Richard Lewis Springthorpe was born on August 23, 1949 in Australia to Norman and Eileen Springthorpe. Rick's father was in the military and during his childhood, the family moved quite often. Rick dropped out of high school to pursue his dream to be a serious musician. The band he was in, "Zoot", took him to Viet Nam where they entertained the troops. Rick released "Speak to the Sky" in Australia and it climbed the charts. The song stemmed from Norman's ill health and Rick's fervent hope that his father would be alright. From there he went to England to record "Beginnings" which was then released in the United States. The U.S. version of "Speak to the Sky" was released and it made the charts in America. Unfortunately, there were those who chose to pigeon-hole Rick into being the next teen-idol. For awhile, it was rumored that he would take over the role David Cassidy wanted to vacate on "The Partridge Family". Rick auditioned for the lead in "The Buddy Holly Story" but was passed over for Gary Busey. There seemed to be a lack of marketing on the part of Rick's management team. Everything kept folding under him. It was in the mid- to late- 1970's that he chose to break into acting as a means of supporting himself. He went under contract to NBC and appeared on "The Six Million Dollar Man", "Wonder Woman", "The Rockford Files", "Eddie Capra Mysteries", and even appeared as "Ned" on "The Nancy Drew Show". He snagged a part on a new television pilot called "Battlestar Galactica". Unfortunately, for us, his character was killed off within the first few minutes of the show. Then he had major role on "The Incredible Hulk" starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Rick portrayed a policeman who practiced an Asian martial arts method. Rumors were that if the episode he was on went over well, Rick would get his own show out of it. That didn't pan out either. In the meantime he had recorded the self-titled "Springfield" album containing "Child Within" and "American Girls". The record label folded before it could be released. Then he recorded "Wait for Night" for Chelsea - once again, Chelsea folded before a successful marketing and PR campaign could begin. In the early 1980's Rick won a role as "Dr. Noah Drake" on the popular soap opera "General Hospital". That was also during the ratings buster time of the "Luke and Laura" storyline. Suddenly, Rick was everywhere. He recorded "Working Class Dog" and the single "Jessie's Girl" became a hit. He won a Grammy for "Best New Male Vocalist" and began a concert tour. A movie was written for Rick to star in. The film "Hard to Hold" didn't deviate much from real life in the aspect that Rick portrayed a rock and roll musician, "Jamie Roberts". Recording, concerts, and the pressures of a daily soap opera took their toll. Something had to give and since Rick had spent such a long time trying to get his music into everyone's home, he left the soap when his contract was over. More records followed. When his father passed away in April 1984, Rick spiraled into depression. It didn't help that "Tao" and "Living in Oz" weren't critically accepted. He dated and finally married Barbara Porter who had worked at the recording studio. They went on to have two sons, Liam and Josh. Rick had a near fatal accident in an ATV. Soon he returned to acting roles. He had the lead as a policeman who was a vampire in the pilot "Nick Knight". Someone else got the lead in the television series. There was a limited run of the series "Human Target" where he portrayed "Christopher Chance" - a Viet Nam veteran. There were also parts on other movies and finally a series that lasted for three seasons - "High Tide". Toward the end of the series, Rick's new CD "Karma" was released and another concert tour followed. The series ended and Rick concentrated on his music. He went on to appear for two years in the hugely successful "EFX Live" show in Las Vegas which had begun with (of all people) David Cassidy before Michael Crawford and Tommy Tune took over. During the Vegas run, Rick would spend much of the week there and go home to Barbara and their sons on the weekends. He also toured and appeared in the made-for-TV movie "Dying to Dance". "EFX" ended toward the end of 2002 and even though it was bittersweet, Rick was excited about getting back into the studio and playing more concerts. In early 2003, he began recording "S/D/A/A (Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance)" and toured for many weekends throughout the country. The new CD is anxiously awaited by many as we all wonder - "What next?"
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