Comedy / Film & TV
Sam Richardson
born 1984 · actor, comedian, writer, producer
Veep and Ted Lasso actor who grew up in Boston-Edison, trained at Planet Ant and Second City Detroit and co-created Detroiters, a comedy shot on Detroit streets.
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Sam Richardson was born in Detroit in 1984 to a Ghanaian mother and an African American father and grew up in the historic Boston-Edison neighborhood; his aunt, Barbara-Rose Collins, became Michigan's first Black congresswoman in 1990, and family trips took him to Ghana, where his grandfather was a chief. He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 2002, studied theater at Wayne State University and learned improv at Hamtramck's Planet Ant Theatre and The Second City Detroit before moving to Second City in Chicago. National audiences met him as the loyal aide Richard Splett in HBO's Veep. With his friend and fellow Detroit-area comic Tim Robinson he created Detroiters (2017–2018) for Comedy Central, about two small-time ad men making local TV commercials, inspired by classic Detroit spots such as Mel Farr's; it was shot on location around the city. He earned Emmy nominations for Ted Lasso.
Highlights
- Co-created and starred in Detroiters (2017–2018), filmed in Detroit
- Richard Splett in Veep (2013–2019)
- Emmy nominations for Ted Lasso (2022, 2023)
- University of Detroit Jesuit High School, class of 2002
- Nephew of Barbara-Rose Collins, Michigan's first Black congresswoman
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 4
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · until 2002
University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy
Jesuit boys' school on Detroit's northwest side; Richardson graduated in 2002.
Studied here · 2000s
Wayne State University
Richardson studied theater here.
Performed here · 2000s
Planet Ant Theatre
Hamtramck black-box theater and improv school that lists Richardson among the actors who got their start there.
Performed here · 2000s
The Second City Detroit (former)
Closed
Detroit branch of the Chicago improv theater (downtown 1993–2005, then Novi); Richardson performed here before moving to Chicago.