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Dudley Shaw Richards

1961 U.S. pairs champion

Dudley Shaw Richards, 29, had the longest competitive record of any skater of his era. The second child of Byron and Ruth Richards, he grew up in Pawtucket, R.I., with his brother, Ross, and his sister, Susan. Dudley began skating with the Providence Figure Skating Club at age 9. He then trained with Montgomery "Bud" Wilson at the Skating Club of Boston and won the title at every Eastern Sectional Figure Skating Championships he entered. After he won the 1946 U.S. novice title, he broke his neck in a diving accident, which took him out of skating for a year and a half. He won the 1951 U.S. junior title and competed at three World Figure Skating Championships, in Milan, Paris and Davos. Richards, who roomed at Harvard University with childhood friend Teddy Kennedy, was also a proficient sailor and tennis player. He graduated from Harvard in 1954 and then served in the U.S. Army Special Services' division, performing in the Casa Carioca ice show in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Upon returning to civilian life in 1956, he worked in commercial real estate. He was also pairs skater; his three partners were Tenley Albright (1951), Anita Andres (1954) and Maribel Y. Owen (beginning in 1957). Coached by Maribel Vinson Owen, Richards and Maribel Owen Jr. competed at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif., won the 1961 U.S. championship and were the silver medalists at the 1961 North American Figure Skating Championships in Philadelphia. The oldest 1961 U.S. World Team member, Richards was chosen as the first official World Team captain.

Bio written by Patricia Shelley Bushman, author of Indelible Tracings.