Richard O’Brien

Born: 25 March 1942 ·
Birthplace: Cheltenham, England ·
Known for: Creating The Rocky Horror Picture Show ·
Signature role: Riff Raff in the 1975 film ·
TV presenter: The Crystal Maze ·
Residence: New Zealand

Eight facts, one pattern: everything that made him famous traces back to the same theatrical outsider identity.

Who created the Rocky Horror Picture Show?

Richard O’Brien wrote The Rocky Horror Show, the stage musical the film is based on, and he also appears in the movie as Riff Raff. Before that musical existed, he worked as a stuntman — with credits including Carry On Cowboy and the original Casino Royale — and joined the touring cast of Hair in 1969 (BBC Gloucestershire). He had come to London in 1964 on a one-year working holiday and remained there (The Scotsman).

The production began under the working title They Came from Denton High, which the prospective director Jim Sharman suggested changing to The Rocky Horror Show. Producer Lou Adler secured the film rights, and the 1975 film flopped at the box office before finding a cult audience through late-night screenings (BBC Gloucestershire).

What was Richard O’Brien’s role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

• He wrote the source musical and played Riff Raff in the film (PinkNews).
• The role was one he had already performed on stage, so the screen version carries his original interpretation (PinkNews).

The Rocky Horror Show won Best Musical in the London Evening Standard’s drama-critics poll (The Scotsman). Tim Curry, who played Dr. Frank-N-Furter on stage and in the film, became the production’s breakout star.

Who played Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

• Tim Curry played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in both the original stage production and the 1975 film (PinkNews).
• It remains the role most audiences connect to the show.

That split — a creator who stays in the cast, and a co-star who becomes the public face — is why fan discussions still argue about the real star of Rocky Horror.

The result: the creator stayed in the cast, the breakout star took the spotlight, and the midnight crowds made both of them permanent fixtures of cult-film history.

Why did Richard O’Brien change his name?

He was born Richard Timothy Smith on 25 March 1942 in Cheltenham, according to Wikipedia (community encyclopedia). The surname O’Brien, used throughout his professional career, is widely described in biographies as a family name, and a deed poll change is widely reported — though the exact motivation is not documented in high-tier sources.

What is Richard O’Brien’s real name?

• His birth name is Richard Timothy Smith; he adopted O’Brien as his professional surname (Wikipedia).
• The real-name question trips up searches because other British performers — Richard O’Sullivan and Richard Briers — sound similar.

For the record, O’Sullivan (Man About the House) and Briers (The Good Life) are entirely different people; the overlap is only in the names, not the people.

The pattern: the stage name did its job a little too well — the public trusted the name on the marquee, not the one on the birth certificate.

How many children does Richard O’Brien have?

Public sources do not provide a single authoritative number of children.

Is Linus O’Brien related to Richard O’Brien?

• Linus O’Brien appears in related searches around this topic, but no high-tier source confirms him as Richard O’Brien’s son.
• Without a reliable interview or biography naming relatives, the connection should be treated as unverified.

The same caution applies to any family count: details are inconsistent across outlets, and recent coverage focuses on O’Brien’s work rather than his household.

That absence of confirmation is the finding — the record on O’Brien’s private life is far thinner than the record on his public work.

Who is Richard O’Brien’s partner?

O’Brien’s relationship history has appeared in celebrity biographies for decades, but current details are not consistently updated. Naming a partner without a recent, reliable interview would be guesswork, so the honest answer is: not confirmed in any high-tier source.

Is Richard O’Brien currently married?

• His marital status is not consistently documented in up-to-date sources.
• His recent public life is based in New Zealand rather than UK television, and interviews focus on his career, not his relationship status.

The trade-off: O’Brien has kept his private life private for decades, so summaries that name a partner are usually recycling older material.

Where does Richard O’Brien currently live?

He lives in New Zealand. Richard O’Brien, the actor who originally hosted The Crystal Maze, has been based there since the late 2000s (Wikipedia). His family first emigrated to New Zealand in 1952, when he was about ten; he was raised there before deciding farm life was not for him and returning to England (BBC Gloucestershire). He has described New Zealand as home in interviews.

Did Richard O’Brien move to New Zealand?

• Yes — he relocated in the late 2000s, and New Zealand is now his base (Wikipedia).
• It was a homecoming of sorts: the same country he had lived in as a child after 1952 (BBC Gloucestershire).

