Richard Lynch, born in 1940, has been menacing the screens (both small and silver) for nearly 50 years. Once you have seen his threatening face, often playing the lead psychopath, you will most probably have it burned into your memory for a long time. Moreover, that’s the interesting part; Richard Lynch burned his body to into a grizzled mockery of his former smoldering good looks by igniting his gasoline drenched self during an acid trip in 1967. If it were not for this incident, chances are, you would have never heard of this guy, but because of his disfiguration, Richard began to catch work in roles that would have normally flown beneath a better looking actor’s radar.
During the early 1970’s, Hollywood was flooded with leading men. Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, and Warren Beatty all struggled with each other for the top roles while other actors such as Robert Duvall, James Caan, Harry Dean Stanton, Eli Wallach and Hal Holbrook soaked up the most popular supporting roles. this massive glut of acting power and talent even affected the way we view and how Hollywood treats antagonists and bad guys. Leading men, often losing out on major parts, would wisely opt to play the main character’s adversary just so they could get the kind of work that would garner them precious screen time. This left only henchmen roles for the taking, and Richard Lynch, reaching up with gnarled and scarred hands, took as many of these roles as humanly possible.
Richard Lynch is the guy you see in every movie and say to yourself “hey, it’s that guy again,” then you usually forget about him until you see him the next time.
Often called “the poor man’s Rutger Hauer,” Lynch got his start in 1973’s “Scarecrow,” where he plays Riley, a jailed antisocial, yet likable dreg who befriends Al Pacino while his main character is incarcerated. It can be argued that any person acting in a role opposite both Pacino and Gene Hackman is fast-tracked for stardom, but it can also be said that any actor, given only 20 minutes of screen time between two such cinematic and egotistical giants had better make the most of that stunted portion of time. Lynch did, and translated that miniscule timeframe into decades of quality work.
Those roles have translated themselves into nearly 40 years of solid performances, if such roles as thieves, rapists, knife wielding baddies, and murderers can be called solid. After Scarecrow, his performance in “The Seven Ups” (opposite Roy Scheider) which had but a handful of lines, cemented his typecast for the next 4 decades. If you needed an actor to play some sort of psychopath for your 1970s, 80s, or 90s television show, chances are you gave Richard Lynch a call on the telephone. For the remainder of still busy career, he has made a huge mark on the small screen, playing in such notable television series as “Starsky and Hutch,” “TJ Hooker,” “The Fall Guy,” “Baywatch,” “Six Feet Under,” and even “Charmed.” The list goes on and on, because any role is open to this master sleazeball.
Still currently active, Lynch has been trying his hand at producing, helping make 2006’s horror film “Wedding Slashers,” which did not do well with critics, but since these movies never actually do well with critics, can be easily forgiven. And speaking of what actors are up to these days, it must be noted that Gene Hackman, that great 1970s icon who first crossed paths with Richard Lynch way back in 1973…well, Gene is doing voiceover work for Lowes Hardware commercials.
Some Great sleazeball performances by Lynch:
* The Ninth Configuration
* Invasion USA (opposite Chuck Norris)
* Savage Dawn (opposite George Kennedy)
* Lockdown
* Halloween (2007 version)
* Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy (where he shocks us by playing the President of the United States)
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