| Men's freestyle wrestling | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Great Britain
| ||
Olympic Games
 | ||
 |
1952 Helsinki | Heavyweight |
Representing  England
| ||
| British Empire (and Commonwealth) Games | ||
 |
1954 Vancouver | Heavyweight |
|
1950 Auckland | Heavyweight |
Kenneth Alan Richmond (10 July 1926 – 3 August 2006) was an English heavyweight wrestler.
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.
Though he appeared as the wrestler Nikolas in Jules Dassin's film noir, Night and the City (1950), 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.""
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. He died at age 80 in his home in Christchurch. (Richmond’s wife, Valentina, died in 1996).
Filmography※
| 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※
- ^ 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.
- ^ Hevesi
Bibliography※
- 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※
- 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.
- 1926 births
- 2006 deaths
- Sport wrestlers from London
- British conscientious objectors
- Olympic wrestlers for Great Britain
- Wrestlers at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Wrestlers at the 1956 Summer Olympics
- Wrestlers at the 1960 Summer Olympics
- British male sport wrestlers
- Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
- Wrestlers at the 1950 British Empire Games
- Wrestlers at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Wrestlers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England
- Olympic medalists in wrestling
- Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling
- British people in whaling
- English Jehovah's Witnesses
- Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games
- Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games