Shelah Richards (23 May 1903-19 January 1985), was an Irish actress,
manager, director and producer.Sheila Geraldine Richards was born on
23 May 1903 in Dublin, to John William Richards and Adelaide Roper
Richards. Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a suffragist who
had chained herself to the railings in St. Stephen's Green. Richards
went to school in Alexandra College, Dublin and after that she went to
a finishing school in Paris. Though her family was not in the arts,
her godmother was Beatrice Elvery. Richards attended her salons with
her parents as a child. She met W.B. Yeats when she was 16. Her niece
Geraldine Fitzgerald, her sister's daughter, was also one of Ireland
pre-eminent actresses.Richards acting career started while attending
the Dublin drama league and she was asked at short notice to replace
Eileen Crowe in Juno and the Paycock, playing the role of Mary Boyle
in the Abbey Theatre production. Richards got the role of Nora
Clithero in the 1926 production of The Plough and the Stars, O'Casey's
next production. This role meant that she ended up with police
protection for the duration of the run due to the disturbances the
play engendered. Another important role was to take on playing the
lead in The Player Queen by Yeats. Maire O'Neill had previously made
the role her own, Yeats had let no one perform the part since then so
taking on such a challenge was intimidating. Richards continued to
take on leading roles with the Abbey Theatre but in 1926 she also
began to direct.On 28 December 1928 Richard married playwright Denis
Johnston in St Anne's Church in Dublin. She toured the USA with the
Abbey players in 1932 and with the Irish Players in the mid 30s. A
role in 1938 in Molly Keane's Spring Meeting starring Gladys Cooper
and A. E. Matthews took her to Broadway in New York. War in Europe
broke out while the run was still going on and Richards was advised to
stay in the United States. However by then she had two children,
producer Michael and novelist Jennifer Johnston. So Richards returned
to Dublin. There she ran her own theater company at the Olympia
Theatre, Dublin with Nigel Heseltine. Her marriage to Johnston, broken
in 1938, ended with divorce in February 1945.
manager, director and producer.Sheila Geraldine Richards was born on
23 May 1903 in Dublin, to John William Richards and Adelaide Roper
Richards. Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a suffragist who
had chained herself to the railings in St. Stephen's Green. Richards
went to school in Alexandra College, Dublin and after that she went to
a finishing school in Paris. Though her family was not in the arts,
her godmother was Beatrice Elvery. Richards attended her salons with
her parents as a child. She met W.B. Yeats when she was 16. Her niece
Geraldine Fitzgerald, her sister's daughter, was also one of Ireland
pre-eminent actresses.Richards acting career started while attending
the Dublin drama league and she was asked at short notice to replace
Eileen Crowe in Juno and the Paycock, playing the role of Mary Boyle
in the Abbey Theatre production. Richards got the role of Nora
Clithero in the 1926 production of The Plough and the Stars, O'Casey's
next production. This role meant that she ended up with police
protection for the duration of the run due to the disturbances the
play engendered. Another important role was to take on playing the
lead in The Player Queen by Yeats. Maire O'Neill had previously made
the role her own, Yeats had let no one perform the part since then so
taking on such a challenge was intimidating. Richards continued to
take on leading roles with the Abbey Theatre but in 1926 she also
began to direct.On 28 December 1928 Richard married playwright Denis
Johnston in St Anne's Church in Dublin. She toured the USA with the
Abbey players in 1932 and with the Irish Players in the mid 30s. A
role in 1938 in Molly Keane's Spring Meeting starring Gladys Cooper
and A. E. Matthews took her to Broadway in New York. War in Europe
broke out while the run was still going on and Richards was advised to
stay in the United States. However by then she had two children,
producer Michael and novelist Jennifer Johnston. So Richards returned
to Dublin. There she ran her own theater company at the Olympia
Theatre, Dublin with Nigel Heseltine. Her marriage to Johnston, broken
in 1938, ended with divorce in February 1945.
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