Line #46 Creator/RichardGriffiths


1	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/richard_griffiths_british.jpg]]
2	->''"However long you live, in your heart you will always feel emotionally as you did when you were seventeen or eighteen. You burn the same way you burned. You lust the same way you lusted. You despair the same way you despaired. You feel guilt. You feel aggression. The emotions are permanently on fire, but the sack around them is going to stab you in the back by falling to bits."''
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4	Richard Thomas Griffiths, OBE (31 July 1947 -- 28 March 2013) was an English actor. He was born in [[OopNorth North Yorkshire]] and, after a difficult childhood, studied drama in Manchester. Like many of his fellow countrymen, he started his acting career with Creator/WilliamShakespeare adaptations, playing Constable in ''Theatre/TheComedyOfErrors'' and Falstaff in ''Theatre/TheMerryWivesOfWindsor'', and later starring as King Theatre/HenryVIII. After a few years on the stage, he began to appear in television and movies. His first leading role on the small screen was as Henry Jay in ''Bird of Prey''. Some of his film roles in the 1980s included appearances in ''Film/{{Gandhi}}'', ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'', ''Shanghai Surprise'', and ''Literature/GorkyPark''. His most famous film role from that time, though, was as Uncle Monty in ''Film/WithnailAndI''.
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6	In the 1990s, Richard Griffiths appeared in more shows and movies, such as ''Film/TheNakedGunTwoAndAHalf'', ''Film/KingRalph'', and ''Series/InspectorMorse''. He starred in the 1994-1997 show ''Series/PieInTheSky'' as gruff retired policeman Henry Crabbe. But his most widely seen role was as Harry Potter's cruel uncle Vernon Dursley, a role he played in five of the eight ''Film/HarryPotter'' films. The 2000s would also see his most-awarded role, as Hector in the play and movie ''Theatre/TheHistoryBoys''. He followed this up with appearances in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'', ''Theatre/{{Equus}}'', and ''Theatre/HenryV''. His acting career spanned four decades.
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8	Sadly, Richard Griffiths died in 2013 from complications after heart surgery, and was fondly remembered by his many fellow actors, such as Creator/RichardEGrant, Creator/PaulMcGann [[note]]who famously played the [[Series/DoctorWho Eighth Doctor]], a role that would have gone to Griffiths [[WhatCouldHaveBeen had the series not been cancelled in 1989]][[/note]], and Creator/DanielRadcliffe.
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10	Also worth noting is that if ever he heard a phone go off during one of his performances, Griffiths would [[BreakingTheFourthWall break the fourth wall]] to berate the audience member responsible for it, sometimes even threatening to ''end the performance then and there'' in retaliation.
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12	----
13	!!Selected roles:
14	!!!Film:
15	* ''Film/SupermanII'' (1980) as Terrorist No. 3
16	* ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'' (1981) as the Caius College head porter
17	* ''Film/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'' (1981) as Sir Tom
18	* ''Film/{{Ragtime}}'' (1981) as Delmas' Assistant No. 1
19	* ''Theatre/TheMerryWivesOfWindsor'' (1982) as Falstaff
20	* ''Film/{{Gandhi}}'' (1982) as Collins
21	* ''Literature/GorkyPark'' (1983) as Anton
22	* ''Film/GreystokeTheLegendOfTarzanLordOfTheApes'' (1984) as Captain Billings
23	* ''Film/ShanghaiSurprise'' (1986) as Willie Tuttle
24	* ''Film/WithnailAndI'' (1987) as Uncle Monty
25	* ''Film/KingRalph'' (1991) as Duncan Phipps
26	* ''Film/TheNakedGunTwoAndAHalf'' (1991) as Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer / Earl Hacker
27	* ''Film/BlameItOnTheBellboy'' (1992) as Maurice Horton
28	* ''Guarding Tess'' (1994) as Frederick
29	* ''Film/{{Sleepy Hollow\|1999}}'' (1999) as Magistrate Philipse
30	* ''Film/HarryPotter'' (2001–10) as Uncle Vernon Dursley
31	* ''[[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (2005) as Vogon Jeltz
32	* ''Theatre/TheHistoryBoys'' (2006) as Hector
33	* ''Film/{{Bedtime Stories\|2008}}'' (2008) as Barry Nottingham
34	* ''Film/JackbootsOnWhitehall'' (2010) as Hermann Goering (voice)
35	* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'' (2011) as King George II
36	* ''Film/{{Hugo}}'' (2011) as Monsieur Frick
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38	!!!Television (including made-for-TV films):
39	* ''Series/TheSweeney'' (1978) as Ronnie Harries (episode "Jack or Knave")
40	* ''Theatre/TheComedyOfErrors'' (1978) as Constable
41	* ''Series/{{Minder}}'' (1982) as Derek Farrow (episode "Dreamhouse")
42	* ''Series/WhoopsApocalypse'' (1982) as Premier Dubienkin (episode "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun")
43	* ''Theatre/TheMerryWivesOfWindsor'' (1982) as Falstaff
44	* ''Bird of Prey'' (1982) as Henry Jay
45	* ''Series/TheCleopatras'' (1983) as Ptolemy VIII ("Pot Belly")
46	* ''Film/{{Casanova}}'' (1987) as the Cardinal
47	* ''Series/InspectorMorse'' (1993) as Canon Humphrey Appleton (episode "The Day of the Devil")
48	* ''Series/{{Lovejoy}}'' (1993) as Hans Koopman (episode "They Call Me Midas")
49	* ''Series/PieInTheSky'' (1994–97) as Henry Crabbe
50	* ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' (1998) as Saturn (voice; episode "Leaving London")
51	* ''WesternAnimation/ArchibaldTheKoala'' (1998) as Archibald (voice; all episodes)
52	* ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'' (1999) as the Bishop of Mulberry (episode "Spring")
53	* ''Literature/{{Gormenghast}}'' (2000) as Swelter
54	* ''Literature/BleakHouse'' (2005) as Mr. Bayham Badger (2 episodes)
55	* ''Film/BalletShoes'' (2007) as Great-Uncle Matthew
56	* ''Film/AMuppetsChristmasLettersToSanta'' (2008) as SantaClaus

Context Creator / RichardGriffiths