Life and Career
Richings was born in Oxford. After training in drama at the University of Exeter and touring North America with a British stage production, Richings moved to Toronto, Canada in 1984. Within five years, he had become a regular on the second season of the War of the Worlds TV series. Other roles followed, and he gained critical acclaim as the bitter, aging punk rock legend Bucky Haight in Bruce McDonald's 1996 release Hard Core Logo. He had a brief appearance in Vincenzo Natali's 1997 Cube. In 1999 he played a secondary character in the science fiction movie Thrill Seekers, alongside Casper Van Dien and Catherine Bell. In 2000, Richings appeared as Bellanger in The Claim, and earned a Genie Award nomination for best supporting actor. Richings was also a member of the repertory cast of the A&E TV original series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001–2002). He has played the role of Death in the CW's show Supernatural since Season 5, and will appear again in Season 7.
Richings is familiar to horror fans for appearing as the nearly-blind security guard Otto in Stephen King's 2004 miniseries Kingdom Hospital, and for his manic performance in heavy makeup as Three Finger in Wrong Turn. Dramatic roles include stagehand Mr. Turnbull in the 2004 film Being Julia, where he appeared for a second time with Annette Bening (much of his role was cut from the final release of Open Range in 2003). The picture in this entry is from his appearance as Orr, a casually cruel loan shark who provides most of the menace in the 2004 Canadian film The Last Casino. In 2006, his activities included appearing in a brief speaking role as the Mutant Theatre Organizer in X-Men: The Last Stand, and playing a lethal vampire killer alongside David Carradine in the direct-to-DVD horror film The Last Sect. 2007 has seen him a driver in the Clive Owen film Shoot 'Em Up, in another turn as a dissipated and aging punk rocker in The Third Eye, as transvestite psychologist "Dr. Heker" in The Tracey Fragments, and in a number of small roles in other films, including Skinwalkers and Saw IV. He appeared in Louis Bélanger's film The Timekeeper, which stars Roy Dupuis, released in 2008. Mr. Richings continues to be active in short films and television series, mostly in Canada.
He has a wide range of activities, appearing in movies, television shows, commercials, and plays, as well as doing voiceover work and teaching classes in the acting craft.
He was presented with two Dora Awards in the late 1980s, and continues to perform professionally in the Toronto area with a number of theatre groups. In 2008, he was nominated for another Dora Award for his performance in The Palace of the End.
He confirmed, via an interview on Canadian TV show "InnerSPACE", that he has a part in the new Superman movie Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder, to be released in 2013. He acted alongside Michael Shannon and Russell Crowe, and revealed that his scenes are on Krypton. He was also asked about the campaign to see him become the next lead in "Doctor Who", and admitted to being flattered by the idea.
Richings resides in the Toronto area with his wife and two children.
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