Gregory Richards is a fictional character from the American television soap opera Sunset Beach, portrayed by Sam Behrens. He made his first appearance during the show's debut episode broadcast on January 6, 1997. Gregory is one of the serial's 21 original contract characters. Behrens was approached by the Sunset Beach producers about the role, but he was hesitant about meeting with them, as he had been planning on returning to New York City. He was eventually persuaded to attend the meeting and he signed on to play Gregory. At the beginning of Sunset Beach, Gregory is married to Olivia Richards (Lesley-Anne Down) and is a wealthy attorney. He is characterised as being a powerful, manipulative wheeler dealer. Behrens thought Gregory was "pretty nasty" to begin with, so he attempted to soften him by playing his scenes with more compassion. Gregory and Olivia are shown to have a complicated marriage, with Behrens calling them "dysfunctional". Seli Groves of the Times-News later noted that Gregory was "tilting toward villainy" after he committed a number of bad deeds. Behrens said that whatever Gregory does, he does it for his family. Gregory later kills Francesca Vargas (Lisa Guerrero) and goes on the run, after being tricked into confessing to her murder. Behrens won Best Actor from Sunset Beach at the 1997 Soap Opera Update Awards. He was twice nominated for Outstanding Villain at the Soap Opera Digest Awards. Carolyn Hinsey of the Daily News' was critical of the character's early personality, calling him "a one-note villain whose story line consisted of basically telling people off." Soap critic Candace Havens said actors like Behrens and Down brought "a certain class and depth to the show."