CineScope
Richard Shelby picture

Richard Shelby

Acting
Known For

91 Years Old

Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Alabama from 1987 to 2023. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, he chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee from 2018 to 2021. He previously chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, and the Senate Rules Committee. He was the longest-serving U.S. senator from Alabama, surpassing John Sparkman's record in March 2019. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Shelby received his law degree from the Birmingham School of Law in 1961. He went on to serve as city prosecutor from 1963 to 1971. During this period he worked as a U.S. magistrate for the Northern District of Alabama (1966–1970) and Special Assistant Attorney General of Alabama (1969–1971). He won a seat in the Alabama Senate in 1970. In 1978, he was elected from the 7th district to the United States House of Representatives, where he was among a group of conservative Democrats known as the boll weevils. In 1986, Shelby won a tight race as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate. In 1994, the day after the Republican Revolution in which the GOP gained the majority in Congress midway through President Bill Clinton's first term, Shelby switched parties and became a Republican. He was reelected by a large margin in 1998, facing no significant electoral opposition thereafter. He was the dean of Alabama's congressional delegation. In February 2021, Shelby announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022. Katie Britt, his former chief of staff, won the election to succeed him. Due to his party switch, Shelby is the last Democrat to have held or won election to Alabama's Class 3 Senate seat.

Born

Birmingham, Alabama, USA on 6th May 1934

All Credits

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Image
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self (archive footage)
60 Minutes Image
60 Minutes
Self
First Ladies Image
First Ladies
Self (archive footage)
Before the Flood Image
Before the Flood
Self (archive footage)
Return to Space Image
Return to Space
Self (archive footage)
The Words That Built America Image
The Words That Built America
Self - Reader: The Constitution
Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis Image
Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis
Self
Maxed Out Image
Maxed Out
Self (archive footage)
Loose Change: Final Cut Image
Loose Change: Final Cut
Self