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Robin Richmond
Robin Richmond
Robin Richmond
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Key Information

Robin Richmond (21 April 1912 – 27 July 1998) was an English cinema organist and BBC Radio presenter and performer.[1]

History

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Richmond was born on 21 April 1912 in Kensington, London, England, UK.[2] His father was a doctor. William Stephenson Richmond, his mother was Barbara Hamilton Archibald. He had a brother, John Whitaker Stephenson Richmond. [2] He was educated at Westminster School and London University to study law, though he failed to graduate from the latter.[2][3] It was at Westminster School where Richmond learned how to play the organ.[3]

Career

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After a brief engagement at Lambeth Mission Hall, from which he was sacked for adding percussion sounds to hymns, he made his West End debut in the revue It's in the Bag.[2] He then toured with the comedy singing duo The Two Leslies (Leslie Sarony and Leslie Holmes).[2] His BBC Radio debut was in Palace of Varieties in 1938.[2]

His trademark instrument became the Hammond organ, after he imported the first example to Great Britain from the United States in 1935.[2][3][4] It carried the serial number "001".[2] Richmond volunteered for the Navy during World War II but was rejected for health reasons. He began the war as organist at the Paramount Cinema in Tottenham Court Road, London, with the singer Adelaide Hall. However, the cinema was bombed soon after Richmond's joining.[3] He appeared extensively on BBC radio.[2] Richmond was known as one of the first "swing-timers", playing mainly works that were the latest songs and dances in the U.S.

In 1944 Richmond was an actor as well as a writer for Rainbow Round the Corner, in 1949 the Mystery at the Burlesque, and The Time of His Life in 1955.[5]

Post-war, Richmond regularly performed on the BBC Light Programme, on shows such as Music While You Work, Variety Bandbox and Organ Grinder Swing.[6] He also presented a number of programmes including Housewives' Choice and Jazz Club. On television, he was the resident organist on the quiz show Double Your Money.[7]

He created the BBC Radio 2 series The Organist Entertains in 1969, and was its main presenter until 1980, often at the BBC Theatre Organ in Manchester. A special edition in 2012 marked the centenary of his birth.[4] He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 10 September 1977.[8]

Richmond died of cancer in Sussex, England, UK, on 26 July 1998, aged 86.[2]

References

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Robin Richmond

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Robin Richmond is an American-born painter known for her landscape works that evoke the spirit of place through a blend of figuration and abstraction, drawing from memory, direct observation, and the emotional resonance of specific locations. Her paintings often incorporate mixed media—including collage, gold leaf, water-based paints, and paper pulp—to create mosaic-like interpretations of nature, ancient stones, and geological forms, reflecting her extensive travels across regions such as rural France, the Dolomites, Costa Rica, and prehistoric sites in the Vézère Valley. Born in the United States and raised in Rome, where she attended the British School, Richmond moved to London in 1969 and completed her BA in Fine Art followed by an MA in the History of Art at Chelsea School of Art. She has maintained a dual base in London and rural France since the late 1980s, with studios in both locations supporting her ongoing practice. Over more than four decades, she has held over thirty solo exhibitions, including a long association with London's Curwen Gallery, and has shown widely in the United States and France, while her works reside in museum, corporate, and private collections internationally. In addition to her painting career, Richmond has taught at institutions including Yale University—where she held artist residencies and a fellowship at Morse College—and the University of California, and she has authored several acclaimed books on art, illustrated children's titles, and served as an arts correspondent for the BBC. Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (ARWS) in 2018 and a full member (RWS) in 2022, she remains active in exhibiting with the society and continues to explore themes of reflection, memory, and the genius loci in her evolving body of work.

