Richard Griffiths

Richard Griffiths, OBE was an English stage, film, and television actor.
For Disney, he played Maurice Horton in Blame It on the Bellboy, Jim Minty in Funny Bones, Barry Nottingham in Bedtime Stories, Santa Claus in the 2008 NBC television special A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, and King George II in the 2011 fantasy adventure film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He also voiced Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz in the 2005 Touchstone Pictures film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Outside of Disney, he is probably best known for his role as Vernon Dersley in the Harry Potter franchise.
Born in North Riding of Yorkshire, Griffiths dropped out school at the age of 15 and worked as a porter for Littlewoods for a while but his boss eventually persuaded him to go back to school. He decided to attend a drama class at Stockton & Billingham College. He continued his education in drama at Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre (now Manchester School of Theatre). After graduating, Griffiths won a contract on BBC Radio with their Radio Drama Company before finding work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He appeared in stage productions of Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost, Henry VIII, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, After Aida, Volpone, Equus, The Sunshine Boys, and The History Boys which won him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
In 1976, Griffiths made his film debut with It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet. It led to more film appearances, such as Superman II, Bird of Prey and its sequel, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Ragtime, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Gorky Park, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, King Ralph, The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear, Blame It on the Bellboy, Sleepy Hollow, and Hugo. He became known globally as Vernon Dursley in the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.
Griffiths died aged 65 at University Hospital Coventry in 2013 after complications following heart surgery.
==Roles==
Richard Griffiths in Bedtime Stories.jpg|Barry Nottingham(Bedtime Stories)
Santa-lettersto.jpg|Santa Claus(A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa)
KingGeorge3-OST.png|King George II(Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)
==External links==
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Category:Males
Category:1940s births
Category:2010s deaths
Category:Deceased
Category:British people
Category:European people
Category:Actors
Category:Voice actors
Category:Radio actors
Category:Bedtime Stories
Category:Pirates of the Caribbean
Category:Touchstone Pictures
Category:Hollywood Pictures
Category:The Muppets