In 1937, he became the first actor in the Federal Theatre Project to gain a film contract, signing with the Major Pictures company.

In 1958, he played the gunfighter and saloon owner Luke Short in an episode of western series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

In 1962 he played Keeler, a crooked gambler, in The Rifleman episode “Tinhorn”.

During the 1940s, Richards was briefly married to actresses Joan Valerie–with whom he had one daughter–and Jean Stevens, both marriages ending in divorce.

This article about a United States film actor born in the 1910s is a stub.