After graduating, Griffiths won a contract on
BBC Radio with their Radio Drama Company. He also worked in small theatres, sometimes acting and sometimes managing. He built up an early reputation as a Shakespearean clown with portrayals of Pompey in
Measure for Measure and
Bottom in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal Shakespeare Company and went on to play the Kings in Love's Labour's Lost and in Henry VIII. In 1981, he also gave a memorable performance as Chilean secret police victim William Beausire in an edition of the BBC Prisoners of Conscience
series. Griffiths went on to supporting roles in a number of major films, including The French Lieutenant's Woman, Chariots of Fire and Gandhi''. On stage, in 1985–1986, he performed the role of
Verdi in Julian Mitchell's
After Aida, in
Wales and at the
Old Vic Theatre in London. He appeared in
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends. in 2007 Griffiths' film roles were in both contemporary and period pieces. Some of his most memorable roles included supporting parts in films as
Gorky Park (1983),
Withnail and I (1987),
King Ralph (1991),
The Naked Gun : The Smell of Fear (1991),
Blame It on the Bellboy (1992),
Guarding Tess (1994) and
Sleepy Hollow (1999). Later, he portrayed the short-tempered
Vernon Dursley in the
Harry Potter series, appearing in five of the eight films: ''
Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows – Part 1''. He appeared as Inspector Henry Crabbe, disillusioned policeman and pie chef extraordinaire, in
Pie in the Sky, In 2004, he originated the role of Hector (the teacher) in
Alan Bennett's play
The History Boys, directed by
Nicholas Hytner, winning the 2005
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor. In 2007 he starred in
Ballet Shoes with his
Harry Potter co-stars
Emma Watson and
Gemma Jones. Together with his
Harry Potter co-star
Daniel Radcliffe, he appeared in a stage revival of
Peter Shaffer's
Equus at the
Gielgud Theatre in London and later, from October 2008, in a short run of the play at the
Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, which ended in February 2009. Later in 2009, he replaced
Michael Gambon as
W. H. Auden prior to the premiere of
The Habit of Art at the National Theatre, once again directed by Hytner. Griffiths was considered for the part of
The Doctor in
Doctor Who, following
Tom Baker's departure in 1981, but was unavailable. He was strongly considered once again to take on the role of the Eighth Doctor, had the series continued past 1989. He performed in adaptations of the ''
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, providing the voice for Slartibartfast for the radio adaptation of Life, the Universe and Everything and playing the Vogon Jeltz in the film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He appeared in Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler and as a special guest in A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa''. In 2005 he asked a member of the audience to leave a performance of
Heroes after her phone rang three times. Such interruptions due to audience distractions happened three times in his career. Griffiths appeared in a cameo as King
George II in Disney's
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He appeared in the first episode of the television series
Episodes as Julian Bullard. In April 2012, Griffiths starred, with
Danny DeVito, in a revival of the
Neil Simon play
The Sunshine Boys. The show previewed at the
Savoy Theatre from 27 April 2012, opening on 17 May and playing a limited 12-week season until 28 July. ==Personal life and death==