English writer, actor, television presenter and theatre performer, born 25 March 1942 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK. Since 2011 he is also a citizen of New Zealand. O'Brien is known for writing the musical The Rocky Horror Show, as well as co-writing the screenplay to the film adaptation.
Son, with Kimi Wong , Linus (b. May 1, 1972).
Emigrated with his parents to New Zealand, went to school in Tauranga on the North Islands east coast, and moved to Hamilton for a while for work when he left school, before returning to the UK.
Wrote The Rocky Horror Picture Show in six months.
Son, with Jane Moss, Joshua. Daughter, with Jane Moss, Amelia (b. 1989).
Took the last name OBrien after his grandmother.
Still makes up songs on the spur of the moment, to entertain his friends.
When writing The Rocky Horror Picture Show , he based the character Frank-N-Furter on Alice Cooper. In his original handwritten notes (published in the 1979 play book The Rocky Horror Scrapbook), he described Frank-N-Furter as an "Alice Cooper type Frankenstein." (The "Dr." was added for the film.)
On November 25, 2004, a life-size bronze statue of Richard OBrien in his Riff Raff space suit was unveiled in Hamilton, New Zealand, where OBrien grew up after moving from England. Commissioned jointly by a local theatre group and the Hamilton City Council, the statue stands on the site of the old Embassy Cinema, where OBrien once watched science-fiction double features.
Met his close friend, Patricia Quinn in 1972.
