Friday Night Dinner star Paul Ritter leaves £80,000 estate to his wife

Harry Potter star Paul Ritter leaves £80,000 estate to his wife after dying from brain tumor aged 54

  • Actor from Faversham, Kent, died at home on April 5 surrounded by his family
  • 54-year-old Chernobyl star is survived by wife Polly and sons Frank and Noah
  • He left his wife entire estate with gross value £81,478 and net value £69,478
  • Ritter was best known for playing family patriarch in C4’s Friday Night Dinner


Friday Night Dinner, Harry Potter and Chernobyl star Paul Ritter has left his entire £80,000 estate to his wife after dying from a brain tumour aged 54.

The actor, whose real name was Simon Paul Adams, died at home from Faversham, Kent, on April 5 surrounded by his wife Polly Radcliffe and sons Frank and Noah. 

Documents show Ritter left his 55-year-old wife his entire estate, which had a gross value of £81,478 and net value of £69,478. The family home is a mid-terrace house worth £562,000, which was bought nearly 20 years ago in April 2002 for £181,500.

Probate was granted to Ms Radcliffe, a research fellow at King’s College in London, as the sole administrator and executor of his estate, and its full value was left to her.

Ritter had a long and successful acting career over nearly 30 years that included playing family patriarch Martin Goodman in Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner.

Friday Night Dinner with Paul Ritter as Martin, alongside his co-stars Tamsin Greig, Simon Bird  and Tom Rosenthal. It focuses on the middle-class Jewish family's weekly evening meal

Friday Night Dinner with Paul Ritter as Martin, alongside his co-stars Tamsin Greig, Simon Bird  and Tom Rosenthal. It focuses on the middle-class Jewish family’s weekly evening meal

Ritter also portrayed wizard Eldred Worple in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Ritter also portrayed wizard Eldred Worple in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The comedy in which he starred with Tamsin Greig and Simon Bird focuses on the middle-class Jewish family’s weekly evening meal.

He also portrayed engineer Anatoly Dyatlov in the acclaimed HBO drama Chernobyl and wizard Eldred Worple in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Ritter also played special adviser Guy Haines in James Bond film Quantum of Solace. His other TV credits included Vera, Belgravia, Cold Feet and No Offence.

After his death, Tom Rosenthal, who played his son in Friday Night Dinner, wrote on Twitter: ‘I’ll be for ever thankful for working with someone who was so supportive and who taught me so much about professionalism and humility in acting.’

The show’s writer Robert Popper said: ‘Paul was a lovely, wonderful human being. Kind, funny, super caring and the greatest actor I ever worked with.’

Kent-born Ritter also played engineer Anatoly Dyatlov in the acclaimed HBO drama Chernobyl

Kent-born Ritter also played engineer Anatoly Dyatlov in the acclaimed HBO drama Chernobyl

Ritter was nominated for a Tony Award and an Olivier for his role as Reg in the Old Vic's revival of The Norman Conquests, alongside Stephen Mangan (pictured in April 2009)

Ritter was nominated for a Tony Award and an Olivier for his role as Reg in the Old Vic’s revival of The Norman Conquests, alongside Stephen Mangan (pictured in April 2009)

Comedian Stephen Mangan said of Ritter: ‘My friend since we were students together. So much talent and it shone from him even as a teenager.’

Actor Russell Tovey, who starred alongside Ritter in the National Theatre’s Howard Katz, wrote: ‘I had the absolute pleasure of a first play at 19 with him, he called me a plonker when I left him hanging on stage once at a missed entrance cue… I’ve never forgotten it and never did it again – RIP mate x.’

Actress Brenda Blethyn said he was ‘the very finest of actors’. Ritter was born in Kent and made his TV debut in The Bill in 1992. 

He later became an acclaimed stage actor, working with the National Theatre on plays including Coram Boy and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Ritter, pictured on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch in May 2019, died at home surrounded by family

Ritter, pictured on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch in May 2019, died at home surrounded by family

He was nominated for a Tony Award and an Olivier for his role as Reg in the Old Vic’s revival of The Norman Conquests. He also portrayed former premier John Major in The Audience opposite Dame Helen Mirren as the Queen.  

Announcing his death in April, his agent said: ‘It is with great sadness we can confirm that Paul Ritter passed away. 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.’

source: dailymail.co.uk