‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Chernobyl’ actor
Versatile British actor Paul Ritter, whose roles ranged from a hapless suburban patriarch in sitcom “Friday Night Dinner” to a Soviet engineer who helps cause a nuclear disaster in “Chernobyl,” has died, his agent said Tuesday. He was 54 and had been suffering from a brain tumor.
Agency Markham, Froggatt & Irwin said Ritter died Monday night “peacefully at home with his wife
Polly and sons Frank and Noah by his side.”
He also played illfated nuclear engineer Anatoly Dyatlov in the Emmywinning HBO drama “Chernobyl;” the wizard Eldred Worple in “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince;” and a devious political operative in the James Bond film “Quantum of Solace.”
“Chernobyl” screenwriter Craig Mazin said on Twitter that Ritter was
“one of the most gentle, gracious and brilliant people I’ve ever known, much less worked with.”
Actor Russell Tovey said Ritter was “one of the nicest and best actors you’ll ever meet.”
Ritter was a compelling stage actor, a frequent and memorable cast member in productions at Britain’s National Theatre, including “All My Sons,” “Coram Boy” and “The Curious Incident Of The Dog In
The Night-Time.”
He also appeared in
“Art” at London’s Old Vic and on a West End stage as Prime Minister John Major, performing opposite Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth II in the royal drama “The Audience.”
The actor was nominated for a Tony Award in 2009 for his performance in Alan Ayckbourn’s farce “The Norman Conquests” on Broadway.