Richard O'Brien
Actor
- Born
- March 25, 1942 (age 84) · Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK
Richard O'Brien (born Richard Timothy Smith, 25 March 1942) is an English actor, television presenter, writer and theatre performer, best known for writing the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show (1973), famously adapted into a film in 1975, the longest-running theatrical release in history.
O'Brien was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. In 1951, the family emigrated to Tauranga, New Zealand but he moved back to England in 1964. On becoming an actor, he changed his name to Richard O'Brien (his maternal grandmother's surname).
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O'Brien presented the 1990–93 Channel 4 game show The Crystal Maze, and voiced Lawrence Fletcher in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb (2008–2015; 2025–present) and its two films (2011 and 2020). His other acting credits include Flash Gordon (1980), Spice World (1997), EverAfter (1998), Dark City (1998), Dungeons & Dragons (2000), Elvira's Haunted Hills (2001), and Jackboots on Whitehall (2010).
O'Brien is transgender and identifies himself as third gender and uses he/him pronouns.
Known for
Dark City
February 27, 1998
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
August 14, 1975
EverAfter
July 31, 1998
Flash Gordon
December 5, 1980
Dungeons & Dragons
December 8, 2000
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension
August 5, 2011
Spice World
December 18, 1997
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe
June 14, 2020
Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars
July 26, 2014
Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel
August 16, 2013
Night Train
April 15, 2009
Elvira's Haunted Hills
October 31, 2002
Acting50
- 2025Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror as Self
- 2025Tiny Little Voices
- 2021Rocky Horror 45: The Movie as Self
- 2020Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe as Lawrence Fletcher (voice)
- 2017The Stolen as Mr. Russell
- 2017Life After Flash as Self
- 2015Rocky Horror Show Live as Narrator
- 2014Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars as Lawrence Fletcher / Additional Voices (voice)
- 2014The Last Impresario as Self
- 2013