The descendant of four generations of stage actors, Richard Marius Joseph Greene was born in Plymouth on 25th August 1918. Educated at Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, Kensington, he started his stage career as a spear carrier in a production of Julius Caesar, supplementing his income by modelling hats and shirts. After two years on the stage, he was spotted by Hollywood talent scouts and, after a bidding war with another studio, signed for 20th Century Fox as a rival to MGMs Robert Taylor.

Greene’s first film was Four Men and a Prayer (1938) and was soon elevated to top billing in Submarine Patrol (1939) and Hound of The Baskervilles the same year which paired Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce for the first time as Holmes and Watson. MGM executives realised they had a mega star on their hands when they had to employ several secretaries to process the mountains of fan mail from female admirers. In 1940 at the height of his fame and with no physical obligation to return to the UK, he secured a release from MGM and returned home to ‘do his bit.’

Commissioned from Sandhurst into the 27th Lancers on 19th April 1941, he was one of the first officers in a newly formed regiment that was disbanded at the end of the war. During his early service in the UK, Greene was released from duties in 1942 to star in two propaganda films, Flying Fortress and Unpublished Story. Despite being discharged in 1944, the war had effectively ended his career. Other actors had established themselves in Hollywood during his time away and he found himself cast in a series of low budget ‘sword and sandal’ films. Falling from second to third then fourth billing into the early 50s and cast in a supporting role in a succession of swashbucklers he abandoned acting and returned to the UK and, for a while ran a stable, dealing in horses.

In 1954, out of the blue, Greene was approached to star in The Adventures of Robin Hood. The TV series ran for 143 episodes from 1955-59 and most Britons over the age of 50 will remember the programme, with its much-copied theme song. The merchandise from the series made him a fortune and the revival of his career led to further roles in British films such as the Fu Manchu thrillers of the late 1960’s. Greene died in 1985, still receiving mountains of fan mail from both his film and later television careers.