The implication: New Zealand runs deeper than celebrity gossip — it is the country that raised him and the country he chose again.

What is Richard O’Brien doing today?

O’Brien is no longer a regular presence on UK television. His recent public life is based in New Zealand, and he remains connected to The Rocky Horror Show’s touring legacy.

What was Richard O’Brien’s role in The Crystal Maze?

• He was the original host of The Crystal Maze, the show that made him a cult TV figure in the UK (Wikipedia).
• The role defined his public image for a generation of viewers who never saw Rocky Horror.

For many UK viewers, O’Brien is first and foremost the Crystal Maze presenter — which is why the Rocky Horror connection still surprises.

What is Richard O’Brien’s connection to Phineas and Ferb?

• He voiced Lawrence Fletcher in Phineas and Ferb (Wikipedia).
• The animated series brought him a new, younger fan base, far from the midnight-movie crowds.

It is the kind of late-career surprise that keeps his filmography hard to pin down: a cult horror writer who also worked in family animation. If that arc interests you, our profiles of Sarah Brightman: Songs, Phantom Role, Life & Career and Maxwell Caulfield: Biography, Age, Net Worth, Grease 2, and More trace similar journeys through stage and cult film.

The pattern: five decades, three distinct audiences — theatre fans, UK game-show viewers, and animation fans — all know a different Richard O’Brien.

The through-line: whatever the audience, O’Brien’s work keeps returning to costume, character, and the strange.

How to separate fact from rumor about Richard O’Brien

A short method for anyone researching O’Brien — especially when search results keep mixing him up with other British comedians.

1. Start with the archive pieces: the BBC Gloucestershire feature and The Scotsman interview are the most reliable long-form sources available, and both are grounded in interviews with O’Brien.
2. Separate surname twins: Richard O’Sullivan and Richard Briers are different performers entirely, but search engines routinely blend their names with his.
3. Treat any number — net worth, number of children, marriage status — as unverified unless a named, dateable source states it. Most celebrity-tracker pages recycle the same unconfirmed figures.
4. When in doubt, follow the show: O’Brien’s public appearances now center on The Rocky Horror Show’s stage life, which is where new interviews and statements surface.

The takeaway: the verified story is strong enough that nobody needs the unverified details.

Richard O’Brien timeline: from Cheltenham to New Zealand

The career arc is quick to summarize: a childhood split between countries, one musical that kept running, and a string of TV and voice roles that followed.

• 1942 — Born Richard Timothy Smith in Cheltenham, England (Wikipedia).
• 1973 — The Rocky Horror Show premieres in London (PinkNews).
• 1975 — The Rocky Horror Picture Show is released (PinkNews).
• 1990 — O’Brien becomes the original host of The Crystal Maze (Wikipedia).
• 2007 — Phineas and Ferb debuts; O’Brien voices Lawrence Fletcher (Wikipedia).
• Late 2000s — O’Brien relocates to New Zealand (Wikipedia).

The through-line: every act connects back to the same theatrical instinct — costume, character, and a love of the strange.

Richard O’Brien: what’s confirmed and what isn’t

The balance of evidence is clear on his career and much thinner on his private life.

Confirmed facts

• Created The Rocky Horror Show and appeared in the 1975 film as Riff Raff (PinkNews).
• Was the original host of The Crystal Maze (Wikipedia).
• Voiced Lawrence Fletcher in Phineas and Ferb (Wikipedia).
• Born Richard Timothy Smith in Cheltenham in 1942 (Wikipedia).
• Has lived in New Zealand since the late 2000s (Wikipedia).

What’s unclear

• Net worth figures — no confirmed figure exists in high-tier sources.
• Current partner or wife.
• Number of children.
• Whether Linus O’Brien is a relative.
• Exact town of residence in New Zealand.
• The specific motivation behind the surname change.

The balance is telling: his public career is well documented, while his private life remains deliberately out of view.

Richard O’Brien in his own words

He came to London in 1964 on a one-year working holiday and remained there.

Richard O’Brien, in an interview with The Scotsman (Edinburgh daily)

The title The Rocky Horror Show came at the suggestion of Jim Sharman, the prospective director, before the production opened in London.

Jim Sharman, as reported by BBC Gloucestershire

The record shows a performer who kept moving — farm, theatre, film, game shows, animation — and never stayed still long enough to be easily categorized.

Frequently asked questions

Those answers match the larger record: the verified facts are public, and the rest is unconfirmed.