Profile Text
Griffiths in 2006, photo by s_bukley /bigstock.com
Date of Birth: 31 July, 1947
Place of Birth: Cleveland, Yorkshire, England, U.K.
Date of Death: 28 March, 2013
Place of Death: Coventry, West Midlands, England, U.K.
Ethnicity: English, Irish, likely distant Welsh, possibly other
Richard Griffiths was an English actor. His roles included the Harry Potter franchise, as well as the films The French Lieutenant’s Woman , Gandhi (1982), Gorky Park , Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes ; A Private Function , Withnail and I , King Ralph (1991), The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear , Guarding Tess , Funny Bones , Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy , Venus , The History Boys (2006), Bedtime Stories , as King George II in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ; and Hugo ; and the show Pie in the Sky .
Richard was the son of Jane (Denmark), a bagger, and Thomas Griffiths, a steelworker. His parents were deaf, and Richard was fluent in British Sign Language. He was married to Heather Gibson, until his death.
Richard’s paternal grandfather was Richard Henry Griffiths (the son of Richard Griffiths and Elizabeth Banks). Richard’s grandfather Richard was born in Stockton, Durham, England. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry Griffiths and Eliza Holmes.
Richard’s paternal grandmother was named Margaret Brannan. Margaret was born in Thornaby, Yorkshire, England.
Sources: Birth record of Richard Griffiths – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Richard Griffiths (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com