Richard Klee was born to a single mother on 14th August 1930. His mother, Dickie Klee, had a varied career which included being the assistant who typed up most of Agatha Christie's books from audio tapes for publication, and who also typed up the auto biography of Charlie Chaplin. Richard's father was a Saxophonist who played on cruise ships.Richard never got to know his father, but inherited his talent for music, as he was a very talented Jazz pianist. After undertaking national service in Singapore Richard went into acting. His main focus was stage work.After marrying Hilary Smith, and having two daughters, Melissa (1964) and Alexandra (1967), Richard left acting to take up a career in sales and support his family. The failure of his marriage led Richard to go back to acting, where he spent a long time on the West End stage in The Mousetrap and Amadeus, amongst many other plays.Richard was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder later in life, which had a severe impact on his life and work.