Richard Griffiths

The British actor Richard Griffiths was born on 31st July 1947 in Thornaby-on-Tees.

Richard Griffiths came from radio and the classical stage where he built up an early reputation as a Shakespearean clown, with larger-than-life portrayals of Henry VIII, Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with the Royal Shakespeare Company just a few of his standout credits. The son of deaf mute parents, he learned sign language at an early age and, interestingly enough, developed a talent for dialects which allowed him to show off in a number of ethnic portrayals. In films from 1975 both here and abroad, his better roles have been in both contemporary and period pieces.

Richard plays the miserable old prune of a character, Uncle Vernon. Married to Aunt Petunia, father to Dudley Dursley and Uncle of Harry Potter. He has appeared in three of the four films so far.

He is married to Heather Gibson.

Achievements
2004 - Won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Hector in The History Boys at the National Theatre (Lyttleton) (London).

He was awarded the 2006 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as "Hector" in Alan Bennett's "The History Boys."

Mobile Phones
November 2005: Was performing in the stage play "Heroes" in London's Wyndham Theatre when a lady's mobile phone kept ringing in the audience. After it rang a third time, he stopped the play and - to loud applause - had her ejected from the theatre.

June 2005: he ordered a man out of the National Theatre, London, when his mobile phone went off for the sixth time during a performance of Alan Bennett's "The History Boys". The actor stopped in the middle of his lines, fixed the offender with an icy stare and said: "I am asking you to stand up, leave this auditorium and never, ever come back". Other members of the audience applauded as the man left the theatre.

May 2006: When a mobile rang out for the third time during his performance as Hector, a teacher, in Alan Bennett's The History Boys at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York, Griffiths rounded on the theatregoer and thundered: "I am not going to compete with these electronic devices. You were told to turn them off by the stage manager; you were told it was against the law. If we hear one more phone go off, we'll quit this performance. You have been warned."

Past Performances/Earlier Career
Was concidered by the producers of Doctor Who for the role of the Doctor himself! That's if it had continued. from the original series in 1989.

He has been in over 60 productions.....films and theatre.

Coincidence
By coincidence, his Birthday is the same as that of Harry Potter and J.K.Rowling, 31st July.