Paul Ritter dies

[Wayman C. McCreery]

"The actor Paul Ritter has died of a brain tumour at the age of 54, his agent has told the Guardian. Ritter who starred as the family patriarch Martin in Channel 4's Friday Night Dinner alongside Tamsin Greig, Simon Bird and Tom Rosenthal died on Monday."

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/apr/06/friday-night-dinner-star-paul-ritter-dies-of-brain-tumour-at-54

[Bernice]

Holy fuck. He's fantastic in Friday Night Dinner. I only have the cliches: 54 is no age, sad for his family, rest in peace.

[jobotic]

Oh no. I've never met him but a friend knows him and has said in the past that he's a wonderful bloke. RIP.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Shit on it.

[Alberon]

Fucking hell, that's a real shame. Great actor and sounds like a nice bloke.

[Bad Ambassador]

An Olivier and Tony nominee as well as a very long list of TV credits. A body of work I'll look forward to watching.

[George White]

Terrible news, especially as he seemed to be on a roll - lovely that he really broke through in middle age and ten, fifteen years of constant work, being brilliant, and he's someone who I imagine would have probably gotten a knighthood in years to come.

I presumed after Chernobyl that he would have been getting offers in the States.

[Jerzy Bondov]

Absolutely brilliant actor. Horrible horrible news.

[Butchers Blind]

Thinking of Lord Luck right now.

[Icehaven]

Awww that's sad, only recently started getting into Friday Night Dinner but clearly he's the best thing about it.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Goodbye, bambinos.

[Glyn]

Awful news. Consistently brilliant in Friday Night Dinner and as mentioned above it seemed that he had some great things ahead of him after his performance  in Chernobyl .

[BritishHobo]

Actual shit on it :( That's horrible news. Absolutely no age.

Obviously his Martin is one of the funniest comedy characters of the last decade. Note-perfect. He's almost nothing like my dad, and yet he's exactly like him. I also saw him on-stage in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, where he played the father figure who is in pretty stark contrast to Martin - angry, serious, sometimes scary, really struggling to understand and parent his son. The total opposite of daft, lovely Martin, but still absolutely stormed it, with his usual warmth.

Christ.

[Cuellar]

Oh what! That's terrible :(

[Custard]

Fuck's sake, that's awful news. He was excellent in Friday Night Dinner and Chernobyl

RIP

[notjosh]

Only really seen him in Friday Night Dinner, but what a performance. Could just see myself being exactly like him if I ever become a dad.

My favourite moment is when he's introduced to a six-year-old girl and he just sticks his hand out and says "Martin Goodman" as if he's meeting a potential business client.

[chrispmartha]

Genuinely saddened by this, lost someone very close to me a couple of years ago from a brain tumour so this hits hard. RIP a funny and very talented man.

[opyty]

Yes, shit on it, that's terrible news.

BBC article up now says he was a student with Stephen Mangan, which sounds odd. Thinking about each of them individually they're almost the same age, but next to each other they don't seem to be in the same generation. Maybe Ritter was doing that "grown-up goes back to college, pretends to be student" comedy trope in real life. He'd be great at being shit at that.

[bobloblaw]

Yes, shit on it, that's terrible news.

BBC article up now says he was a student with Stephen Mangan, which sounds odd. Thinking about each of them individually they're almost the same age, but next to each other they don't seem to be in the same generation. Maybe Ritter was doing that "grown-up goes back to college, pretends to be student" comedy trope in real life. He'd be great at being shit at that.

Paul was just under 2 years older, according to Wiki. I guess Stephen's not graduated to playing dads of grown-up kids yet

Also according to Wiki: Mangan's dad and cousin-in-law both also died of brain tumours. He must feel cursed

[Crabwalk]

I saw Ritter and Mangam perform together in the The Old Vic's production of The Norman Conquests 10+ years ago. Jessica Hynes, Ben Miles and Amelia Bullmore were in it too. It was absolutely fantastic - probably the best thing I've ever seen in the theatre. Paul Ritter really was a superb actor, this is such sad news.

[Dusty Substance]

I presumed after Chernobyl that he would have been getting offers in the States.

Known primarily as the Dad of a comedy family, before showing he could do compelling drama in a hugely acclaimed TV series - He could have been the British Bryan Cranston.

Such sad news. R.I.P Paul Ritter.

[damien]

Nice bit of history here (CW: some brief Spacey)

https://youtu.be/vW-hNaacEgo

[Brundle-Fly]

Shocking news. A brilliant actor on the cusp of becoming a proper screen heavyweight snuffed out at that young age. I'm feeling as miserable about this as I did when Bob Peck died at a similar age, April 4th, 1999, at a similar point in his career.

Anyway, it's not really about careers, is it? It's about being alive and not leaving family and loved ones completely heartbroken.

R.I.P.

[Durance Vile]

He was a friend of mine going back over 30 years, the most talented person I ever knew and an absolute diamond of a man.

When I first knew him I "acted" in a couple of student plays with him and it was like playing in a Sunday kickabout and realising you've got an international on your team. He was a phenomenal actor and a wonderful person. RIP mate.

[imitationleather]

He was a friend of mine going back over 30 years, the most talented person I ever knew and an absolute diamond of a man.

When I first knew him I "acted" in a couple of student plays with him and it was like playing in a Sunday kickabout and realising you've got an international on your team. He was a phenomenal actor and a wonderful person. RIP mate.

Sorry for your loss.

I feel very sad about it and I wasn't even lucky enough to know him!

[paruses]

Really sad news.

Not a Friday Night Dinners watcher but might start. Always enjoyed him in stuff and thought he was brilliant in No Offence even though it was a supporting role. Loved his scenes.

[chrispmartha]

Really sad news.

Not a Friday Night Dinners watcher but might start. Always enjoyed him in stuff and thought he was brilliant in No Offence even though it was a supporting role. Loved his scenes.

It's worth watching just for Ritters performance as Martin, which is pretty much faultless throughout. One of the best comedy characters in the last couple of decades IMO

[phes]

shite. I blame global warming

[canadagoose]

I'm genuinely sad about this. I really enjoyed Friday Night Dinner and him as Martin really made it. A sad loss to comedy and acting. No bloody age to go either. Rest in peace.

[George White]

Shocking news. A brilliant actor on the cusp of becoming a proper screen heavyweight snuffed out at that young age. I'm feeling as miserable about this as I did when Bob Peck died at a similar age, April 4th, 1999, at a similar point in his career.

Anyway, it's not really about careers, is it? It's about being alive and not leaving family and loved ones completely heartbroken.

R.I.P.

Also a bit older, but Ray McAnally.
Years of telly work, but looked like he was finally on his way to A-list movie stardom.
Then, dies after an incredibly busy four-year period of constant employment, being brilliant.