Richard Griffiths

A popular character actor adept at affecting dialects, Richard Griffiths was born July 31, 1947, in Stockton-on-Tees, England. He dropped out of school at age 15, later studying drama and spending a number of seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 1980, Griffiths landed a pivotal role on the TV series "Nobody's Perfect," a British take on the hit American sitcom "Maude." The next two years saw him cast as a porter and a reporter, respectively, in the Oscar-winning dramas Chariots of Fire (1981) and Gandhi (1982). He then impressed filmgoers with his portrayal of a cynical attorney in the 1983 murder mystery Gorky Park.

But Griffiths is most famous for his supporting turns as two dissimilar uncles: the libidinous Uncle Monty in the 1987 cult classic Withnail & I, and the callous Uncle Vernon in the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise. Griffiths passed away March 28, 2013.

Filmography