Once Upon a Time Wiki
Register
Advertisement
This page is move protected The subject of this article is involved with the Once Upon a Time The subject of this article is from the real world This article is about a cast member The subject of this article is male The subject of this article is featured in Season One of Once Upon a Time

Richard Schiff is the American actor who portrays King Leopold on ABC's Once Upon a Time.


Biography

Richard Schiff was born on May 27, 1955[1] in Bethesda, Maryland to television and publishing executive Charlotte of French ancestry and real estate lawyer Edward Schiff, who is a second generation Austrian. His parents divorced when he was twelve. Richard dropped out of high school but later obtained an equivalency diploma. In 1973, he studied briefly at the City College of New York but did not graduate. Later, Richard moved to Colorado where he found employment cutting firewood. Returning to New York in 1975, he began to study acting at the City College of New York and was accepted into their theater program. Richard met his wife Sheila Kelley during auditions for Antigone in 1993, and they married in 1996. They have a son, Gus, and a daughter, Ruby.[2]

Initially, Richard studied directing. This interest blossomed into work on several off-Broadway plays as a director, including Antigone in 1983 with a just-graduated Angela Bassett. In the mid-1980s, he decided to try his hand at acting and landed several television roles. He was noticed by Steven Spielberg in an episode of the television drama High Incident that led to a casting in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. His career began an upward climb that led to his co-starring role as White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler on Aaron Sorkin's award-winning television series The West Wing. Richard became known for his introverted and intense approach to his craft as well as his low-key delivery style.[2]

Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

External links

References

Advertisement