Richard Griffiths

Richard Thomas Griffiths July 31 1947 March 28 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 20012010 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 19941997 Earlier in his career he had supporting roles in such critically acclaimed films as Chariots of Fire 1981 The French Lieutenants Woman 1981 Gandhi 1982 and The Naked Gun 212 The Smell of Fear 1991 In his later career he appeared in Sleepy Hollow 1999 The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 2005 Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides 2011 and in Martin Scorseses Hugo 2011