Richard was born in the Watts district of inner-city Los Angeles. When he was five his family moved to Crenshaw (‘Boyz in the Hood’), where he was exposed to diverse cultural influences, including African and Afro-Cuban percussion, which led to a lifelong musical career. He was a state track champion in high school as well as an amateur middle-weight boxer–later a sparring partner in a pro stable for many years, which necessitated several nose jobs and perhaps adversely affected his I.Q.
He dropped out of college to perform and record as an Afro-Latin percussionist and wrote/performed/directed with San Francisco’s legendary drag theater group, the “Cockettes.” (Performing in a clown dress definitely eliminated the last vestiges of machismo he may have absorbed growing up in less enlightened times.)
Richard moved to Paris in the early 1970s to perform with the avant-garde musical theatre group, Grand Magic Circus, produced by Peter Brook of the Royal Shakespeare Company. “Very classy!” he told his younger brother, Danny, who joined Richard’s troupe in Paris the week he got out high school, performing his first original music. Brook brought the group to London, where Richard was a often a music session player on Abbey Road.
Richard returned to the states and started the musical/theatrical group “Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo” (later “Oingo Boingo”). He has subsequently directed theater, television, feature films and produced 275 band and celebrity video interviews for his entertainment website, Buzzine Media (see excerpts).
He continues as a long-time food, wine and entertainment columnist and has recently published his first novel, “The Schlimazel of Sebreim.” Two more novels are scheduled for publication and he currently directs theatre and plays in the band, Mambo Diabolico.
Richard and his wife Anastasia Elfman create live music and burlesque pre-shows before their film screenings in selected cities, enlisting local talent to perform with them. Their shows are very popular and whip audiences into the proper state of madness and delirium.
Richard and Anastasia live under the iconic Hollywood sign where they host an underground music/wine/performance salon, “The Barbecue Bacchanals.” Richard is an acclaimed grill-master and cooks for their events as well as for cast and crews.
Richard is also presently writing and developing animation projects when not doing everything the hell else.
