Friday Night Dinner and Chernobyl actor Paul Ritter has died at the age of 54, his agent has said.
The TV star had been suffering from a brain tumour.
A statement said: “It is with great sadness we can confirm that Paul Ritter passed away last night.
“He died peacefully at home with his wife Polly and sons Frank and Noah by his side.
“He was 54 and had been suffering from a brain tumour.
“Paul was an exceptionally talented actor playing an enormous variety of roles on stage and screen with extraordinary skill.
“He was fiercely intelligent, kind and very funny. We will miss him greatly.”
The actor was best known for his role as family patriarch Martin Goodman in Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner, in which he starred alongside Tamsin Greig and Simon Bird.
He also played Anatoly Dyatlov in the acclaimed drama Chernobyl and Eldred Worple in Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.
Other notable roles were as Guy Haines in James Bond film Quantum Of Solace, in period drama Belgravia, as Billy Cartwright in Vera and Sir John Seymour in Wolf Hall.
We are so saddened to hear of the loss of one of our favourite actors Paul Ritter. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues. pic.twitter.com/M2c3imSdRf
— Channel 4 (@Channel4) April 6, 2021
Fellow actors have paid tribute to the beloved TV star online. Actor Mark Gatiss said he was “saddened” to hear of Ritter’s death.
He wrote: “Paul Ritter. What an actor. What a presence. So shocked and saddened by this awful news. RIP."
Actor Will Mellor said Ritter was a “fantastic actor”.
What awful news about Paul Ritter. Such a fantastic, magnetic actor in Chernobyl, No Offence, The Hollow Crown and much more. And of course, Martin Goodman is one of the most brilliant and memorable comedy characters of the past several decades. pic.twitter.com/YmlB93PSlD
— Morgan Jeffery (@morganjeffery) April 6, 2021
“I’m so shocked to hear about Paul Ritter! I can’t believe it!,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Great man and fantastic actor, My heart goes out to his family, Such a sad day. RIP Paul. X #RIP #heartbreaking."
Knocked it out of the PARK in Chernobyl. Watching it I consciously thought, "Oh, we have a new movie star." Between that & how funny he was in Friday Night Dinner… just unreal talent. Rest in peace, Paul Ritter. pic.twitter.com/nw8HnRZxRd
— Rob Delaney (@robdelaney) April 6, 2021
Actor Eddie Marsan said: “Just out of drama school I saw a production of Three Sisters. A young actor playing Tuzenbach, did the monologue before the duel.
“I’d heard it every week at DS (drama school). But when he did it, I forgot I’d heard it before. He went on to be one of our greatest actors. RIP Paul Ritter,” Marsan wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, actor Rob Delaney praised Ritter's performance in Chernobyl, saying: “Knocked it out of the PARK in Chernobyl. Watching it I consciously thought, ‘Oh, we have a new movie star.'
“Between that and how funny he was in Friday Night Dinner… just unreal talent. Rest in peace, Paul Ritter.”
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