Kenneth Alan Richmond (10 July 1926 – 3 August 2006) was an English heavyweight wrestler.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Kenneth Alan Richmond | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 10 July 1926 London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 3 August 2006 (aged 80) Christchurch, Dorset, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Richmond was born in London. His father abandoned the family when Richmond was 3. Before he got into freestyle wrestling, he was a whale ship crewman.
At 6'5" and 265 lbs, he won a bronze medal at the 1952 Olympics, as well as a bronze medal at the 1950 British Empire Games, and a gold medal at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. He stayed fit enough into his later years to win medals for rollerblading and windsurfing in his 60s.[citation needed]
Though he appeared as the wrestler Nikolas in Jules Dassin's film noir, Night and the City (1950),[1] Richmond was perhaps most recognisable as the shirtless gongman banging the enormous gong preceding the opening credits for films produced or distributed by the Rank Organisation. He was the fourth – and last – actor to take the job. According to the BBC, he had revealed to friends that the gong seen in the Rank Organisation's opening never rang, as it was a papier-mâché stage prop and he never actually struck it with any force, joking "If you hit that gong, you would have gone straight through."[2]
He was a Jehovah's Witness for most of his life, being jailed as a conscientious objector during World War II. In later life, he was a volunteer minister for the organisation.[2] He died at age 80 in his home in Christchurch.[3] (Richmond's wife, Valentina, died in 1996).[citation needed]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Night and the City | Nikolas of Athens | |
| 1954 | Mad About Men | Zampa | Uncredited |
| 1956 | The Iron Petticoat | Igor – Group 9 Operative | Uncredited, (final film role) |
References
edit- ^ Schager, Nick. Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Slant Magazine, DVD review of Night and the City, 16 February 2005. Last accessed: 3 December 2009.
- ^ a b Hevesi
- ^ https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/868363.rank-gong-film-icon-is-mourned/
Bibliography
edit- London Daily Mirror, 12 August 2006
- BBC Radio 4 Last Word, 18 August 2006
- Hevesi, Dennis (14 August 2006). "MOVIES: Ken Richmond, 80, Gong-Striker Familiar to Filmgoers, Dies". The New York Times.
External links
edit- Kenneth Alan Richmond at the International Olympic Committee
- Ken Richmond at IMDb
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ken Richmond". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.