Richard Reicheg Biography

Richard Reicheg (born May 26, 1937) is an American actor and songwriter best known as a cast member of the NBC television comedy series "Betty White's Off Their Rockers," as a popular singer-guitarist during the American folk music revival of the 1960's, and for the song "For The Sake Of The Children" that is featured in the Robert Altman film Nashville for which he received a Grammy nomination in 1975.

His songs have been recorded and performed by many top artists, including The Persuasions, Maria Muldaur, Gary Wright, and Jay and the Americans. His song "Everybody's a Masterpiece" was recorded by Three Dog Night. Reicheg's "Looking for an Echo" was recorded by Kenny Vance, The Persuasions on their album Chirpin', and by others. The song was also the musical theme of the Martin Davidson film of the same name. Film historian Jan Stewart has called Reicheg's song "For the Sake of the Children" an "ode to marital fidelity [that is] a delicious postmodern balancing act of send up and the real McCoy."

Early Years

Reicheg was born and raised in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in the shadow of Ebbetts Field. After graduating from Erasmus Hall High School, he served in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany from 1956 to 1958. Upon discharge, he attended Brooklyn College, received a B.A. and M.A. degree in speech and theater, and acted in college productions. There he learned to play guitar and joined the burgeoning folk music scene in Greenwich Village. In various folk groups and as solo performer, he toured extensively, playing coffee houses, cabarets and clubs in the U.S. and Canada, including The Bitter End, Gerde's Folk City, The Blue Angel and The Troubadour. He was a featured performer at the 1964 New York World's Fair, and part of The American Hootenany Festival that toured colleges throughout the US. During those years he recorded for Laurie, 20th Century Fox (as Lenny and Dick) and Decca records (as Sunrise Highway).

Film, Television, and Theater

From the early 1960's until the present, Reicheg has appeared in hundreds of TV shows and films, including, later in his career, "Betty White's Off Their Rockers." He has been seen in numerous stage productions and live performances, including a role in the touring company performance of The Odd Couple starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall.

Film

Title	Role	Director	Year
Charlie Wilson's War	Navy Buddy	Mike Nichols
Tripper	News Anchor	David Arquette
Monkey Trouble	Mr. Big's Henchman	Franco Amurri
Oh God! Book II	Karl	Gil Cates
First Family	Agent Fowler	Buck Henry
Dirty Business	Albert (Lead)	John McCauley
Delta Fox	Howard	Ferd Sebastian
Leprechaun III	Lucky	Brian Trenchard-Smith
Americathon	Hebrab Terrorist	Neil Israel

Television

Title	Credit	Year(s)
Betty White's Off Their Rockers	Series Regular
Alias	Co-Star
Days of Our Lives	Recurring
High Incident	Guest Star
West Side Waltz (MOW)	Co-Star
Dream On	Guest Star
Empty Nest (3)	Guest Star
Beverly Hills 90210	Guest Star
The Golden Girls	Guest Star
Beverly Hills Buntz	Guest Star
Dallas	Guest Star
Sledge Hammer!	Guest Star
What a Country!	Guest Star
Remington Steele (2)	Guest Star
The A-Team	Guest Star
Hardcastle & McCormick	Guest Star
Faerie Tale Theatre	Guest Star
Quincy	Guest Star
The White Shadow	Guest Star
Married to the Mob (pilot)	Recurring
Brooklyn Bridge	Recurring
Hill Street Blues	Guest Star
Long Days of Summer (MOW)	Guest Star
Superior Court	Guest Star
General Hospital	Recurring
The Desperate Miles (MOW)	Lead
Two Guys from MUCK (pilot)	Recurring
Monster Manor (pilot)	Recurring
Police Story (2)	Guest Star
Newhart	Guest Star
C.H.I.P.S.	Guest Star
Rhoda	Guest Star
The Odd Couple	Guest Star
Young and the Restless	Recurring
Kojak (2)	Guest Star

Theater

Title	Role	Theater	Year
Twilight of the Golds	Walter	Booth Theater, Broadway (Standby)
California Suite	Marvin/Mort	Drury Lane, Chicago
A Bedfull of Foreigners	Karak	Drury Lane, Union Plaza, Las Vegas
Chapter Two	Leo	Cherry County Playhouse, Michigan
Murder at the Howard Johnson's	Mitch	Cherry County Playhouse
A Thousand Clowns	Chuckles	Arlington Park, Chicago
Barefoot in the Park	Telephone Man	Arlington Park (Joseph Jefferson Award)
The Odd Couple	Speed/Roy	Major Cities Tour
Room Service	Binion	Loretto Hilton, St. Louis
Little Murders	Alfred	Manitoba Theatre Center, Winnipeg
Gangster Planet	Dad	Met Theater, Los Angeles
At the Mat	Albert	Figtree Theater, Los Angeles
Prisoner of Venice	Swede	Zephyr Theatre, Los Angeles
Sophie and Willa	Leonard	Tiffany Theater, Los Angeles

Personal

Reicheg lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Julie Payne.