Dick Richards proves he’s a blockbuster of a talent. I think Farewell, My Lovely is the kind of movie Bogart would have stood in line to see.
- Rex Reed
Dick Richards...has a good eye for eccentric faces and backgrounds.
- Janet Maslin
Richards has a feelings for momentary encounters: what might be throwaways for another director are his most acutely realizes moments.
- Pauline Kael
“Farewell, My Lovely" never steps wrong… One reason is that Dick Richards, the director, takes his material and characters absolutely seriously.
- Roger Ebert
Tootsie (1982)
Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972)
March or Die (1977)
Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1972)
Man Woman and Child (1983)
Death Valley (1983)
Heat (1986)
Dick Richards has received over 50 major industry awards for his work as film director, photographer and tv commercial director — including the Golden Globe, Clio, Gold Medal, Cannes Lion for the best worldwide commercial, and multiple New York Art Directors Awards.
Richards is most famous for producing Tootsie, a pioneering project he discovered in New York and shepherded through the Hollywood system for four years. It went on to become the biggest comedy of all-time, earning producers Richards and Sydney Pollack Golden Globes and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Tootsie earned 10 Academy Award nominations, and is widely recognized as one of the best films ever made. It is ranked 69th on the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.
Richards’ film career began with directing and writing the coming-of-age western The Culpepper Cattle Co. (20th Century-Fox), a cult classic that earned him Screenwriter’s Annual Story Award given by the Writer’s Guild of America. He went on to direct the acclaimed Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (Warner Bros.) and Farewell, My Lovely (Embassy Pictures). His filmography also includes March or Die (Columbia Pictures), Death Valley (Universal), Man Woman and Child (Paramount Pictures), and Heat (New Century Vista).
A native New Yorker, Richards is known as a storyteller and an “actor’s director,” having worked with Robert Mitchum, Gene Hackman, Catherine Deneuve, Alan Arkin, Charlotte Rampling, Sylvester Stallone, Max von Sydow, Wilford Brimley, Harry Dean Stanton, Martin Sheen, Blythe Danner, and others.
Richards rose to prominence during the 1960’s advertising revolution, becoming a world-renowned photographer with a people-centric style. His photographs are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute, and have been showcased in galleries and museums including New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He became a celebrated commercial director for top brands like Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, Polaroid, General Motors, American Airlines, and Ford, among many others.
Richards continues to work on creative projects, focusing on writing. His first play, Hooray for Hollywood!, is in development; and his novel, Exposed, is due in 2025. He currently sits on the board of the non-profit Enrichment Theatre Works, whose mission is to create and present professional theater to inspire learning.
