Griffiths, Richard (1947– )

English character actor. His sharp wit and, in later roles, self-mocking love of food lie at the centre of many of his characterizations. He was critically acclaimed for his leading performance in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys (2004) and he gained an international audience with his role as the evil Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter series of films 2001–07.

A long-serving support player on film and in television, Griffiths appeared in British feature films such as Chariots of Fire (1982), A Private Function (1985), and Withnail and I (1987). In the 1990s he won a wider audience as the policeman-cum-chef in the television programme Pie in the Sky, and as the incompetent gourmet-loving politician in the miniseries In the Red (1998). Other films include Tim Burton's thriller Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Richard's Eyre's period drama Stage Beauty (2004).

He was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, Yorkshire, England, the son of deaf parents. He began his career on radio and stage, where he excelled in Shakespearean clown roles, for example Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal Shakespeare Company.