Known for Acting
Richard Thomas Griffiths (July 31, 1947 – March 28, 2013) was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For his performance in the stage play The History Boys, Griffiths won a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award. For the 2006 film adaptation, Griffiths was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He played Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films (2001-2010) and Great Uncle Matthew Brown "Gum" in the BBC film Ballet Shoes (2007). He also portrayed Uncle Monty in Withnail and I (1987), and Henry Crabbe in Pie in the Sky (1994–1997). Earlier in his career, he had supporting roles in such critically acclaimed films as Chariots of Fire (1981), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Gandhi (1982), and The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear (1991). In his later career he appeared in Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and in Martin Scorsese's Hugo (2011).
Born
July 31, 1947
Died
March 28, 2013 (age 65)
Birthplace
Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England, UK
Filmography
62 films, 39 shows


Showing Up
2014 · 1h 23m
country: Unknown
An unprecedented look at the audition, compiled from more than 50 interviews with notable artists including Kristin Chenoweth, Richard Griffiths, Zoe Kazan, Nathan Lane, Chris Messina, Sam Rockwell and Eli Wallach.


About Time
2013 · 2h 3m
country: United Kingdom
The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father reveals to him that the men in their family have the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.


Private Peaceful
2012 · 1h 40m
country: United Kingdom
Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.


Hugo
2011 · 2h 6m
country: United States
Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is to protect a broken automaton and notebook left to him by his late father. Accompanied by the goddaughter of an embittered toy merchant, Hugo embarks on a quest to solve the mystery of the automaton and find a place he can call home.


Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
2011 · 2h 16m
country: United Kingdom
When Jack crosses paths with a woman from his past, he's not sure if it's love...or if she's a ruthless con artist using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth.


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010 · 2h 26m
country: United Kingdom
Harry, Ron and Hermione walk away from their last year at Hogwarts to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality. But with Harry's beloved Dumbledore dead and Voldemort's unscrupulous Death Eaters on the loose, the world is more dangerous than ever.


Jackboots on Whitehall
2010 · 1h 27m
country: Belgium
A satirical alternative history of World War II where the Nazis seize London and England must band together to prevent a full on invasion.


National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art
2010 · 2h 25m
country: United Kingdom
National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings, and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for 25 years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art. One of the first five episodes also released on terrestrial TV on a 2009 BBC TV series titled "National Theatre Live".


Bedtime Stories
2008 · 1h 39m
country: United States
Skeeter Bronson is a down-on-his-luck guy who's always telling bedtime stories to his niece and nephew. But his life is turned upside down when the fantastical stories he makes up for entertainment inexplicably turn into reality. Can a bewildered Skeeter manage his own unruly fantasies now that the outrageous characters and situations from his mind have morphed into actual people and events?


A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
2008 · 43m
country: United States
When Gonzo forgets to mail three letters to Santa, he convinces Kermit and the gang to help him deliver the notes to the North Pole. Along the way, they discover that Christmas is the time to be with those you care about most, as they dash home to make a friends Christmas wish come true.


Ballet Shoes
2008 · 1h 25m
country: United Kingdom
An unusual explorer named Gum and his kindly niece adopt three orphans -- Pauline, Petrova and Posy -- and raise them as sisters in 1930s London. But the girls must fend for themselves when Gum doesn't return from one of his adventures. Together, they nurture their passions for acting, aviation and ballet in this charming TV adaptation of Noel Streatfield's novel.


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007 · 2h 18m
country: United Kingdom
When a new professor's methods leave Hogwarts unprepared to fight the rising tide of evil, Harry teaches students how to defend against the dark arts.


The History Boys
2006 · 1h 49m
country: United Kingdom
The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.


Venus
2006 · 1h 35m
country: United Kingdom
Maurice is an aging veteran actor who becomes taken with Jessie, the grandniece of his closest friend. When Maurice tries to soften the petulant and provincial young girl with the benefit of his wisdom and London culture, their give-and-take surprises both Maurice and Jessie as they discover what they don't know about themselves.


