From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ian William Richardson CBE (7 April 1934 – 9 February 2007) was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy. He was also a leading Shakespearean stage actor. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ian Richardson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.