Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut single, "Speak to the Sky", which reached the top 10 in Australia in mid-1972. When he moved to the United States, he had a No. 1 hit with "Jessie's Girl" in 1981 in both Australia and the US, for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. He followed with four more top 10 US hits: "I've Done Everything for You", "Don't Talk to Strangers", "Affair of the Heart" and "Love Somebody". Springfield's two US top 10 albums are Working Class Dog (1981) and Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet (1982).
As an actor, Springfield starred in the film Hard to Hold in 1984 and the television series High Tide from 1994 to 1997. He appeared in supporting roles in Ricki and the Flash and True Detective (both 2015). He portrayed Noah Drake on the daytime drama General Hospital (1981–1983, 2005–2008, 2012), returning in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary with his son, actor Liam Springthorpe. He played a depraved version of himself in Californication (2009). He has also appeared in episodes of Supernatural, Hot in Cleveland, and American Horror Story. In 2010, Springfield published his autobiography, Late, Late at Night: A Memoir.
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Early life
Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe on 23 August 1949 in Guildford, a western suburb of Sydney. He is the son of Eileen Louise (Evennett) and Norman James Springthorpe, an Australian Army career officer. His maternal grandparents were English. When he was young, he lived at the army camp with his family in Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia. Springfield attended Ashwood High School in Melbourne during the 1960s. At 14, he saw the Beatles perform at Festival Hall in Melbourne.
Career
Music
Springfield was 13 years old when he learned to play guitar. He joined various bands in England, where his father was stationed from 1958 to 1963, and joined several more bands after returning to Australia. In 1968, Springfield was approached by bass guitarist Pete Watson to join his group Rockhouse; Watson changed the band's name to MPD Ltd later that year. Another member of MPD Ltd was drummer Danny Finley.
In October 1968, when Springfield was 19, the band traveled to South Vietnam where they entertained troops for several months during the Vietnam War. While staying overnight with American troops at a camp near Da Nang they came under attack from a Viet Cong unit. Springfield was asked to drop mortar shells into a launch-tube, one of which, he learned, had killed a Viet Cong soldier. The knowledge that he "was responsible for the end of a life" has bothered him ever since.
After returning to Australia, Springfield and his bandmates formed Wickedy Wak. They were joined by Phil Blackmore on keyboards and Dick Howard. Go-Set journalist Molly Meldrum produced Wickedy Wak's single, "Billie's Bikie Boys", with Beeb Birtles of the pop rock group Zoot as a backing vocalist.
In September 1969, Springfield replaced Roger Hicks as lead guitarist and vocalist in Zoot, with Birtles on bass guitar and vocals, Darryl Cotton on lead vocals and guitar, and Rick Brewer on drums. Upon joining Zoot, Springfield adopted the "Think Pink – Think Zoot" theme that had the band members dressed head to toe in pink satin. The publicity gimmick brought attention to the group and attracted numerous teenage girl fans, but caused problems in establishing their credibility as serious rock musicians. Zoot's fifth single, "Hey Pinky", was written by Springfield. The group attempted to shake off their teeny-bopper image. They followed with a hard rock cover version of The Beatles' hit "Eleanor Rigby", which peaked at No. 4 on Go-Set's Top 40 in March 1971. Despite another hit single with "Freak" in April, which was written by Springfield, the band broke up in May.
Springfield signed with Sparmac Records and issued his debut solo single, "Speak to the Sky", in October, which peaked at No. 5 on the Go-Set singles chart. Sparmac label owner, Robie Porter, was also producer and manager for Springfield. After recording his debut album, Beginnings, in London, Springfield moved to the United States in mid-1972. Springfield provided all the songwriting, lead vocals, guitar, keyboard and banjo for the album. In August 1972, "Speak to the Sky" was issued in the U.S. by Capitol Records and peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September. Beginnings was the first of seven top 40 Springfield albums on the related Billboard 200. However, follow-up success was hampered by rumours that Capitol Records paid people to purchase Springfield's albums, which led to some radio stations boycotting his music.
Acting
Springfield made his acting debut on The Six Million Dollar Man on 30 October 1977, in an episode entitled "Rollback". In December, he appeared on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, portraying Ned Nickerson. On 20 January 1978, Springfield guest-starred on an episode of Wonder Woman titled "Screaming Javelin". The character he portrayed was Tom, the concerned fiancé of an Olympic gymnast who had been kidnapped by a megalomaniac. Later in 1978, Springfield played the character of Zac in Saga of a Star World, which was, with some differences, the pilot episode of the original Battlestar Galactica TV series. He also co-starred as Keith Stewart in episode 17 of season 4 ("Dwarf in a Helium Hat") on The Rockford Files and as Tommy Archer in episode 4 ("Murder on the Flip Side") of The Eddie Capra Mysteries in 1978. In 1979, he guest-starred on an episode of "The Incredible Hulk" entitled "The Disciple" as Michael Roark, a San Francisco police officer who must decide whether to avenge the death of his father who was also a police officer, or simply provide justice and capture the alleged criminal.
