Paul Ritter

Simon Paul Adams (20 December 1966 – 5 April 2021), known professionally as Paul Ritter, was an English actor. His film roles included Son of Rambow, Quantum of Solace (2008), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), The Eagle (2011), and Operation Mincemeat (2021). His television roles included Friday Night Dinner (2011–2020), Vera (2011–2013), The Hollow Crown (2012), The Last Kingdom (2015), Chernobyl (2019), Resistance (2019), and Belgravia (2020).

Early life Ritter was born Simon Paul Adams on 20 December 1966 in Gravesend, Kent. His father Ken Adams, a turner and fitter, worked at various CEGB power stations; his mother Joan ( Mooney) was a school secretary. His family were Catholic and he had four older sisters. Adams attended Gravesend Grammar School and went on to study German and French at St John's College, Cambridge. the comedy drama Pulling and the role of Pistol in Henry IV, Part II and Henry V in BBC Two's cycle of William Shakespeare's history plays, The Hollow Crown; The Daily Telegraph described Ritter as "an actor who is surely destined for greatness very soon. His Pistol conveyed perfectly the shock of a man who reluctantly had left behind the rowdy cheer of Eastcheap, and found himself in middle age contemplating the melancholy of a medieval autumn." Ritter also played comic actor Eric Sykes in Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This and took a lead role in BBC One's 2014 serialised Cold War spy drama, The Game.

From 2005 to 2006, Ritter played Otis Gardiner in the original Royal National Theatre production of Helen Edmundson's Coram Boy, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 2009 for his role in The Norman Conquests. In 2012, he appeared as the protagonist's father in the stage version of Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the National Theatre and in 2013 as John Major in the premiere of Peter Morgan's The Audience.

He appeared in the first three series (2011-13) of British crime drama Vera, as pathologist Dr. Billy Cartwright. He also appeared in a main role as Anatoly Dyatlov, the deputy chief engineer, in the HBO and Sky Max miniseries Chernobyl. Ritter's performance in the latter was critically acclaimed.

From 2011 to 2020, Ritter starred as Martin Goodman in the Channel 4 comedy series, Friday Night Dinner. For this role, he received a posthumous nomination at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards for the Best Male Comedy Performance.

Ritter's final performance was in the 2021 film Operation Mincemeat as Bentley Purchase. The film was released posthumously and was dedicated to his memory.

Personal life and death In 1996, Ritter married Polly Radcliffe, a research fellow at King's College London. He had two sons, Frank and Noah. Fellow Friday Night Dinner cast members also paid tribute.

Acting credits Year Title Role Notes 1992, 1996 The Bill – "Overdue", "Accidents Will Happen" Tony Walgrave, Terry Webster 1995 National Achievement Day 1995 Beach 2004 The Libertine Chiffinch 2008 The Other Man Guy 2009 Pulling Martin The Eagle Galba Dirk Gently Oliver Reynolds Henry V Ancient Pistol The Game Bobby Waterhouse 2018 Lovesick Peter 2019Catherine the GreatAlexander Suvorov 2019–2020 The Trial of Christine Keeler Jeremy Hutchinson Turton TV series 2022 Operation Mincemeat Bentley Purchase Posthumous release; final film role (dedicated in memory)

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref.2006 Laurence Olivier AwardBest Performance in a Supporting Role Coram Boy 2009 Tony AwardBest Featured Actor in a PlayThe Norman Conquests Laurence Olivier AwardBest Performance in a Supporting Role Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Ensemble Performance Outer Critics Circle AwardOutstanding Ensemble Performance Theatre World AwardSpecial Award 2019 Online Film & Television Association Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Limited Series Chernobyl 2021 British Academy Television Award Male Performance in a Comedy Programme Friday Night Dinner