Richard Griffiths
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 History Boys, Venus, Withnail and I, Pie in the Sky, Chariots of Fire, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Gandhi, The Naked Gun 2+1⁄2: The Smell of Fear, Sleepy Hollow, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Hugo, and King George II in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
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.
Source: Genealogy of Richard Griffiths (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com
Richard Griffiths was half Scottish. Mother was Jane Clark Denmark (1923-1969), the daughter of George Denmark and Jane Caird Clark. Both George and Jane were from Lanarkshire, Scotland. George Denmark was the son of John Denmark (1842) (Glasgow) and Marion Swan (1844) (Ayrshire). Jane was the daughter of Archibald Clark and Elizabeth Reid.
Is that really true? Wikipedia lists 1899 as the birth year for his mother, and while that can certainly be wrong, it might not be. Also, his parents’ marriage record lists no middle name for his mother.
I think so. My subscription to ancestry only allows myself to read U.S. documents. Try Jane Denmark on the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index 1916-2007. I saved that as a source.
Aside of which, the U.K. press often notes things like an actor’s mother being Scottish. I can’t find that here.
Strange. Could have sworn I was right. Oh well. I saw I was right about Daryl Sabara btw. Also, please confirm my submissions?