Richard Griffiths
Acting
Biography
Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For his performance in the stage play The History Boys, Griffiths won a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award. For the 2006 film adaptation, Griffiths was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He played Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films (2001-2010) and Great Uncle Matthew Brown "Gum" in the BBC film Ballet Shoes (2007). He also portrayed Uncle Monty in Withnail and I (1987), and Henry Crabbe in Pie in the Sky (1994–1997). Earlier in his career, he had supporting roles in such critically acclaimed films as Chariots of Fire (1981), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Gandhi (1982), and The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear (1991). In his later career he appeared in Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and in Martin Scorsese's Hugo (2011).
Born: July 31, 1947
Place of Birth: Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England, UK
Known For
Showing Up
An unprecedented look at the audition, compiled from more than 50 interviews with notable artists including Kristin Chenoweth, Richard Griffiths, Zoe Kazan, Nathan Lane, Chris Messina, Sam Rockwell and Eli Wallach.
The Comedy of Errors
The Royal Shakespeare Company act (and sing and dance!) Shakespeare's play about two sets of identical twins, separated at birth and brought together by circumstance.
Pie in the Sky
Pie in the Sky is a British offbeat police comedy drama programme starring Richard Griffiths and Maggie Steed, created by Andrew Payne and first broadcast in five series on BBC1 between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997 as well as being syndicated on other channels in other countries, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series departs slightly from other police dramas in that the protagonist, Henry Crabbe, while still being an on-duty policeman, is also the head chef of the title restaurant set in the fictional town of Middleton and county of Westershire.
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
Classic tales of Peter Rabbit."Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter." So begins the first of Original Peter Rabbit TalesTM, which have been translated into 35 languages and have achieved international success in more than 117 countries worldwide. The beautiful illustrations are magically brought to life in this captivating series, including a live action introduction featuring Niamh Cusack as Beatrix Potter, specially tailored for each story. This DVD includes three delightful tales: "The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny", "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs. Tittlemouse", and "The Tale of Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck", all beautifully animated and featuring the voices of Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter), June Whitfield (Ab Fab) and others!
Bleak House
The generous John Jarndyce, struggling with his own past, and his two young wards Richard and Ada, are all caught up, like Lady Dedlock, in the infamous case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce, which will make one of them rich beyond imagination if it can ever be brought to a conclusion. As Tulkinghorn digs deeper into Lady Dedlock's past, he unearths a secret that will change their lives forever, and which is almost as astounding as the final outcome of the Jarndyce case.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Year three at Hogwarts means new fun and challenges as Harry learns the delicate art of approaching a Hippogriff, transforming shape-shifting Boggarts into hilarity and even turning back time. But the term also brings danger: soul-sucking Dementors hover over the school, an ally of the accursed He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named lurks within the castle walls, and fearsome wizard Sirius Black escapes Azkaban. And Harry will confront them all.
National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art
National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
When Sir John Falstaff decides that he wants to have a little fun he writes two letters to a pair of Window wives: Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. When they put their heads together and compare missives, they plan a practical joke or two to teach the knight a lesson. But Mistress Ford's husband is a very jealous man and is pumping Falstaff for information of the affair. Meanwhile the Pages' daughter Anne is beseiged by suitors.
About Time
The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard—with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths—and about the villain who's to blame.
Filmography
as Self
as Lawyer in Play (uncredited)
as The Colonel
as Duke of Burgundy
as Monsieur Frick
as King George
as Julian Bullard
as Vernon Dursley
as Hermann Goering (voice)
as Fitz / W. H. Auden
as Barry Nottingham
as Santa Claus
as Great Uncle Matthew
as Vernon Dursley
as Hector
as Donald
as Mr. Alderman Ptolomy Tortoise/Mr. Jackson/Sir Isaac Newton
as Tierrney
as Mr. Bayham Badger
as Jeltz (voice)
as Sir Charles Sedley
as Vernon Dursley
as Sir Edward Marshall-Hall
as Willie Whitelaw
as Vernon Dursley
as Vernon Dursley
as Dr. Bourdelot
as Swelter
as Bürgermeister Phillipse
as Leo Wheeldon
as Landowner at Party
as Elephant
as Geoffrey Crichton Potter
as Jim Minty
as Brian Beasely
as Henry Crabbe
as Frederick
as Mr. Jackson (voice)
as Porter
as Maurice Horton
as Dr. Meinheimer / Earl Hacker
as Duncan Phipps
as Second Admiral
as Self
as Brown
as Monty
as Cardinal
as Canon Humphrey Appleton
as Willie Tuttle
as Hans Koopman
as Allardyce
as Captain Billings
as Anton
as Pot Belly
as Sir John Falstaff
as Collins
as Sidney Barron
as Cheerful Bernie
as Henry Jay
as Premier Dubienkin
as Delmas' Assistant No. 1
as Jean-Pierre
as Sir Tom
as Self
as Head Porter - Caius College
as Terrorist
as Studio Engineer
as Derek Farrow
as Factory Boss
as Officer
as Self
as Bedworth Hogg
as Sam Broadbent
as Window Cleaner
as Ronnie Harries
as Mr. Ridealgh
as Interpreter
as Self - Presenter
as Self - Winner