Richard Griffiths

Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor. He was known for his portrayals of Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films (2001–2011), Uncle Monty in Withnail and I, and Henry Crabbe in Pie in the Sky (1994–1997). He received numerous accolades in his career and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2008.

For his performance in the stage play The History Boys, Griffiths won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and a Laurence Olivier Award in the same category. For the 2006 film adaptation, Griffiths was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Griffiths is also known for his performances at the National Theatre including Equus (2008), The Habit of Art (2010), and The Sunshine Boys (2012).

Griffiths had supporting roles in such critically acclaimed films as Chariots of Fire (1981), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Gandhi (1982), A Private Function (1984), Venus (2006), Ballet Shoes (2007), and Hugo (2011). He also acted in The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991), Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011).

Early life and education Richard Thomas Griffiths was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Riding of Yorkshire, to Jane (née Denmark, 1923–1969) and Thomas Griffiths (1915–1976). His father was a steelworker who also fought in pubs for money, while his mother's occupation was described as "bagger".

He had an elder sister and two brothers, all of whom died in infancy before he was born. A younger brother, whom he did not want to talk about because he had promised his family not to mention them in press, survived.

He was brought up as a Roman Catholic.

As a boy he was so skinny that he was given radiation therapy on his pituitary gland when he was eight years old. This permanently slowed his metabolism, making him struggle with obesity for the rest of his life.

His parents were both deaf and he became fluent in British Sign Language at an early age. During his childhood he attempted to run away from home many times. He dropped out of Our Lady & St Bede School in Stockton-on-Tees at the age of 15 and worked as a porter for Littlewoods for a while but his boss eventually persuaded him to go back to school. He decided to attend a drama class at Stockton & Billingham College. at the same time as Bernard Hill.

Career After graduating, Griffiths won a contract on BBC Radio with their Radio Drama Company. He also worked in small theatres, sometimes acting and sometimes managing. He built up an early reputation as a Shakespearean clown with portrayals of Pompey in Measure for Measure and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal Shakespeare Company and went on to play the Kings in Love's Labour's Lost and in Henry VIII. In 1981, he also gave a memorable performance as Chilean secret police victim William Beausire in an edition of the BBC Prisoners of Conscience series. Griffiths went on to supporting roles in a number of major films, including The French Lieutenant's Woman, Chariots of Fire and Gandhi. On stage, in 1985–1986, he performed the role of Verdi in Julian Mitchell's After Aida, in Wales and at the Old Vic Theatre in London. He appeared in The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends.

Griffiths' film roles were in both contemporary and period pieces. Some of his most memorable roles included supporting parts in films as Gorky Park (1983), Withnail and I (1987), King Ralph (1991), The Naked Gun : The Smell of Fear (1991), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), Guarding Tess (1994) and Sleepy Hollow (1999). Later, he portrayed the short-tempered Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series, appearing in five of the eight films: Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows – Part 1.

He appeared as Inspector Henry Crabbe, disillusioned policeman and pie chef extraordinaire, in Pie in the Sky, In 2004, he originated the role of Hector (the teacher) in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys, directed by Nicholas Hytner, winning the 2005 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor. In 2007 he starred in Ballet Shoes with his Harry Potter co-stars Emma Watson and Gemma Jones.

Together with his Harry Potter co-star Daniel Radcliffe, he appeared in a stage revival of Peter Shaffer's Equus at the Gielgud Theatre in London and later, from October 2008, in a short run of the play at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, which ended in February 2009. Later in 2009, he replaced Michael Gambon as W. H. Auden prior to the premiere of The Habit of Art at the National Theatre, once again directed by Hytner.

Griffiths was considered for the part of the Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who, following Tom Baker's departure in 1981, but was unavailable. He was strongly considered once again to take on the role of the Eighth Doctor, had the series continued past 1989. He performed in adaptations of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, providing the voice for Slartibartfast for the radio adaptation of Life, the Universe and Everything and playing the Vogon Jeltz in the film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He appeared in Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler and as a special guest in A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa.

In 2005 he asked a member of the audience to leave a performance of Heroes after her phone rang three times. Such interruptions due to audience distractions happened three times in his career.

Griffiths appeared in a cameo as King George II in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He appeared in the first episode of the television series Episodes as Julian Bullard. In April 2012, Griffiths starred, with Danny DeVito, in a revival of the Neil Simon play The Sunshine Boys. The show previewed at the Savoy Theatre from 27 April 2012, opening on 17 May and playing a limited 12-week season until 28 July.

Personal life Griffiths met Heather Gibson in 1973 and they married in 1980. They had no children. Griffiths was awarded an honorary degree from Teesside University in 2006 and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.

He was the godfather of comedian Jack Whitehall.

