Hugh Emrys Griffith (30 May 1912 – 14 May 1980) was a Welsh actor. Described by BFI Screenonline as a "wild-eyed, formidable character player", Griffith appeared in more than 100 theatre, film, and television productions in a career that spanned over 40 years. His sister was actress Elen Roger Jones. He was educated at Llangefni County School and attempted to gain entrance to university, but failed the English examination. He was then urged to make a career in banking, becoming a bank clerk and transferring to London to be closer to acting opportunities.
Just as he was making progress and gained admission to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he had to suspend his plans in order to join the British Army, serving for six years with the Royal Welch Fusiliers in India and the Burma Campaign during the Second World War.
Career
Stage
Between 1946 and 1976, Griffith won acclaim for many stage roles, in particular for his portrayals of Falstaff, Lear and Prospero.
In 1958, he was back in New York, this time taking a lead role in the opening production of Look Homeward, Angel, alongside Anthony Perkins. Both he and Perkins were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
Film
Griffith began his film career in British films during the late 1940s, and by the 1950s was also working in Hollywood. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Ben-Hur (1959), and was nominated for his performance in Tom Jones (1963). In 1968, he appeared as the magistrate in Oliver!. His later career was often blighted by his chronic alcoholism.
He played the funeral director Caradog Lloyd-Evans in the 1978 BBC Wales comedy Grand Slam. While visibly unwell at the time of shooting (years of alcohol abuse had taken their toll), Griffith's portrayal received widespread acclaim and helped the movie attain cult status.
Griffith was attached to Orson Welles' unproduced 1960s adaptation of Treasure Island.
Television
On television, he had major roles in Quatermass II (1955), a miniseries adaptation of A. J. Cronin's The Citadel (1960) and Clochemerle (1972). He also appeared in an episode, 'The Talking Head', of Colonel March of Scotland Yard.
Honours
He received an honorary degree from the University of Wales, Bangor, in 1965.
Personal life
Griffith was married to Adelgunde Margaret Beatrice von Dechend in 1947. He was a lifelong friend and drinking companion of poet Dylan Thomas.
Death
Griffith, after being unwell for about a year, died in 1980 at his home in Kensington, London,
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
!Director
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1940
|Night Train to Munich
|Sailor
|Carol Reed
| rowspan="2" |Uncredited
|-
|Neutral Port
|Spaniard
|Marcel Varnel
|-
|1947
|The Silver Darlings
|Packman
|Clarence Elder
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1948
|The Three Weird Sisters
|Mabli Hughes
|Daniel Birt
|
|-
|So Evil My Love
|Coroner
|Lewis Allen
|
|-
|The First Gentleman
|Bishop of Salisbury
|Alberto Cavalcanti
|
|-
|London Belongs to Me
|Headlam Fynne
|Sidney Gilliat
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1949
|The Last Days of Dolwyn
|The Minister
|Emlyn Williams
|
|-
|Kind Hearts and Coronets
|Lord High Steward
|Robert Hamer
|
|-
|Doctor Morelle
|Bensall
|Godfrey Grayson
|
|-
|A Run for Your Money
|Huw Price
|Charles Frend
|
|-
|1950
|Gone to Earth
|Andrew Vessons
|Powell and Pressburger
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1951
|The Galloping Major
|Harold Temple
|Henry Cornelius
|
|-
|Laughter in Paradise
|Henry Augustus Russell
|Mario Zampi
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1953
|The Titfield Thunderbolt
|Dan Taylor
|Charles Crichton
|
|-
|The Beggar's Opera
|The Beggar
|Peter Brook
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1954
|The Million Pound Note
|Potter
|Ronald Neame
|Uncredited
|-
|The Sleeping Tiger
|The Inspector
|Joseph Losey
|
|-
|1955
|Passage Home
|Pettigrew
|Roy Ward Baker
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1957
|The Good Companions
|Morton Mitcham
|J. Lee Thompson
|
|-
|Lucky Jim
|Professor Welch
|John Boulting
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1959
|Ben-Hur
|Sheik Ilderim
|William Wyler
|
|-
|The Story on Page One
|Judge Edgar Neilsen
|Clifford Odets
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1960
|The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
|O'Shea
|John Guillermin
|
|-
|Exodus
|Mandria
|Otto Preminger
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1962
|The Counterfeit Traitor
|Collins
|George Seaton
|
|-
|The Inspector
|Van der Pink
|Philip Dunne
|
|-
|Term of Trial
|O'Hara
|Peter Glenville
|
|-
|Mutiny on the Bounty
|Alexander Smith
|Lewis Milestone
|
|-
|1963
|Tom Jones
|Squire Western
|Tony Richardson
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1964
|Hide and Seek
|Wilkins
|Cy Endfield
|
|-
|The Bargee
|Joe Turnbull
|Duncan Wood
|
|-
|1965
|The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders
|Prison Governor
|Terence Young
|
|-
|1966
|How to Steal a Million
|Bonnet
|William Wyler
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1967
|Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad
|Commodore Roseabove
|Richard Quine
|
|-
|The Sailor from Gibraltar
|Llewellyn
|Tony Richardson
|
|-
|On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...
|Ibn-el-Rascid
|Pasquale Festa Campanile
|
|-
|Brown Eye, Evil Eye
|Tadeusz Bridges
|Robert Angus
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1968
|Oliver!
|The Magistrate
|Carol Reed
|
|-
|Il marito è mio e l'ammazzo quando mi pare
|Ignazio
|Pasquale Festa Campanile
|
|-
|The Fixer
|Lebedev
|John Frankenheimer
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1970
|Start the Revolution Without Me
|King Louis XVI
|Bud Yorkin
|
|-
|Cry of the Banshee
|Mickey
|Gordon Hessler
|
|-
|Wuthering Heights
|Dr. Kenneth
|Robert Fuest
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1971
|Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?
