"Harry Potter" actor Richard Griffiths dies at 65March 29, 2013 - 15:25 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Actor Richard Griffiths, who starred in the Harry Potter movies and Withnail and I, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery, BBC News reported. Griffiths enjoyed a long career of success on film and on TV, but also on the stage where he was a Tony-winning character actor. He was best known for playing Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films and Uncle Monty in Withnail and I. TV roles included playing a cookery-loving detective in Pie in the Sky. And on stage, his most acclaimed performance was as the charismatic teacher Hector in Alan Bennett's The History Boys, a role he recreated in the 2006 film version. He was appointed an OBE in the 2008 New Year Honors. He was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, he first built up a reputation on the stage with a series of comic Shakespearean roles. His Harry Potter co-star Daniel Radcliffe - who also appeared on stage with him in Equus - was among the first to pay tribute, saying: "Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career. I was proud to know him." Sir Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, said Griffiths's unexpected death would devastate his "army of friends". He said: "Richard Griffiths wasn't only one of the most loved and recognizable British actors - he was also one of the very greatest. His performance in The History Boys was quite overwhelming: a masterpiece of wit, delicacy, mischief and desolation, often simultaneously." Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |