David Ryall

Though never a household name, actor David Ryall enjoyed a four-decade career on the British stage and television, where he played comic and dramatic roles, including three separate appearances as Winston Churchill. Ryall's professional career began in the mid-1960s with Laurence Olivier's National Theatre Company, which would encompass his stage work into the 21st century, including an award-winning appearance in Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" in 1985. On television, Ryall capably played men of authority and gravitas, from policemen and scientists to Churchill and Henry James, as well as ordinary figures like his scabrous hospital patient in "The Singing Detective" (BBC One, 1986). Feature film appearances were fewer, but one of them - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" (2010) - was a worldwide blockbuster. Ryall remained active until his death on Christmas Day, 2014, underscoring both his talent and popularity with British audiences.