Richard Young (born December 17, 1955) is an American character actor, independent filmmaker, screenwriter, photographer and artist. Active from the early 1970s, he gained prominence starring in the opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Other feature films appearances include: The Ice Pirates (1984), Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) and An Innocent Man (1989).
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Early life
Born in Kissimmee, Florida in 1955, Young grew up in a conservative environment on military bases. At twelve years old, his father bought him a Leica camera and taught him lighting basics which helped him become the main photographer for his high school's newspaper. At age 18, he worked as a longshoreman in Alaska before attending the University of Washington on a pre-dentistry program for two years. While at University he worked as a free-lance photographer for extra money until he quit pre-dentistry to head for California to try to make it as a cameraman.
Career
In the early 1970s, Young found work with New World Pictures as crew for Roger Corman, however, the failure of an actor to appear resulted in Young starring in Night Call Nurses. While acting, he received offers to guest star on prime-time television and joined Beverly Hills Playhouse theatre group. Young found a variety of work from both film and television including appearing in Kung Fu with William Katt and Gary Busey, Flamingo Road with Morgan Fairchild, Knight Rider and the Cheers episode 'Love Thy Neighbor'. In 1979, Young and John Chesko, along with Brenda Venus, filmed American novelist Henry Miller, resulting in the film Dinner with Henry Miller. A short thirty minute cut was released by Brenda Venus in 1984, however, over 2 hours of footage exist that is owned and being produced by Young who has yet to formally release the finished film, one of Miller's final film appearances.
By the mid to late 1980s, Young had established himself as both a leading actor in television and film, appearing in Final Mission (1984). It was when Young met Steven Spielberg on the set of Amazing Stories whilst filming "Alamo Jobe" that the seed of Young playing the inspiration for Indiana Jones was formed in Spielberg's mind. In 1989, he was cast as 'Garth' or 'Fedora' in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. However, despite appearing in lead roles he became disillusioned with the industry in 1995 and left to pursue his photography career.
Bosnian War
In the mid 1990s, Young was hired as cameraman for a documentary about a young woman who had come from the Bosnian War to make a new life in the US. During the filming, the crew found out that the family had gone missing in Croatia - so Young, the crew and the young woman went to the war zone to find the surviving members of her family.
Personal life
As of 2018, Young resides in the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, Washington and is the owner of Silverwing Images where he creates fine art photography.
Filmography
1971 Room 222 (TV) as Augie Cerutti
1971 The F.B.I. (TV) as Mason Carter
1971 The Reluctant Heroes (TV) as Private Golden
1972 Ironside (TV) as Steve Winters
1972 Night Call Nurses as Kyle Toby
1972 Marcus Welby, M.D. as Horst
1973 Fly Me as Doctor
1973 Kung Fu (TV) as Verne
1974 Nakia (TV)
1974 Inferno in Paradise as Clay Martin
1975 Let's Do It Again as Biggie's Crony #3
1976 Cry Your Purple Heart Out as Frank
1976 Ellery Queen (TV) as Dr. Kemp
1976 Barnaby Jones (TV) as Craig Webster
1976 Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free (TV) as Luke Mintore
1977 Cherry Hill High as Vintner
1977 Laverne & Shirley (TV) as Charles Warner
1977 Switch (TV) as Larry Castle
1979 Ryan's Hope (TV) as Lieutenant Hayes
1979 Swim Team as Johnny
1979 Cocaine Cowboys as Terry
