Harry Potter's Great British Thespians

Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, 1-3, 5, 7
A man of grand and troubling girth, and charm every bit as capacious, Griffiths, 63, scored a triumph as the beloved teacher in Alan Bennett's The History Boys on stage and in the film version. He also played Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe on the BBC series Pie in the Sky and appeared with Daniel Radcliffe, a.k.a. Harry Potter, in the West End and Broadway revival of Peter Shaffer's Tony-winning play Equus. His Vernon is a pompous domestic sadist, fuming, against all evidence, that "There's no such thing as magic!" and wishing devoutly for Harry's death or, at least, permanent departure.

• Growing Up with Harry Potter