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Actor who played Withnail and I's Uncle Monty remembered at Oscar ceremony after death last year

• Xan Brooks liveblogs the ceremony

• Full list of winners as they're announced

The Oscars paid tribute to Richard Griffiths, the veteran British actor who died last year - devoting part of its traditional In Memoriam section to the star of The History Boys and Withnail and I.

Griffiths' film career began slowly, with small parts in British films such as It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet and Chariots of Fire. After a string of roles of gradually increasing size he was cast as Uncle Monty in Bruce Robinson's Withnail and I, a character that earned up permanent cult status. He subsequently began to gain roles in Hollywood films, such as Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow and The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear. As well as playing Harry Potter's uncle Vernon...

Actor of geniality, grace and solemnity, he excelled in playing characters on the margins of society

Richard Griffiths, who has died aged 65 from complications following heart surgery, was a fine actor defined by his largeness of spirit, his comic instinct and his empathy with outsiders, as well as his undeniable physical size. He was the kind of actor whom everyone remembers with affection, whether as the flawed but inspirational Hector in Alan Bennett's The History Boys (first staged in 2004, then filmed in 2006) or as the eccentrically gay Uncle Monty in Bruce Robinson's Withnail and I (1987).

Like most actors who have a thriving career in film and television, he learned his craft in theatre. I first became aware of him in the late 1970s when he rose steadily through the ranks of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I was especially struck by his ability to speak verse with mellifluous clarity.

Sad news to start this Easter weekend: the much-loved character actor (and Empire podcast raconteur) Richard Griffiths has died following complications after heart surgery. He was 65.Justly celebrated for a wide variety of roles on film, television and stage, he was famous as different characters to different generations. The younger among us probably knew him best as the odious Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films. To many of the rest of us, he'll always be Withnail's Uncle Monty. He was much more, though. Growing up in Yorkshire, the son of deaf parents with whom he spoke in sign language, he left school at 15, but would eventually study drama at what's now the Manchester School of Theatre. His early stage work lead him to the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained some renown as Falstaff in The Merry Wives Of Windsor, and as Henry VIII (he never did play The...

Richard Griffiths has died at the age of 65.

Griffiths's agent Simon Beresford confirmed that the award-winning actor passed away on Thursday (March 28) after complications following heart surgery.

The British actor was most recently seen in the play The Sunshine Boys alongside Danny DeVito.

Griffiths had an acting career spanning over 30 years, first appearing in the 1975 movie It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet.

Since then, he has had roles in much-loved films such as Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Hugo, as well as classic TV series including Pie in the Sky, Minder, The Sweeney and Bergerac.

Griffiths won a Laurence Olivier Award and a Tony Award for 'Best Actor' when he starred in the play The History Boys.

He most notably appeared as Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter series and as Uncle Monty in Withnail & I.

His Harry Potter and Equus co-star Daniel Radcliffe told BBC News...