by Update: Richard’s brother Tom sent me photographs, and I added some of them to the original post about Richard here.
I went to the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts to watch Richard Sale’s performance in The Danube. Unfortunately, it was on video tape which had deteriorated badly. You couldn’t really make out the actor’s faces, and the sound was so bad I couldn’t hear most of it. Towards the end there were a few, brief close-up scenes where I could see and hear him a teeny bit better. But I can’t tell you anything about him based on what little I could see. He was young. He was in good shape.
I think if I was someone who loved him I’d want to go to the library and watch it, if only for the scenes when you can make out his voice. Hearing the sound of someone’s voice, after they are gone, it can be more powerful and affecting than a photograph.
Here is the 1984 Frank Rich review of The Danube in the New York Times. He was not a fan, but his problem was with the play and the director, not the actors.
Hunting around on Ancestry.com I learned that Richard was born in Texas in 1952, graduated from Denton High School in 1970, and he went to the University of Michigan. He acted a bit, then he died here, in New York, on August 29, 1985. So he was only 33. And he was living in my neighborhood at the time. I have to find out where. I’ve been in this neighborhood since … 1981 or 1982. Maybe we were neighbors.
Richard (Rick to his high school friends) also won third prize in a poetry contest when he was 18. His obituary, which appeared in the Victoria Advocate on September 4, 1985, follows.
Stacy. Richard was my older brother (by 9 years). He lived life big and dramatic in the best way. He was handsome, magnetic, always had smart beautiful friends around him. He was also troubled by depression that I was mostly unaware of as a young person. He had a strained relationship with my parents especially during the last year/months of his life. I looked up to him as the epitome of a cosmopolitan actor. Unfortunately, he died pre internet and it’s also difficult and sad not to be able to find much professional info on him. I saw in in one or two productions. The story of God’s Love We Deliver was one I had to learn years later from the internet. I would love to share some photos I have of and by Richard, if you would like to see them. (Or any stories I could share to help you understand him or his death better.) Feel free to contact me at tsale@hillcollege.edu.
Tom, thank you so so much for stopping by and telling us something about Richard. Whoever reads about the story of God’s Love We Deliver wants to know more about him. I’d love to see the photographs. Are you able to scan them? I will email you in case you don’t come back to see this.
Rick was a friend. We both graduated from Denton High School in 1970. He was one of a group of friends who met again back in Denton on summer break from college in the Summer of 1974. Here is a photo I shot of him sitting on his family’s front porch at dusk one night in June.
Monte, I’m so sorry for the loss of your friend.
I’m Dottie Love, Tom Sale’s wife. I was not lucky enough to know Richard, as he passed away two years before I met Tom. I will always be sad and sorry that I never knew him. Tom and I have been married for 36 years now, and Teel and Rick live two houses down from us outside of Ennis TX. I just want to update Tom’s contact info, as he retired three years ago. He’s also on Facebook: Tom Sale. Thank you so much, Stacy, for your concern and your research. I have your books and enjoy them
Dottie, I took out the email information since these posts are public, but I have them and thank you. Thank you for letting me know and thank you for getting my books and liking them!
Hello Stacy –
Strangely, I landed on your webpage during an online search one night for posts about my high school friend, Rick Sale, known later, after he became an actor, as Richard Sale. I think about him often, even after last seeing him over 40 years ago. I graduated from Denton High School with Rick, and my friendship with him created some of the most lasting memories from those days. I had a special fondness for Rick, and I was drawn to his brilliant mind, his unique personality, and his ability to truly be his own person. We spent time together in an AP English class we shared, and sometimes after school, and despite being a cheerleader in high school, I much preferred his company over the “popular” boys, the traditionally good-looking ones, the football players… no one seemed to have the depth or intellect at that age as Rick. I remember when he was at the University of Michigan, he won a literary award for a screenplay he authored. He told me later that one of the previous winners of the award he had won was Tennessee Williams. I was so proud of him, but not surprised. I later connected with Rick while I was living in NYC. It must have been in 1981 or 82. He was working in NYC as an actor, and when I moved to the city, he was one of the first people I contacted. We met one day at the Frick Museum, sat in the courtyard, and enjoyed a long talk about life. He had had some parts on soap operas and in the theatre, and he seemed to be gaining success — the trajectory of his career only seemed upward. I remember telling him that day that I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do professionally yet. He listened caringly as a friend would, but he also warned me that by 30, I needed to have that figured out and be working on my “plan.” I married shortly after that visit and later moved away from the city. Sadly, we lost touch. Then I learned the shocking news of his death. What a tragedy for such a unique, talented individual to leave us at such a young age. My fondness for Rick, my admiration of him, and my memories of having known this amazing person have never left me.
Thank you so much for writing about him and inviting these posts. Reading others’ memories of him and seeing his face again was priceless.
Oh Andrea. It breaks my heart when we lose people like Rick. Your post made him really come to life for me, which makes it even sadder. Life is so freaking unfair. Rick should be here.