Ralph Richeson was an actor best known for his role as Richardson, the haggard Grand Central Hotel cook on HBO’s television series Deadwood.

Richeson started out as a background actor on the popular western series and was given a line by producer David Milch in the tenth episode of the first season. This led to Richeson's first onscreen credit, and a recurring role as the simple-minded cook who carried a deer antler with him everywhere he went. The series ran for three seasons from 2004 to ’06, with Richeson accruing 20 episode credits over the run.

He also appeared as a convict in the Will Smith film Hancock, an “overworked homeless man” in the comedic horror film The Revenant, and a “ghoulish man” in a 2010 episode of NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. He also served as an executive producer on the 2009 horror film Legend Has It.

Richeson claimed to have written five books, “a thousand or so poems,” 13 songs, three television scripts and one movie script. He was also a painter.

He died October 27, 2015, in Palmdale, California. He was 63.