Richard Short (actor)


Richard Ian Porterfield Short is an English actor based in Los Angeles. He is starring in the 2017 TV drama series Mary Kills People. In 2017 he appeared in the independent film The Dare and in 2016 Crazy Famous. On television he has had recurring roles on Vinyl and Covert Affairs and has appeared on American Horror Story, White Collar, and Blue Bloods. Short has appeared in more than 30 films and television shows in the USA and UK. On Broadway, he was a member of the 2011 company of Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem at the Music Box Theatre.
In January 2018 Short was nominated for Best Lead Actor, Drama Series, from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for his performance on Mary Kills People.
He began acting with the Woking Youth Theatre in Woking, Surrey in 1992, and made his professional stage debut in the original UK cast of Grease in 1996. His first American film was Delirious, directed by Tom DiCillo, in 2007. That same year also saw Short make his American TV debut on . In 2009, he appeared in the big-budget crime drama Public Enemies, directed by Michael Mann. Short also appeared opposite Kevin Pollak in the 2011 film Choose and the HBO series Bored to Death with Jason Schwartzman.

Early life

Short was born in South Shields, England, to Margaret Mooney and Pipefitter Richard Short. He has two sisters, one half sister and one half brother. He grew up in South Shields and was educated at Highfield Infants School, then at the Cheviot Junior School; Broadmere Middle School, Woking; Holy Trinity School, Guildford, Surrey; Bishop David Brown School, Woking; and King Edward's School, Witley, Surrey. At Brooklands College, Weybridge, Surrey, he studied film and theatre, but left college to pursue acting full-time when he was 20 years old.

Career

As a teenager Short joined the Woking Young Players and performed in several productions, including Ways and Means, Hair, The Boyfriend and many more. In 1996 Short began performing professionally on the stage as Johnny Casino in Grease. For two years he was in the UK tour of the original cast and appeared at the Opera House, Manchester, the Playhouse, Edinburgh, the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton and the Empire Theatre, Liverpool. He then joined the production in the West End at the Cambridge Theatre, Covent Garden, London, until the show closed in 1999. Short was a part of the London Shakespeare Workshops from 1999–2001 and appeared in Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III and Twelfth Night with guests such as Sam West, Mark Rylance, Richard Dreyfuss and Fenella Fielding.
Short toured the UK in The Real Monty from 2001–02, Macbeth from 2003–04 and in A Midsummer Night's Dream from 2003-04. Short moved to the United States soon after.
In 2006 he landed his first American stage role, understudying the part of Sloane in the play Entertaining Mr. Sloane opposite Alec Baldwin, directed by Scott Ellis at the Roundabout Theatre. In 2007 Short appeared in the Vineyard Theatre's successful off-Broadway production of J.M. Barrie's Mary Rose, opposite Keir Dullea and Paige Howard, as an Australian World War I veteran.
He followed this with Wasps in Bed at Theatre Row and the successful Bay Street Theatre production of The Night Season opposite Katherine Helmond, Michael O'Keefe and David Patrick Kelly, directed by Lonny Price. In 2007 he was cast in his first American television show, ' in the episode "Privilege".
Short broke into film with the acclaimed independent director Tom DiCillo in Delirious opposite Steve Buscemi and Alison Lohman. The film debuted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Short was back at Sundance the following year in The Guitar, directed by Amy Redford. He returned to the television screen in both New Amsterdam in the episode "A Soldier's Heart" and ' in the episode "Avatar". He adopted an American accent in 2008 in both The King of Shadows by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa at the Working Theatre and Choose. For the 1930s crime drama Public Enemies, Short had to adopt an American accent to play FBI agent Samuel P. Cowley, the man who brought down Baby Face Nelson, played by Stephen Graham. Short worked with Christian Bale, who stars as agent Melvin Purvis.
In the spring of 2009 he wrapped Cafe, a feature film directed by Marc Erlbaum and shot in Philadelphia. Short plays a writer opposite star Jennifer Love Hewitt. Cafe was released in the USA and Europe in 2011. Short was in the feature film The Exhibitionists for director Michael Melamedoff, released in 2013. In 2014 he was cast in three independent films: Cockroaches in Los Angeles and The Butterflies of Bill Baker and A New York Love Story, shot in New York City.
Short is represented by Innovative Artists and manager Jennifer Wiley-Stockton.

