Fair complexioned, cold-eyed actor Richard Bright notched up an impressive array of character performances of often shifty, or deadly
characters on the wrong side of the law. He first came to attention as a burglar in the engrossing Panik im Needle Park (1971), and then followed it the following year playing a slick con artist hustling naive Ali MacGraw for the bank robbery loot in The Getaway - Ihre Chance ist gleich null (1972), before Steve McQueen pummels Bright to get the money back.
In 1972, he made his first appearance as bodyguard/enforcer "Al Neri", protecting Al Pacino in Der Pate (1972), and returned in the same role in Der Pate 2 (1974) and, 16 years later, he was back once again still protecting mob boss Al Pacino in Der Pate 3 (1990).
The actor's features endeared him to casting agents looking for both criminals and cops. He also appeared in Sergio Leone's Es war einmal in Amerika (1984), Sam Raimi's crazy Die Killer-Akademie (1985), the union tale Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992) and Witness to the Mob (1998). In addition, he appeared regularly on TV in police/drama shows such as Polizeirevier Hill Street (1981), Die glorreichen Zwei (1987), Third Watch: Einsatz am Limit (1999) and Die Sopranos (1999).
