Actor Richard Griffiths dies aged 65

The actor Richard Griffiths has died following complications from heart surgery at the Univeristy Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire. He was 65.

An award winning character actor of stage, film and TV, Griffiths was perhaps best known for his roles in the Harry Potter films, 'The History Boys', 'Withnail and I' and 'Pie In The Sky'.

Born in Thornaby-on-Tees in the North Riding of Yorkshire, he studied drama at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama (now Manchester School of Theatre) before beginning his acting career in radio, then on stage in Manchester and for the Royal Shakespeare Company, before landing TV roles and a part in the 1977 film 'It Shouldn't Happen To A Vet'.

A skilled comedy actor, Griffiths played the notorious Uncle Monty in the cult film 'Withnail And I' and, alongside parts in Hollywood films, landed the lead in the BBC prime time drama series Pie In The Sky in the 1990s.

Numerous television and film performances followed before a defining performance in Alan Bennett's hugely acclaimed and award winning play 'The History Boys', as Hector, which he reprised in the film version. Paying tribute to Griffiths, 'The History Boys' director Nicholas Hytner praised his performance as "quite overwhelming: a masterpiece of wit, delicacy, mischief and desolation, often simultaneously."

It was during a stage performance of Bennett's play, that Richard Griffiths famously reacted to hearing a mobile phone ringing by stopping mid-act and asking the offending person to leave the theatre.

Playing Vernon Dursley in several of the Harry Potter films raised his profile still higher and to a new audience, and he would work again with Daniel Radcliffe on stage in the revival of Peter Shaffer's 'Equus'.

He won both an Olivier and Tony award and was given an OBE for services to drama in 2008.