To improve his acting skills, O'Brien took
method acting classes, and then joined several stage productions as an actor. In 1970, he went into the touring production of
Hair for nine months, and spent another nine months in the London production. In the summer of 1972, he met director
Jim Sharman who cast him as an Apostle and Leper in the London production of
Jesus Christ Superstar. O'Brien then took over the role of King Herod, but the producer disagreed with his interpretation and fired him after his first performance in the role. Sharman then cast O'Brien as Willie, the alien in his March 1973 production of
Sam Shepard's
The Unseen Hand at the
Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. Sharman also helped make O'Brien's draft of a
gothic-themed, schlock-horror comic-book fantasy romp into a reality. Sharman suggested changing the working title from
They Came from Denton High, and
The Rocky Horror Show opened at the Theatre Upstairs in June 1973. Within weeks it had become a box-office hit, moving from the Royal Court to the Classic Cinema, a cinema up for demolition on the
King's Road, then to the King's Road Theatre (formerly a cinema known as the Essoldo) and eventually into the
West End at the
Comedy Theatre. After seeing the second night's performance of
The Rocky Horror Show in the Theatre Upstairs,
Jonathan King produced the original cast soundtrack in just over 48 hours during an off-stage weekend, and rushed it out on his
UK Records label. He also became a 20% backer with producer
Michael White, who put up the remaining 80%. During this period, O'Brien and his wife Kimi Wong recorded and released pop singles under the name
Kimi and Ritz.
Later career O'Brien continued writing musicals with arranger
Richard Hartley, including:
T. Zee (1976),
Disaster (1978),
The Stripper (1982 – based on the
Carter Brown novel and produced in
Australia), and
Top People (1984). O'Brien and Hartley also provided three songs for the film
The Return of Captain Invincible (1983), starring
Alan Arkin. O'Brien wrote his one-man revue
Disgracefully Yours (1985) singing as Mephistopheles Smith. O'Brien has appeared in
Jubilee (1977),
Flash Gordon (1980),
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1989),
Dark City (1998),
Ever After (1998) and
Dungeons & Dragons (2000), among others. Additionally he guest starred in five episodes in the third series of the
HTV dramatisation of
Robin of Sherwood, as the corrupt
druid Gulnar. A music CD of the songs from
Disgracefully Yours entitled ''Absolute O'Brien'' was released in 1998. O'Brien became the presenter of UK
Channel 4's game show
The Crystal Maze in 1990, specialising in sardonic put-downs, occasional eccentricities and playing his
harmonica at random intervals. The show ran from 1990 to 1995, with O'Brien presenting the first four series. It was regularly Channel 4's highest-rated programme, reaching a peak of 7 million viewers for the 1993 Christmas special. O'Brien left
The Crystal Maze in 1993 after the fourth series; the show was then taken over by
Edward Tudor-Pole. In other roles, O'Brien has conceptualised and played the role of the
Child Catcher in the West End theatre production of
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The documentary included a remake of the mini musical '"The Girl with the Golden Hair" which ABBA performed during their 1977 world tour and featured on
ABBA: The Album (also 1977). The musical was performed at the
Prince of Wales Theatre and featured O'Brien,
Liz McClarnon and the Dynamos. which benefits the
Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. From 2001 to 2006 he hosted the annual Transfandango, gala gathering of ''Dearhearts and Trans 'n' Gentle People
to raise money for the hospital. This has since been superseded by Richard O'Brien's Halloween Party''. A script for another rumoured sequel entitled
Revenge of the Old Queen of
Rocky Horror, has been circulated on the web and reproduced on various fan sites, although it has been officially denied as O'Brien's work by his representatives. While he has worked on a screenplay by that title, it was never publicly released. He wrote the lyrics for
The Stripper (based on the book by
Carter Brown), a musical which had its British premiere at the
Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch (London) on 28 August 2009. In 2004, members of the
Hamilton City Council in New Zealand honoured O'Brien's contribution to the arts with a statue of Riff Raff, the character he played in
The Rocky Horror Show, on the site of the former Embassy Cinema. In September 2007, he reprised his role as the Child Catcher for the final two weeks of the five year British run of
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He then played the role in its Singapore engagement for the month of November, extended to 9 December. Also in December, he visited
Hamilton, New Zealand, for ''An Evening With Richard O'Brien'', with presenter
Mark Sainsbury and director
Fiona Jackson. In December 2008, O'Brien donated his original script
Pig in Boots to the
Wireless Theatre Company, who converted it into an audio pantomime. The show was recorded live at the Headliners Comedy Club in front of a studio audience with live FX and music. The production was opened by an original interview with O'Brien. In October 2012, O'Brien judged "Stage Fright" with the Wireless Theatre Company as part of the London Horror Festival and performed an acoustic set of Rocky Horror songs. In March 2012, he gave a performance of song and autobiographical stories, ''It's Party Time with Richard O'Brien'' at the Hamilton Founders Theatre to celebrate his 70th birthday. In June 2012, he returned to Hamilton, New Zealand, to appear on stage as Fagin with the Hamilton Operatic Society's production of
Oliver! at the Founders Theatre. O'Brien appeared in 2015 in
The Rocky Horror Show in the
West End in a limited 11-performance run. In September 2016 O'Brien opened the second stage Embassy Park in Hamilton together with Mayor
Julie Hardaker. In October 2016, he appeared as the Crystal Maze Computer in a one-off
Celebrity Crystal Maze episode for the charity 'Stand Up To Cancer' on Channel 4. ==Personal life==