David Terence Richards (2 November 1932 – 14 June 2014)^[1][2] was a British actor and stuntman, best known for his appearance as the Arabian swordsman in the 1981 Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark.^[1] During his career, Richards worked on over 100 productions across film and television; worked in nine James Bond films; fought as a stuntman in scenes with Indiana Jones, James Bond, Luke Skywalker and Rambo; and doubled for Donald Sutherland, Tom Selleck and Christopher Lee.^[1][2]

Born in South London to Welsh parents,^[1][2] he served in the Welsh Guards.^[1][2] After finishing his national service, in 1957 whilst working as a scaffolder, a friend from the Guards told him they needed extras with military training. After gaining the job, he was asked if he could fall off scaffolding during a riot scene, which he accepted.^[1][2] In 1958 he served as a fighting extra alongside Kirk Douglas in The Vikings,^[1][2] and in 1960 was a co-founder of The Stunt Register, a UK industry list of accredited stunt performers.^[1][2] He also appeared in an episode of The Avengers as a Cybernaut, a murderous silver robot controlled by Peter Cushing (1967) "Return of the Cybernauts".^[3]

Richards' most famous scene was as the scripted "large Arabian swordsman" in the 1981 Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark.^[1] Director Steven Spielberg shot the production's Cairo, Egypt-located fight scenes in the town of Kairouan, Tunisia. Richards had practiced for weeks with his heavy Arabian sword to create the scripted fight scene, choreographing a fight between the swordsman and Jones's whip.^[4] However, after filming the initial shots of the scene (and with Harrison Ford suffering from dysentery), after lunch, Ford and Spielberg agreed to cut the scene down to a single gunshot, giving Jones a humorously unfair advantage.^[5] It was later voted in at No.5 on Playboy magazine's list of best all-time scenes,^[4] and also created a Lego character of the large Arab.^[1]

Richards retired after his last performance in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, where his character beat-up Pierce Brosnan in a recording studio in Germany.^[1] Richards lived his later life in Ruislip.^[2] His funeral service and burial took place on 24 June 2014 at Breakspear Crematorium following his death from a sudden cardiac arrest in his sleep. ^[2]