Ralph Richardson (1902–1983) was an English actor who played more than sixty film roles and, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. In 1931 he joined the Old Vic, playing mostly Shakespearean roles. He led the company the following season, succeeding Gielgud, who had taught him much about stage technique. After he left the company, a series of leading roles took him to stardom in the West End and on Broadway. In the 1940s, Richardson was the co-director of the Old Vic company. He and Olivier led the company to Europe and Broadway in 1945 and 1946. In the 1950s, in the West End and occasionally on tour, Richardson played in modern and classic works including The Heiress, Home at Seven and Three Sisters. Richardson was cast in leading roles in British and American films including Things to Come in the 1930s, The Fallen Idol and The Heiress in the 1940s, and Long Day's Journey into Night and Doctor Zhivago in the 1960s. He received nominations and awards in the UK, Europe and the US for his stage and screen work from 1948 until his sudden death at the age of eighty, and earned a posthumous Academy Award nomination for his final film, Greystoke.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Richardson

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

98:

Trajan (bust pictured) succeeded his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire would reach its maximum extent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan

1077:

Pope Gregory VII lifted the excommunication of Henry IV after the Holy Roman Emperor made his trek from Speyer to Canossa Castle to beg the pope for forgiveness for his actions in the Investiture Controversy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk_to_Canossa

1821:

Alexander Island, the largest island of Antarctica, was discovered by Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Island

1933:

Choudhry Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet entitled "Now or Never" in which he called for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India that he termed "Pakstan". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Declaration

1982:

After having been kidnapped by the Italian Red Brigade 42 days earlier, General James L. Dozier of the United States Army was freed by the anti-terrorist force NOCS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Dozier

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

penumbra: A partially shaded area around the edges of a shadow, especially an eclipse. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penumbra

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Happiness exists on earth, and it is won through prudent exercise of reason, knowledge of the harmony of the universe, and constant practice of generosity.   --José Martí https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mart%C3%AD