Richard Wagner was born in Paxico, Kansas to parents Nancy (Shreve) and Dan Wagner. His father is a middle school principal and his mother is a elementary school teacher. His grandfather is a cattle farmer and Richard routinely worked on the farm growing up. He discovered acting in 6th grade when the entire class had to participate in the school play. From there he went on to perform in multiple theater productions throughout high school and college. After moving to LA he found parts on soap operas such as The Bold and the Beautiful and his first major feature film role was in The Paddy Lincoln Gang. In 2016 he co-founded Jagger/Wagner Productions. The Company's first film Corbin Nash will be released in 2018 in which Richard produced and starred.