{{short description|English wrestler (1926–2006)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Use British English|date=September 2013}} {{Infobox sportsperson |name = Kenneth Richmond |image = File:1950 British Empire Games wrestling Auckland Town Hall O'Connor vs. Richmond.png |caption =Patrick O'Connor and Kenneth Richmond battle for the silver medal at the 1950 British Empire Games<br>Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections |birth_date = 10 July 1926 |birth_place = London, England |death_date = {{death date and age|3 August 2006|10 July 1926|df=yes}} |death_place = Christchurch, Dorset, England |sport = Wrestling |club = Foresters AWC, London |show-medals = y |medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's freestyle wrestling}} {{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}} {{MedalOlympics}} center|80px {{MedalBronze| 1952 Helsinki | Heavyweight}} {{MedalCountry|{{ENG}}}} {{MedalCompetition|British Empire (and Commonwealth) Games}} {{MedalGold | 1954 Vancouver | Heavyweight}} {{MedalBronze | 1950 Auckland | Heavyweight}} }}
'''Kenneth Alan Richmond''' (10 July 1926 – 3 August 2006) was an English heavyweight wrestler who competed at four Olympic Games.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ri/ken-richmond-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418035806/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ri/ken-richmond-1.html | website=Sports-Reference |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-18 |title=Ken Richmond}}</ref>
== Biography == Richmond was born in London and grew up near Pinewood Studios.<ref name=oly>{{cite web |title=Ken Richmond Biographical information|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/58235 |website=Olympedia |access-date=14 September 2025}}</ref>
At 6'5" and 265 lbs, he competed for Great Britain at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, finishing fifth in the Greco-Roman light heavyweight category.<ref name=oly/> He represented the English team<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003286/19491112/230/0006 |title=Bowey for Empire Games |work=Evening News (London) |date=12 November 1949 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=14 September 2025}}</ref> at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001898/19491207/072/0003 |title=Jack Archer will fly to Games |work=Nottingham Journal |date=7 December 1949 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=14 September 2025}}</ref> where he won the bronze medal in the heavyweight category.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/commonwealth/wrestle.htm |title=Commonwealth Games Medallists |publisher=GBR Athletics | access-date=13 September 2025}}</ref>
He won a bronze medal at the 1952 Olympics<ref name=oly/> and represented the English team at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Vancouver, Canada,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000671/19540609/008/0008 |title=Games Wrestlers |work=Evening Despatch |date=9 June 1954 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=19 September 2025}}</ref> where he won the gold medal in the heavyweight category.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/commonwealth/wrestle.htm |title=Commonwealth Games Medallists |publisher=GBR Athletics | access-date=19 September 2025}}</ref>
He appeared at two more Olympic Games in 1956 and 1960 respectively<ref name=oly/> and represented the England team at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004907/19580517/008/0008 |title=Wrestling Team for Cardiff |work=Nottingham Evening News |page=8 |date=17 May 1958 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=10 October 2025}}</ref>
Rixhmond was an eleven-times winner of the British Wrestling Championships at light-heavyweight in 1950 and at super heavyweight in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://britishwrestling.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/List-of-British-Senior-Champions-1904-2001.pdf |title=List of British Senior Champions from 1904 to 2001 |website=British Wrestling |access-date=29 December 2025}}</ref>
He stayed fit enough into his later years to win medals for rollerblading and windsurfing in his 60s.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}
Though he appeared as the wrestler Nikolas in Jules Dassin's film noir, ''Night and the City'' (1950),<ref>[http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/dvd_review.asp?ID=563 Schager, Nick.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924102619/http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/dvd_review.asp?ID=563 |date=24 September 2015 }} ''Slant Magazine'', DVD review of ''Night and the City,'' 16 February 2005. Last accessed: 3 December 2009.</ref> Richmond was perhaps most recognisable as the shirtless gongman banging the enormous gong preceding the opening credits for films produced or distributed by the Rank Organisation. He was the fourth – and last – actor to take the job. According to the BBC, he had revealed to friends that the gong seen in the Rank Organisation's opening never rang, as it was a papier-mâché stage prop and he never actually struck it with any force, joking "If you hit that gong, you would have gone straight through."<ref name="Hevesi">Hevesi</ref>
He was a Jehovah's Witness from the late 1960s. He was jailed as a conscientious objector during World War II. In later life, he was a volunteer minister for the organisation.<ref name="Hevesi">Hevesi</ref> He died at age 80 in his home in Christchurch.<ref>{{cite web | title=Rank 'gong' film icon is mourned | date=8 August 2006 | url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/868363.rank-gong-film-icon-is-mourned/ }}</ref> (Richmond's wife, Valentina, died in 1996).{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}
== Filmography == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1950|| ''Night and the City'' || Nikolas of Athens || |- |1954|| ''Mad About Men'' || Zampa || Uncredited |- |1956|| ''The Iron Petticoat'' || Igor – Group 9 Operative || Uncredited, (final film role) |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Bibliography == * London ''Daily Mirror'', 12 August 2006 * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/lastword_18aug2006.shtml BBC Radio 4 ''Last Word''], 18 August 2006 * {{cite news |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis |title=MOVIES: Ken Richmond, 80, Gong-Striker Familiar to Filmgoers, Dies |date=14 August 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/14/movies/13richmond.html?_r=0 |work=The New York Times}}
== External links == * [https://olympics.com/en/athletes/kenneth-alan-richmond Kenneth Alan Richmond] at the International Olympic Committee * {{IMDb name|id=0725125|name=Ken Richmond}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond, Kenneth}} Category:1926 births Category:2006 deaths Category:Sport wrestlers from London Category:English conscientious objectors Category:Olympic wrestlers for Great Britain Category:Wrestlers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Category:Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Category:Wrestlers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Category:Wrestlers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:British male sport wrestlers Category:Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Category:Wrestlers at the 1950 British Empire Games Category:Wrestlers at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Wrestlers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Category:Olympic medalists in wrestling Category:Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in wrestling Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in wrestling Category:British people in whaling Category:English Jehovah's Witnesses Category:Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games Category:Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games