Long-reigning ruler of King Richard’s Faire dies at 62

Thomas Epstein, an actor who starred as king of the annual King Richard’s Faire, and a Brown-educated engineer who wrote solid waste management rules and served as webmaster for the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, died Wednesday at home. He was 62.

Epstein worked at DEM for more than 35 years, retiring in 2018. As an actor, he won the role of cook at King Richard’s Faire in 1993, playing Chef Crumpet until he learned he was heir to the throne, and was crowned King Richard X in 2002.

Formerly of Providence, he was a resident of Carver, Massachusetts.

In retirement, he drove a school bus and was a Santa for the Edaville Railroad.

Diandra Bergman, his wife of 17 years, said she and their children, Summer and Aja, were with him when he died.

He was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, she said, and he stepped down from the throne in 2018 because he wasn’t sure his health would hold up. She said he worked in the knife-throwing booth instead, for the entire six weeks the Faire is open in September and October. The Faire is closed for the 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He will be cremated, she said, and the family has no details to announce as yet. Bergman said that because he touched so many lives, the plan is for a memorial service this time next year, assuming COVID-19 restrictions are lifted by then.

— dnaylor@providencejournal.com

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