His dignified, businesslike demeanor established him as a character actor, and he almost always played professional men of authority: doctors, attorneys, judges, executives, military officers, legislators, prison wardens, etc.

Today's audiences may recognize him from the James Cagney feature G Men; the Andy Hardy series (as neighbor Polly Benedict's father); the Mae West-W. C. Fields collaboration My Little Chickadee; the Charlie Chan mysteries Charlie Chan in Panama and The Shanghai Cobra; the western Badlands of Dakota, in which he played George Armstrong Custer; the Laurel and Hardy feature A-Haunting We Will Go; the Charlie Chaplin production Monsieur Verdoux; and the Bowery Boys comedy High Society.

He was cast in many television series, including the syndicated 1950s crime drama, Sheriff of Cochise, starring John Bromfield.

In 1957, in the first of three appearances on Dale Robertson's NBC western series, Tales of Wells Fargo, Richards played Governor Lew Wallace in the episode titled, "Billy the Kid".

Richards appeared on four CBS sitcoms of 1963-64: Pete and Gladys, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis starring Dwayne Hickman, Petticoat Junction, and twice on The Beverly Hillbillies with Buddy Ebsen.

His last television role was as Colonel Saunders in the 1964 episode "The Permanent Recruit" of ABC's No Time for Sergeants, loosely based on the Andy Griffith film of the same name.

A news story in the March 26, 1964 issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.