- Born
- Birth nameRichard Edward Batty
- Richard was born and raised in rural Yorkshire with his grandparents. His career as an actor has been diverse and started at the age of eight when he fought off hundreds of kids for a role in the long running drama Children's Ward (1989). Later he went on to feature for several months in Coronation Street (1960) and many other popular TV dramas. He has worked with distinguished directors such as Richard Wilson, Prunella Scales and Alan Bennett.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Rufus
- Within weeks of leaving Children's Ward (1989), he was recommended by Coronation Street (1960) writer Russell. T. Davis (who was also a writer on Children's Ward (1989)) to take over from Warren Jackson who played Nicky Tilsley in the show. Jackson was sick in the middle of a 'crucial' Tilsley storyline. Richard was roped in and played Nick for 8 months.
- He used to host a comedy breakfast show called 'The Full Fry-up!' on BBC's Radio Humberside. It was a popular show where listeners could call in with their views on current events. The show was hosted by many fictional comedy characters that he created. He would often play his own guests on the show.
- He was adopted by his grandparents when he was a baby and grew up on a council estate near York.
- He is close pals with screen writer Kay Mellor. They first met when he was in Children's Ward (1989) when he was just 9 years old. They worked on Coronation Street together and later Band of Gold (1995), which Mellor wrote and produced. She has financed a number of Richard's plays over the years.
- In A Touch of Frost (1992), he played Inspector Jack Frost's nephew. Actor David Jason was so impressed with his performance that he asked him back to feature in another episode. Although the new episode was filmed over the course of 9 days in York, it was eventually scrapped and never made it on air.
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