RichardO'Brien
- Composer
- Actor
Richard O’Brien made his mark in the history of musicals — and cult movies — after creating the tale of a sweet transvestite from Transylvania. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has played on cinema screens for decades. The stage show continues to win new fans. O’Brien has gone on to a wide range of projects, including movie Dark City and hosting New Zealand’s DNA Detectives and UK hit The Crystal Maze.
Screenography
Biography
In 1972 Richard O’Brien took some of his favourite things — including comics, science fiction movies and rock’n’roll — and created The Rocky Horror Show. After opening in a tiny upstairs theatre in London, it would pack theatres and cinemas for decades. In Rocky Horror - From Concept to Cult, British author David Evans argues that the “raw, confrontational” show “could never have been created and developed by anyone from the British theatrical tradition”; he notes almost all of its key creators were children of the colonies.
Awards
1998 Berlin Film Festival
Special (LGBT) Teddy Award
“I left school with no qualifications and apparently no potential. Rock 'n' roll kept me going. I was a gauche undereducated teenager who loved comics, B-movies and all things populist. I adored them. I love the joy and the spirit and the unintentional comedy in B-movies. ”