出生于爱尔兰首都都柏林，5岁时移居伦敦。迈克尔最初的职业是工程师，直到21岁，他才意识到自己的梦想是做一个演员。于是他进入了国家剧院，并有幸得到Laurence Olivier爵士的指导。在一系列Alan Ayckbourn的戏中担任领衔主演。不久之后，他的身影就出现在了皇家国家剧院的舞台上。
A classical actor (and founding member in 1960 of the Royal Shakespeare Company), Richardson earned international fame as the villainous Francis Urquart in the BBC television trilogy, "House of Cards." Uttered in a cut-glass accent, the Machiavellian Prime Minister's sly "You might well think that ... I couldn't possibly comment" became a catchphrase when the series was broadcast in the 1990s. Richardson's contributions to his art were honored in 1989 when he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE.) Fittingly, his family had his ashes buried beneath the auditorium of the new Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
