Griffiths Parked

Looks like the producers of the remake of Lyman's Boys were right to go with Matt LeBlanc after all, as Richard Griffiths has died of complications of heart surgery at the age of 65. Griffiths career as a pudgy Brit character actor spanned 4 decades, but he should best be remembered for reading an erotic novel about a quivering mound of love pudding, then having his pants pulled down and a birthmark forcibly removed from his ass by Lt. Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun 2 ½. As an indication of his range, he also won a Tony as an idealistic but lonely teacher at a prep school in The History Boys, a role he reprised in the film based on the play and parodied in the first episode of Episodes. Lesser minds will remember him as Harry Potter’s mean Uncle Vernon, while other roles have included King George II in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the former First Lady’s chef in Guarding Tess, a terrorist in Superman II, and part of King Ralph’s staff.