  Richard Griffiths dropped out of school at the age of 15 and studied drama at evening class at Stockton & Billingham College. He started his acting career in BBC radio drama and also worked in provincial theatre - both as an actor and as a manager.
He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where his roles included Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream; Peter in Romeo and Juliet; Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor; the title role in Volpone; and a small - but show-stopping part - in A Comedy of Errors. In 1979 he won the Clarence Derwent Award for his work as the Hollywood-bound George in Once in a Lifetime, the Kaufman-Hart play, and for Lariosik in The White Guard.
Richard's film roles have included Sir Tom in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Captain Billings in Greystoke (1982) and Phipps in King Ralph (1981). In The Naked Gun 2½ (1992) he had a dual role - as the German-accented Dr Mannheimer and as Earl Hacker, from Georgia USA. Film fans also relish his portrayal of the lubricious Uncle Monty in the cult hit Withnail and I.
British TV fans know him best as Henry Crabbe in Pie and the Sky (1993-95); Bird of Prey (1984); Nobody's Perfect (1980-82); Ffizz (1987-89); and A Kind of Living (1988-90).
Richard is currently playing Hector in Alan Bennett's History Boys, directed by Nicholas Hytner, at The National Theatre, and can also be seen as Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter series of films.
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