The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
2006 · 1h 17m
country: United Kingdom
Classic tales of Peter Rabbit."Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter." So begins the first of Original Peter Rabbit TalesTM, which have been translated into 35 languages and have achieved international success in more than 117 countries worldwide. The beautiful illustrations are magically brought to life in this captivating series, including a live action introduction featuring Niamh Cusack as Beatrix Potter, specially tailored for each story. This DVD includes three delightful tales: "The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny", "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs. Tittlemouse", and "The Tale of Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck", all beautifully animated and featuring the voices of Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter), June Whitfield (Ab Fab) and others!


Opa!
2005 · 1h 34m
country: Greece
A modern day treasure hunt for a mystical relic that turns into a love story for all time.


The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2005 · 1h 49m
country: United Kingdom
Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
Princes in the Tower
Princes in the Tower
2005 · 2h
country: United Kingdom
The mystery surrounding the disappearance 12 year-old King Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York, has been the cause of speculation and fascination for over five centuries. In 1491, eight years after the Princes in the Tower were presumed murdered, a young man told an astonished world that he was Richard, back to claim the throne of England.


Stage Beauty
2004 · 1h 46m
country: United Kingdom
Humble Maria, who outfits top London theater star Ned Kynaston, takes none of the credit for the male actor's success at playing women. And because this is the 17th century, Maria, like other females, is prohibited from pursuing her dream of acting. But when powerful people support her, King Charles II lifts the ban on female stage performers. And just as Maria aided Ned, she needs his help to learn her new profession.


Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2004 · 2h 21m
country: United Kingdom
Harry Potter's life is in danger once more as dangerous wizard Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is heading to Hogwarts.


The Brides in the Bath
2003 · 2h
country: United Kingdom
Dramatisation of the real-life case of George Joseph Smith who was hanged in 1915 for the murder of his three wives, each of whom he killed in turn by drowning them in the bath while trying to make the deaths look like accidents.


Jeffrey Archer: The Truth
2002 · 1h 30m
country: United Kingdom
A satirical look at the 'secret' TRUE life of Jeffrey Archer. The Truth, the whole truth and everything BUT the truth.


Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2002 · 2h 41m
country: United Kingdom
Cars fly, trees fight back, and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione's magical abilities and courage.


Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2001 · 2h 32m
country: United Kingdom
Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard—with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths—and about the villain who's to blame.


Sleepy Hollow: Behind the Legend
2000 · 42m
country: United Kingdom
A behind the scenes look at the making of Sleepy Hollow.


Vatel
2000 · 1h 43m
country: France
Vatel is the cook of Prince Condé. When the prince invites Louis XIV to hunt, he has to give lavish banquets in order to fall in his favour. But when Vatel falls in love with the king's mistress, love and duty conflict.


Sleepy Hollow
1999 · 1h 45m
country: United States
Skeptical young detective Ichabod Crane gets transferred to the hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York, where he is tasked with investigating the decapitations of three people – murders the townsfolk attribute to a legendary specter, The Headless Horseman.


Ted & Ralph
1998 · 1h 6m
country: United Kingdom
One-off comedy drama featuring characters from award-winning BBC sketch series 'The Fast Show'. Ralph Mayhew (Charlie Higson) lives alone in a faded stately home. His only friend is Ted (Paul Whitehouse), the elderly Irish estate worker. But their way of life is under threat: Ralph must marry before his 35th birthday or lose everything. Just when it all seems hopeless, along comes Wendy (Kathy Burke). As Ralph's affection for Wendy grows, his dependence on Ted wanes. Is this the end of a beautiful friendship ? Is Wendy all that she seems ? Will Ralph go through with the marriage ? And will he save the Hall ?


The Animal Train
1998 · 29m
country: Unknown
Animation short about a little boy that sets off on a round-the-world night train to dreamland with only his toy dog for company. But soon all sorts of endangered animals are asking if they can jump up and join them on their journey.


