British character actor 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, such as Gorky Park (1983), Withnail & I (1987), King Ralph (1991), Guarding Tess (1994), Sleepy Hollow (1999) and recently the 'Harry Potter' series as Uncle Vernon Dursley. Typically cast as comic relief in serious fare, he is well known in England for a number of comedy series including "Pie in the Sky" (1994).

Was considered by producers for the role of "The Doctor" in "Doctor Who" (1963), had the series' original run continued past 1989.

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).

Parents died at the end of 1976.

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.

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."

Won the 2006 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Actor in A Leading Role in a Play for "The History Boys." The presenter of the award to Griffiths was Julia Roberts.

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."

Has at least twice played a dual role, once in "Whoops! Apocalypse" as a replacement Premier Dubienkin (as well as the original), and in "Naked Gun 2 1/2" as Dr. Meinheimer and impersonator Earl Hacker.

"'I hate being the subject of photographs."

"I've always hated the way I looked..."

"Winning is something you've dreamed about and hoped for, so that when you get there it's no big deal. But if you lose you're gutted, and the gutted sense just goes on, and I know what that's like, because I've been having that gutted feeling since 1979."