Writing

Short became the football writer during the 2010 FIFA World Cup exclusively for Menshealth.com.
Articles can be found at: http://blogs.menshealth.com/football-fever/

Advertising

Short has worked on several commercials in the UK and Ireland, as well as recorded voiceovers and jingles. Among his commercial credits:
Short is married to Teresa Palladino-Short. They reside in Los Angeles.
Short has run in several marathons and half-marathons to raise money for charity, such as:

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007DeliriousJace HipleySundance 2007; American Film Debut
2007 DeceptionDesk ClerkDirected by Marcel Langenegger
2008The GuitarLoser MusicianSundance 2008; Directed by Amy Redford
2009Public EnemiesSamuel P. CowleyDirected by Michael Mann
2009ChooseBensonDirected by Marcus Graves
2011CafeWriterProducers Sean Covel, Chris Wyatt and J. Andrew Greenblatt
2012The ExhibitionistsWalter ToddDirected by Michael Melamedoff
2013The Butterflies of Bill BakerMacDirected by Sania Jhankar
2015A New York Love StoryThe PainterDirected by Apolla Echino
2015CockroachesJohnny SlimDirected by Christoffer Aldell
2015Not WelcomeTerryDirected by Marc Sloboda
2016Crazy FamousSmithDirected by Paul Jarrett
2017The DareAdam HeinzDirected by Giles Alderson
2020Arthur & Merlin: Knights of CamelotKing Arthur

Television


YearTitleRoleNotes
2007'Dylan MercerEpisode "Privilege"
2007'Erik WintonEpisode "Avatar"
2008New AmsterdamRobert CampEpisode "A Soldier's Heart"
2009Bored to DeathVincentHBO series written by Jonathan Ames; executive producer Troy Miller
2009FringeBob DunnEpisode "Midnight"
2010Blue BloodsLemonEpisode "After Hours"
2010GravitySpin GuyEpisode "Damn Skippy"
2011White CollarAndrew CollinsEpisode "What Happens in Burma"
2011VeraNeville FurnessEpisode "The Crow Trap" based on the book by Ann Cleeves. Produced by ITV Studios.
2011American Horror StoryGaryEpisode "Rubber Man"
2013666 Park AvenueHarlan MooreRecurring Episodes
2013Covert AffairsReeseRecurring Episodes
2015Agent CarterPinky PinkertonEpisode "The Iron Ceiling"
2016VinylBilly McVicarRecurring Episodes
2016Training DayWikstromOne episode
2016Time After TimeHarperOne episode
2017–presentMary Kills PeopleDesmond "Des" BennettSeries regular
2018Code BlackDrake FinnOne episode

Theatre


YearTitleRoleDirectorPlaywrightTheatre
1996GreaseJohnny CasinoDavid GilmoreJim Jacobs/Warren CaseyUK Tour
1999GreaseJohnny CasinoDavid GilmoreJim Jacobs/Warren CaseyCambridge Theatre, Covent Garden
2000Millennium Dome ShowActorMark FisherPeter Gabriel Millennium Dome, Greenwich
2001The Real MontyNobbyDavid GrahamUK Tour
2003MacbethMacduffJulian CheneryWilliam ShakespeareUK Tour
2003A Midsummer Night's DreamDemetriusJulian CheneryWilliam ShakespeareUK Tour
2006Entertaining Mr. SloaneSloane Scott EllisJoe OrtonRoundabout Theatre Company, NYC
2006WASPS in BedCalLisa Marie MellerNicola BehrmanSamuel Beckett Theatre, NYC
2006An Evening with Simon GrayJapesSimon GraySimon GrayLincoln Center
2007The Night SeasonJohn EastmanLonny PriceRebecca LenkiewiczBay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor, NY
2007Mary RoseHarryTina LandauJ.M. BarrieVineyard Theatre, NYC
2008 Mister RobertsWiley/GerhartScott EllisThomas Heggen/Joshua Logan American Airlines Theatre
2008King of ShadowsEric SaundersConnie GrappoRoberto Aguirre-SacasaTheater for the New City, NYC
2011JerusalemDanny WhitworthIan RicksonJez ButterworthMusic Box Theatre, NYC
2018CleoRichard BurtonBob BalabanLawrence WrightAlley Theatre, Houston