Richard's parents were born in Poland. After experiencing the horrific events of 1939, their journeys brought George and Lucy to England, where they met. George became a fighter pilot and flew Spitfires and Harvard's, while Lucy worked in the RAF offices. Richard was born in Toronto. His childhood was a mix of love and turmoil as his family worked tirelessly to establish themselves in their new homeland. Richard's passion for the arts began to blossom. He learned to play guitar and formed a folk-rock band in high school, a precursor to his future in acting. After studying with Actors Studio teacher Eli Rill, Richard debuted on stage as Paul Bratter in Barefoot in the Park. He was next cast as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, where he used his Polish roots to inhabit the iconic role. The director of Barefoot in the Park was a devoted follower of the Stanislavski acting system, and Richard fell in love with the richness of craft. When his parents divorced, his mother moved to New York, and Richard followed. His first job was as an understudy in Entertaining Mr. Sloane at The Cherry Lane. As luck or destiny might have it, the lead actor won the starring role in Grease II, and Richard was on stage in short order. Richard moved to Los Angeles afterward and started his career onstage in The Fox, winning a Drama-Logue Performance Award. After many T.V. appearances, he won the role of Brick Wallace in the new NBC Daytime Drama Santa Barbara, where he remained for three seasons and earned a Daytime Emmy nomination. Another production of A Streetcar Named Desire was sold out for its entire run at The Los Angeles Art Theatre, winning Richard his second Drama-Logue Performance Award, this time for Stanley Kowalski. Here, he met his wife-to-be, Shannon Hile, who played Stella. Richard continued to return to the stage whenever possible.

Richard signed on for the role of Alex Murphy in the Rysher television series RoboCop. Those two shows have garnered him a loyal fan base. He and his wife Shannon have become feature and television writers and producers. Richard used to gaze across Lake Ontario as a young boy. On a clear day, in the offing, he could see America.