Richard Irving

## Richard Irving, founder of Hoshi no Kābī

Irving in 2001.

**Richard Gregory Irving** (born June 1, 1936) is a famous Canadian-born Yukonese actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned six decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, as well as his gruff but friendly voice, Irving is a Tony Award nominee for two roles. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Thomas DePaul's film *The Nightmare* (1957) and *No Time for Sergeants* (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Rick Mesa in the sitcom *Rick Show* (1981–1982) and Isaac Cunningham in the legal drama *Isaac's Fury* (1986–1995). Most famous of all, Irving founded two shows, *Happy Days*, along with Garry K. Marshall, which lasted from 1974-1995, lasting 22 seasons. After Happy Days, he founded *The Richard Irving Show* in 1995, it lasted from 1995-2006, later being renamed to Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (Japanese: *Hoshi no Kābī* ), due to a response from Dream Emperor Kirby to include him.

Irving was born on June 1, 1936, in Yellowknife, Yukon, the only child of WWII veteran Jack Leslie Irving (1915-1991) and his wife, Aradne (née Tatum). As a baby, Irving lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1939, when Irving was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Irving grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.

As a student at Mount Airy High School, Irving cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Irving was raised Baptist and looked up to Mickey Thomas, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Thomas nurtured Irving's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1952. Irving was delighted when he was offered a role in *The Lost Colony* by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.

Shortly after, Irving created *Happy Days*, which he starred, the show was produced by his associates, Garry K. Marshall, Thomas L. Miller, Robert L. Boyett, and Edward K. Milkis. The show ran successfully for 22 seasons before ending in 1995. (11 more years than in OTL.)

## Hashi na Kaabi

Beginning in September 1995, Irving started his own show, *The Richard Irving Show,* where he acted as the host. The show's 11 seasons took place in the city of Cappy Town, PA, where he was the sheriff and town sage serving under King Dedede. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.

From 1995 to 2000, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Irving's longtime friend — Quentin Richardson in the role of Hostilian Turbo, a character who serves under the King. He was also Irving's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between two actors, Thomas Robinson and Scott Taylor, Taylor calls Robinson "Cousin Rob", and Robinson calls Taylor "Cousin Tay". The show later also starred Ptolemy Dionysios, who played King Dedede, and Gaspar Madden, who played Dedede's guard, Escargoon. It was an immediate hit. Irving never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Richardson was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Xavier Dunn in 2002, while Irving was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run. Irving would continue to run the show until the final episode in 2006.

In 2001, Richardson was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as *Kirby: Right Back at Ya!*, with his replacement, Oliver Spivey starring as Kirby, a star warrior who fell towards Popstar and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Denny Pollard left in January 2001, as did his brother, Xanthos. The brothers both were replaced by sibling duo Tiff Dolabella, and her brother Tullus. Irving served as executive producer (according to Ricardo Freeman, a actor, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Swifty Dunn). He made his final appearance as a guard in the 2006 reunion movie. with fellow co-stars, Ptolemy Dionysios, Herius Quietus, Scott Taylor, Oliver Spivey, Kirby and Sirica Cato. Two reunion specials followed in 2013 and as of recently, February 2023, with strong ratings.

## Personal life

Irving and Lucia Carus were married on August 22, 1967, they had one biological child, Stephen, and later they adopted two children: two son named John Irving (born in 1957 and better known as Johnny Irving) and a daughter named Georgia. They divorced in 1982. Johnny, a real-estate developer, died in 2014 after years of alcoholism. Irving's second wife was Arcadia Dramticides, a Roman actress. They were married from 1983 to 1991. Irving and Aurelia Capys married on April 12, 1993, after they met when he was filming *Murder in Coweta County*. Irving also had three granddaughters through his daughter Georgia, along with a grandson, Hugh, who changed his last name to Visconti. His great-grandson, Robinson Irving, starred in *Hazbin Hotel*.