Richard Klee was born to a single mother on 14th August 1930. His
mother, Dickie Klee, had a varied career which included being the
assistant who typed up most of Agatha Christie's books from audio tapes
for publication, and who also typed up the auto biography of Charlie
Chaplin. Richard's father was a Saxophonist who played on cruise ships.
Richard never got to know his father, but inherited his talent for
music, as he was a very talented Jazz pianist. After undertaking
national service in Singapore Richard went into acting. His main focus
was stage work.
After marrying Hilary Smith, and having two daughters, Melissa (1964)
and Alexandra (1967), Richard left acting to take up a career in sales
and support his family. The failure of his marriage led Richard to go
back to acting, where he spent a long time on the West End stage in The
Mousetrap and Amadeus, amongst many other plays.
Richard was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder later in life, which had a
severe impact on his life and work.