British actor Richard Griffiths dies

Richard Griffiths has died aged 65

Beloved British character actor Richard Griffiths – best known for his role as Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter franchise, and Uncle Monty in Withnail and I – has died following complications from heart surgery. Griffiths was just 65.

Over a career that spanned nearly 40 years, Griffiths received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, all for his role in the play The History Boys. In his film work, Griffiths mixed period and contemporary roles and, even though he was known for taking his work incredibly seriously, he was loved by those who worked with him.

Although many will remember Richard Griffiths for his more comedic roles, he was also well known for his role as disillusioned policeman and pie chef in the British detective drama Pie in the Sky, a role which was created specifically for him. As well as this, Griffiths was considered for the part of The Doctor in Doctor Who, but was unavailable.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe worked with Griffiths several times, including in the stage play Equus and, speaking to ITV news earlier today, Radcliffe paid tribute to his co-star, saying “Any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever”.

Griffiths was awarded an OBE in the 2008 New Year Honours List and was most recently seen in the first episode of Episodes, an award winning series starring Matt LeBlanc and Tamsin Grieg and In April 2012, Griffiths starred alongside Danny DeVito in a revival of the Neil Simon play The Sunshine Boys.

Richard Griffiths is survived by his wife Heather Gibson.