He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in the Mary Martin musical production of Peter Pan.

In 1945, he played Gabriele Eisenstein in Gay Rosalinda at the Palace theatre in London, a version of Strauss's Die Fledermaus by Erich Wolfgang Korngold in which he appeared with Peter Graves.

Educated by the Jesuits at St Aloysius' College, Cyril studied medicine at the University of Sydney until he abandoned his medical career in 1917 and decided to become an actor.

Their swan song performance in Australia[5] was their wedding ceremony at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, in September 1935.

[7] Both Ritchard and Martin starred in the NBC television productions of the musical, beginning with a live colour telecast in 1955.

[citation needed] He appeared as Kreton in Gore Vidal's play Visit to a Small Planet as well as also directed it, which also starred Eddie Mayehoff.

He appeared onstage in The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd (1965), with Anthony Newley, and played Osgood Fielding in Sugar (1972).

[11] His film appearances include the role of the villain in Alfred Hitchcock's early talkie Blackmail (1929) and much later in the Tommy Steele vehicle Half a Sixpence (1967).

[13] He also served as a guest panelist on the Met's radio quiz show, where he was referred to as Sir Cyril, although he was never knighted.