R.I.P., Richard Griffiths

[mamaleh]

I was sorry to learn of the death of Richard Griffiths following his heart surgery. I enjoyed his stage performances in THE HISTORY BOYS and EQUUS, and of course his movie persona as the nasty uncle in the HARRY POTTER series. He was particularly delightful in THE HISTORY BOYS; difficult to pull off a sympathetic twinkle in the eye while you know of his teacher-character's unsavory side, but he did it, and well. R.I.P.

www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/03/29/harry-potter-actor-richard-griffiths-dead-at-65/

Ellen

[JH4HJ]

It's sad to hear this. His talent was even bigger than his girth.

When I saw Equus I snaked through the crowd of tweens waiting for Daniel Radcliffe ("Sorry. 'scuse me. I just want Mr. Griffiths' autograph and then I'll leave...") to get a Playbill signed for a local friend who is a major fan of his. I got to the barricade just as he came out the Stage Door. He was headed straight for the car and seemed surprised when I called his name. He came over, I asked for his autograph, and asked if he would please sign it "to" my friend's name. He said (total deadpan), "No. I don't do that. It's *my* name, or nothing." So I just stood there. He glanced up from the Playbill and let out this big "belly laugh" (and with him - that was really something!). "Yes, of course, Darling. What's her name?" He was very sweet and we chatted a bit about his role (I'd seen it years ago with Burton.) He was an excellent actor and a nice man.

BTW: Later, as our cheesecake arrived at the table (Junior's is around the corner from the theater), we heard the squeals when Daniel *finally* came out greet his fans.

[mamaleh]

Cute story, Valerie. I had seen both Tony Perkins and Leonard Nimoy as Dysart in EQUUS and thought Griffiths did a great job, too. When I saw THE HISTORY BOYS, my seat was first row, dead center. There's a scene that had Griffiths' teacher character standing dead center, at the downstage tip. I remember looking up at his considerable girth dangling over my head like the sword of Damocles and thinking, "If he loses his step, I'll be squashed." Luckily we both survived.

Ellen