Richard Riehle (born May 12, 1948, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA) is a prolific character actor who has appeared in three of the four Star Trek spinoffs, as well as over 50 other television series and about twice as many films.
Riehle made his episodic television debut in 1989 with a guest appearance in the popular science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring future Star Trek: Enterprise actors Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. He would make another appearance on the show the following year. He also made three guest appearances on L.A. Law (co-starring with Corbin Bernsen, Larry Drake, Jennifer Hetrick, Salome Jens, and Sam Anderson) and has guest-starred on such shows as Murder, She Wrote (with William Windom and Mark Rolston), Murder One (with John Fleck, Gregory Itzin, and Vanessa Williams), The Visitor (with Richard Cox and Leon Rippy), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (with Armin Shimerman), Diagnosis Murder (with Scarlett Pomers and Leon Russom), The West Wing (with Ed Begley, Jr., J. Michael Flynn, Glenn Morshower, and Tony Plana), and Boston Legal (starring William Shatner and Rene Auberjonois). Riehle also had a recurring role as Unlce Dave on the short-lived TV sitcom Married to the Kellys (2003-04), also featuring Sam Anderson and Bruce Gray.
Riehle's notable made-for-TV movies include 1990's A Killer Among Us (with Mike Genovese and Dwight Schultz), 1991's Keeper of the City (with Tony Plana, John Putch, Jimmie F. Skaggs, and Tony Todd), 1998's Mr. Murder (with Jim Beaver, Stephanie Niznik, and Bill Smitrovich) and The Pentagon Wars (with Sam Anderson, Bruce French, and Randy Oglesby), 1999's Au Pair (1999, with John Rhys-Davies), and the Columbo movies Ashes to Ashes (1998, with Spencer Garrett and Richard Libertini) and Murder with Too Many Notes (2000, with with Van Epperson, Obi Ndefo, Randy Oglesby, and Herschel Sparber).
One of Riehle's earliest films was 1989's Black Rain, in which he and Star Trek: The Next Generation guest star Stephen Root played Internal Affairs agents. (The film also featured Tim Kelleher and Keone Young.) The following year, Riehle and Root would go on to appear in the TV movie Cross of Fire (with William Schallert and Keith Szarabajka) and in 1999, the two of them would co-star in the popular comedy Office Space (with Diedrich Bader).
Riehle's exhaustive film credits also include the 1989 Civil War drama Glory (with Bob Gunton, Mark Margolis, and Ethan Phillips), the 1992 version of Of Mice and Men (with Ray Walston), Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog (1992, with Kenneth Mars, Wallace Shawn, Kurtwood Smith, and David Ogden Stiers), Body of Evidence (1993, with Michael Forest, Frank Langella, and Mark Rolston), Free Willy (1993, with Lori Petty), the acclaimed 1993 thriller The Fugitive (with Danny Goldring and Andreas Katsulas), Stuart Saves His Family (1995, with Jeremy Roberts, Harris Yulin, and Michelle Horn), the Stuart Baird-directed Executive Decision (1996, with Len Cariou, Andreas Katsulas, and Warren Munson), Desperate Measures (1998, with Dennis Cockrum and Tracey Walter), the surreal Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998, with Larry Cedar and Gregory Itzin), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998, with Richard Libertini), and the 1998 remake of Mighty Joe Young (with Richard McGonagle, Scarlett Pomers, Lawrence Pressman, and Tracey Walter).
Riehle was also one of the many Star Trek alumni to be featured in the 1996 drama Ghosts of Mississippi. Co-starring with him in this film were Whoopi Goldberg, Virginia Madsen, Susanna Thompson, Bill Cobbs, Spencer Garrett, Jerry Hardin, Thomas Kopache, Terry O'Quinn, Brock Peters, and Bill Smitrovich.
His more recent credits include the 2001 independent film The Gristle (with Michael Dorn), the 2001 comedy Joe Dirt (with Brian Thompson), 2002's The Laramie Project (with Clancy Brown), the 2003 cult comedy The Hebrew Hammer (as Santa, with Andy Dick playing his treacherous son), and the 2005 family movie The 12 Dogs of Christmas (starring John Billingsley).
Characters performed by Richard Riehle | ||
---|---|---|
Batai | Seamus McGinty | Doctor Lucas |
TNG: "The Inner Light" |
VOY: "Fair Haven" "Spirit Folk" |
ENT: "Cold Station 12" "The Augments" |
Additional works
- Cast the First Stone (1989; with Salome Jens, Jeff McCarthy, and Rudolph Willrich)
- L.A. Law episode "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" (1989; with Corbin Bernsen and Jennifer Hetrick)
- Falcon Crest episode "Payback" (1989; with Lee Bergere)
- Ferris Bueller (TV series, 1990; with David Graf)
- The Golden Girls episodes "Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Retirement Home, Parts I & II" (1991; with Beatrice Arthur)
- Civil Wars episode "Whippet 'Til It Breaks" (1992; with Tricia O'Neil and Don Stark)
- On the Air episode 1.2 (1992; with Miguel Ferrer and Tracey Walter)
- The Public Eye (1992; with Ian Abercrombie, Bob Gunton, and Nick Tate)
- A Dangerous Woman (1993; with Warren Munson)
- For Their Own Good (1993; with David Graf, Thomas Kopache, and Glenn Morshower)
- Shaky Ground episode "Love Thy Neighbor" (1993; with Matt Frewer)
- Holy Matrimony (1994; with John Schuck)
- Iron Will (1994; with David Ogden Stiers)
- Dominion (1995; with Glenn Morshower)
- Jury Duty (1995; with Charles Napier)
- Lone Justice 2 (1995; with Jeremy Roberts)
- Trial by Fire (1995; with Keith Carradine)
- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (video game, 1995; with Charles Esten, Malcolm McDowell, and John Rhys-Davies)
- Driven (1996; with Spencer Garrett, Eric Pierpoint, and Tony Todd)
- The Fan (1996; with Michael Jace)
- Killer: A Journal of Murder (1996; with Nicholas Guest)
- Last Resort (1996; with Dean Stockwell and Dendrie Taylor)
- The Single Guy episode "Best Man" (1996; with Olivia d'Abo)
- Soul of the Game (1996; with Jerry Hardin)
- 187 (1997; with Tony Plana)
- Brooklyn South episode "Tears on My Willow" (1998; with Titus Welliver)
- Chicago Hope episode "Sarindipity" (1998; with Michael Bofshever)
- The Lesser Evil (1998; with Anne Haney)
- Mercury Rising (1998; with Steve Rankin)
- The Ransom of Red Chief (1998; with Christopher Lloyd and Alan Ruck)
- The Arrangement (1999; with Lori Petty)
- Balloon Farm (1999; with Neal McDonough)
- Hard Time: Hostage Hotel (1999; with Keith Carradine, Spencer Garrett, and Tony Plana)
- Kill the Man (1999; with Teri Garr and Michael McKean)
- City of Angels episode "Ax and You Shall Receive" (2000; with John Cothran, Jr.)
- Crash Point Zero (2000; with J. Patrick McCormack and Jack Shearer)
- Beethoven's 5th (2003; with Clint Howard)
- Monster Makers (2003; with Tracey Walter)
- Death and Texas (2004; with Corbin Bernsen and John Fleck)
- Home on the Range (2004; voice only, with Charles Dennis)
- NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323 (2004; with Brian Markinson)
- Detective (2005; with Christopher Lloyd)
- The Lost (2005; with Ed Lauter)
- Hatchet (2006; with Tony Todd)
- Little Big Top (2006; with Sid Haig)
External Links
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