|"The Pigman" Harrison
|Curtis Harrington
|
|-
|The Abominable Dr. Phibes
|Rabbi
| rowspan="2" |Robert Fuest
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1972
|Dr. Phibes Rises Again
|Harry Ambrose
|
|-
|The Canterbury Tales
|Sir January
|Pier Paolo Pasolini
|
|-
|What?
|Joseph Noblart
|Roman Polanski
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1973
|Crescete e moltiplicatevi
|Monsignor Casadei
|Giulio Petroni
|
|-
|The Final Programme
|Professor Hira
|Robert Fuest
|
|-
|Take Me High
|Sir Harry Cunningham
|David Askey
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1974
|Luther
|John Tetzel
|Guy Green
|
|-
|The Visitor
|Barone di Roccadura
|Sergio Martino
|
|-
|Craze
|Solicitor
| rowspan="2" |Freddie Francis
|
|-
|1975
|Legend of the Werewolf
|Maestro Pamponi
|
|-
|1976
|The Passover Plot
|Caiaphas
|Michael Campus
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1977
|Casanova & Co.
|The Caliph
|Franz Antel
|
|-
|Joseph Andrews
|Squire Western
|Tony Richardson
|
|-
|The Last Remake of Beau Geste
|Judge
|Marty Feldman
|
|-
|1978
|The Hound of the Baskervilles
|Frankland
|Paul Morrissey
|
|-
|1979
|A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
|Sid Larkin
|Ralph Thomas
|
|-
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="3" |1952
|Goodyear Television Playhouse
|
|Episode: "Tour of Duty"
|-
|Lux Video Theatre
|Constantine / Man with Cello
|Episodes: "The Game of Chess" & "The Sounds of Waves Breaking"
|-
|Lights Out
|
|Episode: "The Borgia Lamp"
|-
| rowspan="2" |1953
|Saturday Special
|
|4 episodes
|-
|Rheingold Theatre
|
|Episode: "Outpost"
|-
| rowspan="2" |1955
|Sunday Night Theatre
|Photographer
|Episode: "The Moment of Truth"
|-
|Colonel March of Scotland Yard
|Dr. Ivy
|Episode: "The Talking Head"
|-
|1957
|Armchair Theatre
|Simon Kendall
|Episode: "Now Let Him Go"
|-
| rowspan="3" |1959
|Omnibus
|
|Episode: "Ah Sweet Mystery of Mrs. Murphy"
|-
|ITV Play of the Week
|M. Tarde / Gen. Léon Saint-Pé
|Episode: "The Wild Bird" & "The Waltz of the Toreadors"
|-
|Playhouse 90
|Jaggers / Reverend Light
|Episode: "The Second Man" & "The Grey Nurse Said Nothing"
|-
|1960
|The DuPont Show of the Week
|Long John Silver
|Episode: "Treasure Island"
|-
|1963
|Comedy Playhouse
|Luther Flannery
|Episode: "The Walrus and the Carpenter"
|-
|1967
|ABC Stage 67
|Herr Hoffman
|Episode: "Dare I Weep, Dare I Mourn?"
|-
|1971
|Tomorrow's World
|The Baron
|Episode: "Tomorrow's World Meets Yesterday's World"
|-
|1971-72
|Thirty-Minute Theatre
|Choobukov / Uncle Rollo
|Episodes: "The Proposal" & "Uncle Rollo"
|-
| rowspan="2" |1973
|Owen, M.D.
|John Owen
|Episode: "September Song!"
|-
|Orson Welles Great Mysteries
|The Man
|Episode: "The Inspiration of Mr. Budd"
|-
|1974
|BBC2 Playhouse
|Dr. Walden
|Episode: "The Joke"
|-
|}
TV films, miniseries, and specials
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
|-
| 1939
| Johnson Was No Gentleman
| Footman
|-
| rowspan="3" |1947
|The Wandering Jew
|Juan de Texeda
|-
|Maria Marten or, the Murder at the Red Barn
|Ishmael
|-
|The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
|Mephistophilis
|-
|1948
|A Comedy of Good and Evil
|The Rev. John Williams
|-
|1952
|Back to Methuselah
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1953
|Escapade
|Andrew Deeson
|-
|The Broken Jug
|Judge Adam
|-
|The Teddy Bear
|Charley Delaney
|-
| rowspan="2" |1955
|The Merry Christmas
|Scrooge
|-
|Quatermass II
|Dr. Leo Pugh
|-
| rowspan="2" |1960
|The Citadel
|Philip Denny
|-
|Point of Departure
|Father
|-
|1966
|The Poppy Is Also a Flower
|Salah Rahman Khan
|-
|1972
|Clochemerle
|Alexandre Bourdillat
|-
|1975
|A Legacy
|Baron Felden
|-
|1978
|Grand Slam
|Caradog Lloyd-Evans
|-
|}
Partial theatre credits
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
!Director
!Venue
! Ref.
|-
|1940
|The Venetian
|Concini
|Hugh Miller
|St Martin's Theatre, London
|
|-
| rowspan="6" |1946
|The Tempest
|Trinculo
|Eric Crozier
| rowspan="6" |Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1952-54
| rowspan="3" |Escapade
| rowspan="3" |Andrew Deeson
| rowspan="3" |John Fernald
|Theatre Royal, Brighton
|
|-
|1964
| rowspan="2" |Tom Jones
|
|
|-
|British Academy Film Award
|Best British Actor
|1964
|
|
|-
|Clarence Derwent Award
|Best Supporting Male (UK)
|1952
|Legend of Lovers
|
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |Golden Globe Award
| rowspan="3" |Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
|1964
|Tom Jones
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1969
|Oliver!
|
|