theatre which provided drama classes based in Rickmansworth, Chesham and Watford.
Appeared in the Charles Dickens adaptation Scrooge (1970), which had re-used many sets from the Charles Dickens adaptation Oliver! (1968) with Mark Lester and Hugh Griffith. Lester, Griffith and Richard Beaumont later all appeared in Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972).
He was one fifth of Blag Theatre company in the UK, doing comedy skits and shows at various venues. They also did a Christmas show each year at the Pumphouse Theatre in Watford, UK.

We had a really good laugh and with all three of us at theatre school the work we got paid for each other's fees. I was at the Corona Academy (now the Ravenscourt Theatre School) with Ray Winstone and Mark Lester. There was a lot made in the press about the rivalry between Mark and I, but it didn't exist. Scrooge just wasn't the massive cinema hit they thought it would be. It was seen as poor imitation of Oliver. Had Oliver not come out at the same time it would have been a success but anyway, it was not the sort of world back then where you'd get one job on back of another.
I didn't feel exploited, not in slightest. It was a brilliant and different childhood. We were brought up on a houseboat and all these things part of the tapestry. For instance, we had a trip to the States lined up and Albert Finney, Kenneth More and I were going to take part in the 42nd St Christmas parade and appear on the Ed Sullivan show. The night before my aunt phoned to say it was cancelled and for some kids that would have been devastating but for my family it was oh well, never mind we'll go to Scarborough.
I was signed to Decca, the same label as Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdink and at the time I was their youngest recording star. I sang this awful kiddie music on the album, which was called "How Small We Are, How Little We Know" and was drowned out by the backing singers. They were predicting I'd be a billionaire but I ended up with about 17 pence.

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