Richard Griffiths, OBE (July 31, 1947 – March 28, 2013) was an English actor of stage, film and television. He 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. He was also known for his portrayal of Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films, Uncle Monty in Withnail and I, Henry Crabbe in Pie in the Sky, and King George II in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He also appeared in Richard Attenborough’s Oscar-winning 1982 film Gandhi portraying the role of a British journalist.
Griffiths’ film roles were in both contemporary and period pieces such as Gorky Park (1983), Withnail and I (1987), King Ralph (1991), The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991), Guarding Tess (1994) and Sleepy Hollow (1999). Later, he was seen as Harry Potter’s cruel uncle Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series.
Richard Griffiths cause of death
Richard Griffiths died at the University Hospital Coventry on 28 March 2013 from complications following heart surgery. Richard Griffiths was 65 years old at the time of his death.