The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs. Tittlemouse
1996 · 25m
country: United Kingdom
"The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends", episode 8. The six fluffy babies of Benjamin Bunny are in great danger when Mr. McGregor put them in a sack, but the rabbit can manage it. At the same time, Mrs. Tittlemouse is in great danger as group of bees installed their hive in her very clean home.


Funny Bones
1995 · 2h 8m
country: United States
Tommy Fawkes wants to be a successful comedian. After his Las Vegas debut is a failure, he returns to Blackpool where his father—also a comedian—started, and where he spent the summers of his childhood.


A Breed of Heroes
1994 · 1h 30m
country: United Kingdom
In 1971, fresh-faced, eager for heroics, the young officers arrive in Belfast. Pelted with rocks by kids, sniped at by the IRA, they take refuge in sex, black humour and the weird rituals of the officers' mess.


Guarding Tess
1994 · 1h 36m
country: United States
Doug is a Secret Service Agent who has just completed his stint in charge protecting Tess Carlisle—the widow of a former U.S. President, and a close personal friend of the current President. He finds that she has requested that he not be rotated but instead return to be her permanent detail. Doug is crushed, and—after returning—wants off her detail as she is very difficult to guard and makes her detail crazy with her whims and demands.


Mr. Wakefield's Crusade
1992 · 2h 30m
country: United Kingdom
Darkly comic murder mystery adapted from a novel by Booker Prize-winning author Bernice Rubens. Luke Wakefield is not so much a knight in shining armour as an oddball in a suit. And his crusade is more of a "who ami" than a "whodunit".


Blame It on the Bellboy
1992 · 1h 18m
country: United Kingdom
Mike Lawton, Maurice Horton, and Melvin Orton are three men who come to Venice. One of them is a hit man sent to take out a mobster. Another is a lech looking for a little action with a woman he never met, whom he was set up with. And one of them was sent by his employer to inspect a property his boss wants to buy. All three men stay at the same hotel. But when the bellboy gets their names mixed up and gives info meant for someone else. So one of them meets a Realtor who will whatever she has to, to close the sale. And another follows a woman looking for romance. And another goes to the home of the mobster who thinks he's sent there to kill him.


The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
1991 · 1h 25m
country: United States
Bumbling lieutenant Frank Drebin is out to foil the big boys in the energy industry, who intend to suppress technology that will put them out of business.


King Ralph
1991 · 1h 37m
country: United States
As the only relative in line to ascend the Royal throne, a down-on-his-luck American slob must learn the ways of the English.


Goldeneye
1989 · 1h 45m
country: United Kingdom
British writer Ian Fleming's life and loves suggest that of his spy-novel hero, secret agent James Bond.


The Movie Life of George
1989 · 52m
country: Unknown
When EMI refused to produce Monty Python's Life of Brian, George Harrison founded Handmade Pictures so that he could see the film. This is the story of him and Handmade Films.


Withnail & I
1987 · 1h 48m
country: United Kingdom
Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.


Casanova
1987 · 2h 3m
country: Germany
The life story of an 18th century womanizer who's arrested, not so much for his crimes, but because he's viewed as an undesirable by the husbands and families of the women he seduces.


Shanghai Surprise
1986 · 1h 37m
country: United Kingdom
Glendon Wasey is a fortune hunter looking for a fast track out of China. Gloria Tatlock is a missionary nurse seeking the curing powers of opium for her patients. Fate sets them on a hectic, exotic, and even romantic quest for stolen drugs. But they are up against every thug and smuggler in Shangai.


A Private Function
1984 · 1h 36m
country: United Kingdom
In the summer of 1947, Britain prepares to commemorate the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. To get around food-rationing laws, Dr. Charles Swaby, accountant Henry Allardyce and solicitor Frank Lockwood are fattening a black-market pig for the big day. Egged on by his wife, meek Gilbert Chilvers steals the swine, but the couple must conceal it from inspector Morris Wormold.


Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
1984 · 2h 23m
country: United Kingdom
A shipping disaster in the 19th Century has stranded a man and woman in the wilds of Africa. The lady is pregnant, and gives birth to a son in their tree house. Soon after, a family of apes stumble across the house and in the ensuing panic, both parents are killed. A female ape takes the tiny boy as a replacement for her own dead infant, and raises him as her son. Twenty years later, Captain Phillippe D'Arnot discovers the man who thinks he is an ape. Evidence in the tree house leads him to believe that he is the direct descendant of the Earl of Greystoke, and thus takes it upon himself to return the man to civilization.


Gorky Park
1983 · 2h 8m
country: United States
Police Inspector Renko tries to solve the case of three bodies found in Moscow's Gorky Park but finds his attempts to solve the crime impeded by his superiors. Working on his own, Renko seeks out more information and stumbles across a conspiracy involving the highest levels of the government.


The Merry Wives of Windsor
1982 · 2h 47m
country: United Kingdom
When Sir John Falstaff decides that he wants to have a little fun he writes two letters to a pair of Window wives: Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. When they put their heads together and compare missives, they plan a practical joke or two to teach the knight a lesson. But Mistress Ford's husband is a very jealous man and is pumping Falstaff for information of the affair. Meanwhile the Pages' daughter Anne is beseiged by suitors.


Gandhi
1982 · 3h 12m
country: India
In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.
A Light Snack
A Light Snack
1982 · 6m
country: United Kingdom
A window cleaner fancies a sausage roll, but all is not well in the sausage roll factory.


The World Cup: A Captain's Tale
1982 · 1h 23m
country: Unknown
The true story of the First world football competition, won by a team comprised of miners from Durham.


Britannia Hospital
1982 · 1h 56m
country: United Kingdom
Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a visit by the Queen Mother herself. But when investigative reporter Mick Travis arrives to cover the celebration, he finds the hospital under siege by striking workers, ruthless unions, violent demonstrators, racist aristocrats, an African cannibal dictator, and sinister human experiments.


Ragtime
1981 · 2h 35m
country: United States
A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.


The French Lieutenant's Woman
1981 · 2h 4m
country: United Kingdom
In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.


Chariots of Fire
1981 · 2h 3m
country: United Kingdom
In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest.


Superman II
1980 · 2h 7m
country: United Kingdom
Three Kryptonian criminals led by General Zod team up with Lex Luthor to conquer Earth, forcing a depowered Superman to regain his strength and stop them.


Breaking Glass
1980 · 1h 44m
country: United Kingdom
Breaking Glass is the story of punk singer Kate and her meteoric rise to stardom. Starting out in the rock pubs of London, Kate, assisted by her manager Danny, becomes a huge star overnight. Once at the top the pressure is immense as Kate's band are squeezed out and she is left to cope alone in the spotlight.


Afternoon Off
1979 · 1h 3m
country: United Kingdom
Lee, a Chinese man, works as a waiter in a hotel in England, despite speaking very little English. Told that a girl called Iris might be interested in him, on his afternoon off work he buys a box of chocolates and sets off to find her.


The Comedy of Errors
1978 · 2h 10m
country: United Kingdom
The Royal Shakespeare Company act (and sing and dance!) Shakespeare's play about two sets of identical twins, separated at birth and brought together by circumstance.
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
1977
country: Unknown
A rock star is kidnapped at the end of a concert.The record company ask the question is he worth more dead than alive?


Twelve Off the Belt
1977 · 30m
country: Unknown
Grand Challenge pie-eating contest : ' Winner finishes most whole pies off the belt in half-an-hour. Ties decided on a raw cabbage '. The Bedworth Hog faces tough competition.


It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet
1976 · 1h 33m
country: United Kingdom
Based on James Herriot's books about life as a 1930s veterinarian in Yorkshire, John Alderson plays the kindly doctor who ministers to animals in this enjoyable family film. Sequel to the 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small.


Well Thank You, Thursday
1976 · 49m
country: Unknown
Miss Shepherd of the registry office is getting a new desk, but things don't go entirely as expected.
Norma
Norma
1974 · 49m
country: Unknown
Norma is a woman who appears to be leading a very complicated emotional life; she's involved with no less than four men. Michael is the friend she turns to for help in her emotional crisis.