Richard Marius Joseph Greene[1] (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985)[2] was a noted English film and television actor.

A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran for 143 episodes from 1955 to 1959.

He was raised Roman Catholic, attending Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School (Kensington, London), which he left at 18.

His father, Richard Abraham Greene and his mother, Kathleen Gerrard, were both actors with the Plymouth Repertory Theatre.

He won accolades in the same year for his part in Terence Rattigan's French Without Tears, which brought him to the attention of MGM, Alexander Korda and Darryl F. Zanuck, who all made offers for films.

Greene was a huge success, especially with female film goers, who sent him mountains of fan mail which at its peak rivalled that of Fox star Tyrone Power.

The film marked the first pairing of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but it was Greene who was top billed.

[citation needed] He was given leave in 1942 to appear in the British propaganda films Flying Fortress (1942) for Warners and Unpublished Story (1942) with Valerie Hobson.

He returned to Hollywood, and appeared in Fox's big budget Forever Amber (1947), but in support of Cornel Wilde.

He went back to Universal in Hollywood to play the hero in a Yvonne de Carlo eastern, The Desert Hawk (1950).

During the series' run he made the occasional film such as Contraband Spain (1955), Beyond the Curtain (1960), and Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960), as Robin Hood.

Amongst other TV programmes, Greene was in A Man For Loving, The Doctors, The Morecambe and Wise Show, Dixon of Dock Green, Scarf Jack, as corrupt businessman Neil Turvey in The Professionals episode "Everest Was Also Conquered",[14] and the Tales of the Unexpected episode "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat".