Biography

Richard Grieco the eldest child of Richard Sr. and Carolyn Grieco was born and raised in Watertown, New York. He has one brother, David and two sisters, Elizabeth and Laura. His interest in performing began in high school where he was also active in sports such as lacrosse, hockey and football. He was so good at the latter sport that he was recruited to play for Central Connecticut University as a linebacker and fullback. After two years he left the school and had established himself as a male model for the Elite Agency in New York by the mid 1980s.

After modeling for such major clients as Calvin Klein, Chanel and Armani for a while, Richard spent two years studying acting with Alice Spieack, Warren Robertson and Wally Strauss. In 1986 he landed his first television role as Rick Gardner on the ABC daytime soap ONE LIFE TO LIVE One Life and remained with the show through 1987, the year he moved to Los Angeles and began working as a guest star on such television shows as WHO'S THE BOSS?, RAGS TO RICHES, THE BIG APPLE BLUES and THE BRONX ZOO.

In 1988, he got the guest role as Officer Dennis Booker at 21 JUMP STREET, Fox's extremely successful TV-show starred Johnny Depp. However, Richard was such popular that he became an series regular. A year later he got his own show the spin-off BOOKER which ran until 1990. Though the series didn't last long on network television, it has had success in syndication. In 1991, Richard received the ShoWest's "Male Star of Tomorrow" award from the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO). That same year he made his debut in the James Bond spoof IF LOOKS COULD KILL.

Additional films have included leading roles in MOBSTERS, TOMCAT, BORN TO RUN, THE DEMOLITIONIST and so on. Since then, Richard has built a solid career appearing in numerous films and tv shows.

In 1995, he was also star of another short-lived television series, MARKER. The series about a New Jersey carpenter who returns to Hawaii was made for the United Paramount Network and earned high ratings and large following during the show's limited run.

Beside acting Richard extended his talents in directing and producing. He first debuted as producer with the movie LAST CRY in 2001. Followed by many other movies. Richard was also the creator and executive-producer of showtime's TV Series GIGOLOS which run from 2011 to 2016.

In addition to his film and television credits, Richard has found success as a singer, a side career he launched in 1994. After started out with the Dunmore Band and gaining a large following among Los Angeles club hoppers he signed a record contract with the German label Edel Records in 1995. The released CD WAITING FOR THE SKY TO FALL became a smash hit in Europe. In 2008 Richard was a cast member of the 3rd season of CMT's reality television show GONE COUNTRY hosted by John Rich. For the show he wrote and sang the heartfelt song I'M GONNA SEE YOU AGAIN for his late mother. During the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 Richard released with Romero Pictures another new single titled SIX FEET AWAY. The song is a look at the six foot rule from the perspective of personal relationships, feelings of being disconnected and the hope for a return to normalcy. SIX FEET AWAY is available on iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play and various other online platforms.

Richard is a race car enthusiast and owner of a Corvette, Jaguar and several Harley-Davidson motorcycles. He also enjoys writing, painting and poetry.