Richard Stapley

British actor, writer and songwriter (Westcliff, Essex, England, UK, June 20, 1923 - March 5, 2010, Palm Springs, California, USA), Richard Stapley, a descendant of Sir Richard Stapley, made his first stage appearance at the age of 15 at Theatre Royal, Brighton. In 1946, he wrote his first novel, "I'll Wear It On My Head", and sailed for America with letters of introduction to Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne from his friends John Gielgud and Cathleen Nesbitt. He was cast in MGM's "The Three Musketeers" and "Little Women" and in the Boris Karloff's cult classic "The Strange Door". Stapley also teamed up with composer Dickson Hughes to write a musical revue, "About Time" and three songs for the film "The Restless Breed," starring Anne Bancroft. They were then commissioned by Gloria Swanson to write a musical version of "Sunset Boulevard," in which she hoped to make a stage comeback. Production plans fell through when Paramount, although it had verbally granted permission for the theatrical adaptation, ultimately denied it. Stapley returned to England, where he was offered the starring role in a new TV series, "The Man from Interpol". In this series and in subsequent acting works during the following years, he used the name of Richard Wyler. Since 1970, combined acting with his new love of writing. In 1994, he gave his permission for a new musical, "Swanson on Sunset", written by his former partner Dickson Hughes, based on their adventures while writing the ill-fated musical "Boulevard!"