Griffiths died aged 65 in Coventry, West Midlands on 28 March 2013 after complications following heart surgery.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1977 It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet Sam Broadbent 1980 Breaking Glass Studio engineer Superman II Terrorist #3 1981 Chariots of Fire Head Porter at Caius College The French Lieutenant's Woman Sir Tom Ragtime Delmas' Assistant No. 1 1982 Britannia Hospital Cheerful Bernie Gandhi Collins 1983 Gorky Park Anton 1984 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan Captain Billings A Private Function Henry Allardyce the Accountant 1986 Shanghai Surprise Willie Tuttle 1987 Withnail and I Uncle Monty 1991 King Ralph Duncan Phipps The Naked Gun : The Smell of Fear Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer / Earl Hacker 1992 Blame It on the Bellboy Maurice Horton 1994 Guarding Tess Frederick 1995 Funny Bones Jim Minty 1997 The Warrens 1999 Sleepy Hollow Magistrate Philipse Casper & Spooky 2000 Vatel Dr. Bourdelot 2001 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Vernon Dursley 2002 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Stage Beauty Sir Charles Sedley 2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Jeltz Voice Opa! Tierrney 2006 Venus Donald The History Boys Hector 2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Vernon Dursley 2008 Bedtime Stories Barry Nottingham 2010 National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art Fitz / W. H. Auden Jackboots on Whitehall Hermann Göring Voice Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 Vernon Dursley 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides King George II Hugo Monsieur Frick 2012 Private Peaceful The Colonel 2013 About Time Defence Lawyer in play (uncredited) Posthumous release; Final film role

Television Year Title Role Notes1974 Crown Court Interpreter Episode 3.31: "Duress: Part 1" Village Hall Mr. Ridealgh Episode 1.1: "Mr. Ellis Versus the People" ITV Playhouse Park keeper Episode 7.2: "Norma"1976 When the Boat Comes In P.C. Price Episode 1.1 "A Land Fit for Heroes and Idiots" Red Letter Day Window cleaner Episode 1.3: "Well Thank You, Thursday" The Expert Ripley Episode 4.10: "Tainted Money"1977 Second City Firsts Episode 8.1: "Twelve Off the Belt" ITV Playhouse Board member Episode 9.10: "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll"1978 The Comedy of Errors Officer TV play The Sweeney Ronnie Harries Episode 4.14: "Jack or Knave" 1979 Afternoon Off Mr. Turnbull TV play 1980 Nobody's Perfect Sam Hooper 14 episodes 1981 Prisoners of Conscience William Beausire Episode 1.1: "William Beausire"1982 Minder Derek Farrow Episode: "Dreamhouse" Whoops Apocalypse Premier Dubienkin Episode: "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" Bird of Prey Henry Jay 4 episodes The World Cup: A Captain's Tale Sidney Barron TV film Five-Minute Films The Window Cleaner Episode: "A Light Snack" The Merry Wives of Windsor Sir John Falstaff Part of the BBC Television Shakespeare series1983 The Cleopatras Pot Belly 3 episodes Bergerac Jean-Pierre Episode 2.6: "Fall of a Birdman" 1984 Bird of Prey 2 Henry Jay 4 episodes 1985 Bleak House Mr Bayham Badger BBC TV serial 1986 Boon Sidney Garbutt Episode: "Glasshouse People"1987 Casanova Cardinal TV film Ffizz Jack Mowbray 12 episodes The Marksman Brown TV mini-series 1988–90 A Kind of Living Trevor Beasley 15 episodes 1989 Goldeneye Second admiral TV film 1989 Plum, A Portrait of P.G. Wodehouse P.G. Wodehouse (voice) BBC documentary 1991 Perfect Scoundrels Phil Kirby Episode: "Ssh, You Know Who"1992 El C.I.D. Weatherby Episode: "Nothing Is Forever" The Good Guys Archie Phillips Episode: "Going West" Mr. Wakefield's Crusade Porter TV film1993 Inspector Morse Canon Humphrey Appleton Episode: "The Day of the Devil" Lovejoy Hans Koopman Episode: "They Call Me Midas" 1994 A Breed of Heroes Brian Beazely TV film 1993–95 The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends Various (voice) 3 episodes 1994–97 Pie in the Sky Henry Crabbe All 40 episodes1998 In the Red Geoffrey Crichton-Potter Episode 1.3 The Canterbury Tales Saturn (voice) Episode: "Leaving London" Oi! Get Off Our Train Elephant (voice) TV short Ted & Ralph Landowner at Party TV film 1998–00 Archibald the Koala Archibald (voice) Episode: The Dragon 1999 The Vicar of Dibley Bishop of Mulberry Episode: "Spring"2000 Gormenghast Swelter TV mini-series; 2 episodes Hope and Glory Leo Wheeldon 10 episodes2002 TLC Mr Benedict Ron 6 episodes Jeffrey Archer: The Truth Willie Whitelaw TV film 2003 The Brides in the Bath Sir Edward Marshall Hall TV film2005 Princes in the Tower Sir Thomas More (voice) TV film Bleak House Mr. Bayham Badger 2 episodes 2007 Ballet Shoes Great Uncle Matthew Brown "Gum" TV film 2008 A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa Santa Claus TV film 2010 National Theatre Live Fitz / W. H. Auden TV play: The Habit of Art2011 George and Bernard Shaw Bernard Episode: "Pilot" Episodes Julian Bullard Episode: "Episode One" 2012 The Hollow Crown – Henry V Duke of Burgundy TV film

Theatre

Awards and nominations