In 1981, he became a soap opera star on General Hospital. He had signed a contract with RCA Records and already recorded the album Working Class Dog, which neither he nor his agent had expected would do very well, which is why Springfield took the soap role. But the song "Jessie's Girl" went to No. 1 and Springfield ended up both playing the role of Dr. Noah Drake from 1981 to 1983, while simultaneously going on tour with his band. The success of the song boosted the ratings of the show which, according to Springfield, "became the biggest show on TV for that summer". The fame from the show also boosted the sale of the song.
In 1984, Springfield made a full-length feature film titled Hard to Hold. In 1998, he played in the film Legion. He also wrote the soundtrack for Hard to Hold. In 1992, he played the title role in the short-lived ABC series Human Target, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. In 1989, he starred in the film Nick Knight, in which he played an 800-year-old vampire seeking a cure for his condition. The film was later remade as the first two episodes of the series Forever Knight. In 1991, he appeared in the television film Dying to Dance. In 1994, he starred in the series Robin's Hoods. From 1994 to 1997, he starred in the television series High Tide that ran for 69 episodes.
In addition to the roles on television and in film, Springfield also acted in musical theatre. In 1995, he was a member of the original Broadway cast of the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe. This Tony Award-nominated musical featured the songs of rock & roll songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. From February 2000 to December 2002, Springfield performed in EFX Alive! at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Springfield starred in several episodes of the third season of Showtime's Californication. His first appearance was in episode 3 on 11 October 2009, in which he plays a "twisted version of himself"; a "hedonistic Rick Springfield" from the past. Springfield starred in "Ho'ohuli Na'au", an episode of Hawaii Five-0. He played the role of photographer Renny Sinclair.
Personal life
When Springfield was 17, he attempted suicide by hanging himself. In his memoir, he recalls hanging from a rope for 15 to 20 seconds before the knot unraveled and he fell to the floor.
Springfield has struggled with depression for several decades. In an interview with ABC News' Paula Faris, he discussed his mental health problem in an attempt to inspire others who were struggling with similar problems, saying: "I'm an example of the moment passing, because I've been there a couple of times, and haven't ... for want of a better phrase, pulled the trigger." In January 2018, Springfield stated he contemplated suicide in 2017. When learning of the suicides of actor Robin Williams in 2014, and musicians Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell both in 2017, Springfield recalled thinking: "I didn't go, 'Oh that's terrible.' I went, 'I get it.' I get being that lost and dark."
From late 1974 to early 1976, Springfield was in a romantic relationship with actress Linda Blair, beginning when she was 15 and he was 25.
On 24 April 1981, his father, Norman James Springthorpe, died.
In October 1984, Springfield married girlfriend Barbara Porter at his family's church in Australia. They had met several years earlier when Springfield was recording Working Class Dog and she was working as the recording studio receptionist. They have two sons, Liam (born 1985) and Joshua (born 1989). In 1985, when his first son was born and after the release of his Tao album, Springfield took a break from his musical career to spend more time with his family and to deal with the depression that had affected him since his adolescence.
At a concert at the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida, on 2 March 2006, Springfield announced he had become a US citizen.
In September 2026, Springfield claimed to have killed a man in Vietnam in 1968. Springfield said he was performing for American troops near Da Nang when their camp came under attack and he was asked to help launch mortar bombs. Additionally Springfield says he later learned one bomb he launched had killed a Viet Cong combatant, a fact he found deeply upsetting and which bothered him for many years.
Memoir
Springfield's autobiography Late, Late at Night: A Memoir (ISBN 978-1-4391-9115-6) was released in 2010. In October, it peaked at No. 13 on The New York Times Best Seller list. In May 2014, Springfield published Magnificent Vibration: a novel, which also made The New York Times Best Seller list.
In August 2012, Late, Late at Night was named No. 23 of "The 25 Great Rock Memoirs of All Time" by Rolling Stone.
Songs referencing Springfield
In 1985, Jimmy Hart recorded the song "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield", featured on The Wrestling Album. The premise of the song is that the object of Hart's affection seems to idolise Springfield to the point that Hart feels rivalled by him, prompting Hart to pick up singing as well in order to compete for his girl's affection. The song makes references to "Dr Noah Drake" as well as to "Jessie's Girl". In a 2014 interview, Springfield said that although he had heard the title and was aware of the song's existence and had met with Jimmy Hart in person, he had never actually heard the song.
Jonathan Coulton recorded the song "Je Suis Rick Springfield" about an American man trying to impress a French girl he just met in France by pretending to be Springfield. It was recorded in 2011 and appeared on the album Artificial Heart.
In 1998, The Szuters recorded and released the song "The Rick Springfield Song" as part of The Szuters' American Pop album.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
Go-Set pop poll
The Go-Set pop poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music paper Go-Set. The paper was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll from 1966 to 1972 to determine the most popular personalities.
King of Pop Awards
The King of Pop Awards were voted by the readers of TV Week. The award started in 1967 and ran through to 1978.
Grammy Awards
On 9 May 2014, Springfield was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to music.
Books
Springfield, Rick (12 October 2010). Late, Late at Night: A Memoir (1st Touchstone hardcover ed.). New York: 1Touchstone. ISBN 978-1439191156. OCLC 555638380.
