Richard Lawson (actor)

Richard Lawson (born March 7, 1947) is an American actor who has starred in movies and on television. He is perhaps best known for his roles in genre films; he portrayed Ryan in the 1982 film Poltergeist, and Dr. Ben Taylor in the 1983 NBC miniseries V.

Life and career
Born Rickey Lee Lawson in Loma Linda, California, Lawson served a tour of duty in the Vietnam War before embarking on an acting career. His first feature film role (uncredited) was that of a gay man targeted for murder in the classic 1971 movie Dirty Harry. In 1973, he played Willis in Scream Blacula Scream. His other well known roles include the 1979 movie The Main Event, and the 1984 drama Streets of Fire, where he played Officer Ed Price.

Lawson's first ongoing starring role in a television series was in Australian drama Hotel Story in 1977. That series was cancelled before the first episode had gone to air. He later starred in the 1980s series Chicago Story; he took the ongoing role of Nick Kimball in night time soap opera Dynasty from 1986–1987, appeared in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd as Detective Nathaniel Hawthorne from 1989–1991, and was in the day time soap opera All My Children as Lucas Barnes from 1992-1994. Lawson has made many guest appearances on TV, including roles on Kojak, Get Christie Love!, Sister, Sister, Soul Food, The Bernie Mac Show, The Division and ''Strong Medicine.

Personal life
Lawson married his first wife, actress Denise Gordy on New Year's Eve 1978. They have one daughter, actress Bianca Lawson. In March 1992, he survived a USAir Flight 405 plane crash, after take-off from LaGuardia Airport, in Queens, New York City. In the summer of 2013, Lawson began dating Tina Knowles, a fashion designer and mother of singers Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. Lawson and Knowles had been friends for over 30 years and she was the best friend of his late sister. The couple married on April 12, 2015.