Paul Ritter – known around the world for playing Eldred Worple in ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ – has passed away.
A rep for the British actor says Paul died of a brain tumor on Monday night. He dies peacefully at home with his wife Polly and boys – Frank and Noah – by his side. The representative added: “He was very intelligent, friendly and very funny. We will miss him very much. Paul was an exceptionally talented actor who performed extraordinary skills on stage and on screen.”
Some of Paul’s greater credits include the James Bond film “Quantum of Solace” as government adviser Guy Haines. In his homeland … Paul was best known for playing the family patriarch in the long-running Channel 4 comedy “Friday Night Dinner”.
He was also a brilliant stage actor who nominated for both the Olivier and Tony awards. Paul’s work in ‘Coram Boy’ earned him an Olivier nomination in 2006. His starring role in ‘The Norman Conquests’ in 2009 earned him a Tony nomination.
He was recently in the HBO miniseries “Chernobyl” … which depicts Anatoly Dyatlov, the supervisor who gets the blame for not following the safety protocols that led to the nuclear disaster.
Paul would also appear in the upcoming drama “Operation Mincemeat” in World War II.
He was 54.