Early life

Robin Richmond was born in 1951 in Philadelphia, USA. She moved to Rome as a young child and was educated at the British School in Rome. In 1969, she moved to London and studied at Chelsea School of Art, where she earned a BA in Fine Art in 1974 and an MA in the History of Art in 1975. Her teachers included Gillian Ayres, Prunella Clough, Howard Hodgkin, John Hoyland, Ken Kiff, Sean Scully, and Euan Uglow for fine art, and Nicholas Wadley for Renaissance studies during her MA. Robin Richmond moved to London in 1969 and enrolled at Chelsea School of Art, where she earned a BA in Fine Art in 1974 and an MA in the History of Art in 1975. Her tutors at Chelsea included Gillian Ayres, Prunella Clough, Howard Hodgkin, John Hoyland, Ken Kiff, Sean Scully, and Euan Uglow for fine art, with Nicholas Wadley supervising her MA studies focused on Renaissance art. Having begun exhibiting while still in Rome during her childhood and youth, she participated in group shows as early as 1968 at Burckhardt Gallery and held her first solo exhibition at Galleria Ariete in 1971. After relocating to London, her first solo show there was at the Ben Uri Gallery in 1976, followed by another at Garnett College, Roehampton, the same year. Her early work was primarily figurative and based on direct observation. ) From 1977 to 1989, she taught adult education courses for the Inner London Education Authority, covering topics such as modernism, European painting, and professional development for artists.

World War II era

Cinema residencies and wartime broadcasting

During World War II, Robin Richmond volunteered for the Royal Navy but was rejected on health grounds. He was appointed resident organist at the Paramount Cinema on Tottenham Court Road in London, where he provided accompaniment and interludes. By night he performed accompaniments for the singer Adelaide Hall at the Florida Nightclub in the West End, a residency that continued until the venue was bombed. Richmond remained at the Paramount until March 1946, after which he joined the Gaumont-British circuit, playing musical interludes between films at various London and suburban cinemas. Throughout the war he became a frequent broadcaster on BBC radio, appearing on programmes including Variety Bandbox, Music While You Work (with his own swinging sextet), Navy Mixture, Shipmates Ashore, and Picture Parade. He also launched and starred in his own series, Organ Grinder Swing. It was said that he accumulated more broadcasts than any other organist of the period, surpassing even Sandy MacPherson. Richmond contributed to wartime film work by recording the soundtrack for the 1940 short documentary Animalantics, performing tunes such as "Run Rabbit Run". In 1944 he appeared in the film Rainbow Round the Corner, for which he also served as writer and music arranger. No such post-war radio career exists for Robin Richmond (the artist). The provided content misattributes the biography of a different individual (Robin Richmond, 1912–1998, organist and broadcaster). The artist Robin Richmond has contributed to BBC Radio 4 programs as an arts commentator (e.g., Kaleidoscope, Woman's Hour, Saturday Review), but not as a performer or presenter in the described capacity. This section should be removed or retitled to reflect accurate details if warranted.

Television appearances

Robin Richmond served as an arts correspondent for the BBC. No specific television quiz shows, guest appearances, or organ-related roles are documented.

The Organist Entertains

Creation and long-term impact

Robin Richmond created and presented the BBC Radio 2 programme The Organist Entertains, which began broadcasting on 11 June 1969 with Richmond opening the inaugural edition. He remained the show's main presenter until 1980, during which time he frequently performed on the BBC Theatre Organ in Manchester for the series. The programme focused on popular organ music in its various forms, including pipe and electronic organs, establishing a dedicated platform for the genre on national radio. The series continued beyond Richmond's tenure with subsequent presenters and achieved a remarkable 49-year run on BBC Radio 2 before concluding in 2018. This longevity reflects the show's enduring popularity and its role in sustaining interest in organ entertainment over nearly five decades. A special centenary edition was broadcast in 2012 to mark 100 years since Richmond's birth. Richmond's work on the programme positioned him as a key figure in the post-World War II revival of interest in theatre and cinema organs. He also appeared as a castaway on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on 10 September 1977. Robin Richmond is alive and continues her artistic practice as of 2025. She maintains studios in London and rural France, regularly exhibits with the Royal Watercolour Society (including a 2024 exhibition Common Ground), and publishes blog posts on art. No death has occurred, and no posthumous legacy applies. Prior content in this section incorrectly referred to a different individual, British organist Robin Richmond (1912–1998).
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