Richard III of England due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. The Richard III Society contends that this means that 'a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building.' The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play "Richard III" as a physically deformed, Machiavellian villain, ruthlessly committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power; Shakespeare's intention perhaps being to use Richard III as a vehicle for creating his own Marlowesque protagonist. Rous himself, in his "History of the
Cultural depictions of Richard III of England Olivier was 37 when he played him on stage in 1944). Ron Cook was 35 when he played Richard III in the 1983 BBC Shakespeare production of the play. Aneurin Barnard was 26 at the time of filming, and Cumberbatch 38. Richard has been portrayed by the following actors on film, mostly in versions of the Shakespeare play: Richard has been portrayed on television by: Sue Parrill and William B. Robison, "The Tudors on Film and Television" (McFarland, 2013). . Cultural depictions of Richard III of England Richard III of England has been depicted in literature and popular culture many