# - Richardson, Sir Ralph.

writing frankly and in detail about his personal life, his relationships with his first and his second wife, his theatrical and film work, his military service during World War II, and many other subjects, several letters with sketches, most letters with envelopes, c.220 pages, various sizes and locations, 29 October 1928 to 15 January 1971, about 6 letters torn with crude adhesive tape repairs



[together with:] three Christmas cards; two telegrams, 14 February 1924 and 25 Nov 1964; four woodcuts by Richardson; 16 photographs; one theatrical programme

"...I shall never have anyone to love me as she did, I think few people ever have so much love. I do hope that I shall never be so unkind to anyone again..." (Richardson on the death of his first wife)

Chrissie Shackleton (1878-1971) was a member of a well-to-do Quaker family of millers from Lucan, Co. Dublin. An anniversary  telegram from Ralph Richardson suggests that they first met on St Valentine's Day 1923, and in a later letter Richardson recalls this encounter as having taken place "in some greenish bluish corridor, at the Abbey Theatre". She was 25 years older than the actor, who was then at the beginning of his career and touring Ireland in rep with Charles Doran, but she clearly made a strong impression ( he recalled her as "the most beautiful woman I have ever met"). They remained in regular correspondence until her death.

It was also on his 1923 Irish tour that Richardson met Muriel ("Kit"), his first wife, and he writes about her frequently in his letters of the 1930s and 1940s. It was not a happy marriage and heartfelt letters from the early 1940s describe a particularly difficult period in Richardson's life: Kit was chronically ill with sleeping sickness and he was deeply involved with Meriel Forbes ("Mu"), who was to become his second wife. He writes that Kit does not realise that he is living with another woman, of his reluctance to ask for a divorce, and of his worry that Mu's desire for a baby could bring the situation to a head. On 14 October 1942 he writes to informs Chrissie of Kit's death in a letter that makes no attempt to disguise his complex feelings, as on the one hand he writes of his gratitude for her unwavering love, but on the other admits that their marriage had failed ("...I did not want to marry Kit in the first place, but after I did I was extremely happy with her for many years. After she got ill in 1926 we began to loose our happiness together and in 1939 I think it was, I finally left her to live with Mu...")

The letters of the early 1940s also cover his time as a pilot for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and describe his war work including life in barracks, attempts to learn Morse code, and a crash ("...I came down in a garden & smashed my aeroplane and everything around – like telephone wire lamp-posts & Belisha Beacons...") He was back in the theatre before the end of the war, and in May 1944 Richardson wrote to Chrissie with career-shaping news ("...I have gone out of the Navy and have been given to the Old Vic – if we make a success of it, for the duration. I am running it with Laurence Olivier and another chap & we have some government money in the name of CULTURE – watch out!...") Following his marriage to Mu and the birth of their son in January 1945, the letters contain less detail about his private life, although there are occasional references to serious strains in the Richardsons' marriage. 

Many letters mention specific theatrical productions, including Priestley's Johnson Over Jordan, classics like The School for Scandal and The Merchant of Venice ("...I am trying all the time to get my part better but it is slow work..."), and Joe Orton's outrageous farce What the Butler Saw ("...a tremendous lot of bother but I don't think it is any good..."), as well as film work including his pre-war The Four Feathers and The Heiress (with Peggy Ashcroft). There are reflective moments in these letters, providing insights into Richardson's thinking about his craft ("...The horrible thing about theatre mistakes is that one is stuck with them for so long, if only you could pack the thing up & do something else, but we must tinker and tamper for months I suppose...") Chrissie Shackleton was not part of the theatrical world so Richardson largely avoids theatrical gossip, although he gives a circumlocutious account of Gielgud's 1953 arrest for soliciting ("...John Gielgud has got himself into nasty trouble which has cast a gloom on all around, he is an extremely nice man but has horrid hobbies...") Although Richardson's famous motorbikes feature less than might be expected, we do read of his menagerie of pets (parrots and ferrets being particular favourites), his surprising self-identification with King Kong, his disapproval of Chrissie's fox-hunting, and many other subjects, over a lifetime of friendship.