IAN RICHARDSON

This was in today’s Corner:

Ian Richardson, RIP [Yuval Levin]

British actor Ian Richardson passed away this weekend, leaving behind a great legacy of Shakespearean acting, but, to my mind, an even greater legacy for fans of political thrillers. Richardson starred as the fantastically diabolical Francis Urquhart in the 1990 BBC mini-series “House of Cards,” based on the book by Michael Dobbs, and its two sequels “To Play the King” in 1993, and “The Final Cut” in 1995. A very thinly veiled satire of the British Conservative party in the wake of Thatcher, the three are full of intrigue, humor, and wit, and are about the best fix a political junky on either side of the pond could ever hope for. If you’ve never seen them, do yourself a favor and get the DVDs.

I can add that Richardson played Bill Haydon in BBC’s mini-series “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” That is one of my all time favorites. It always gave me pleasure to see his face come up on the screen because I knew it would be an interesting performance.