Simon Paul Adams (20 December 1966 – 5 April 2021), known professionally as Paul Ritter, was an English actor. His film roles included Son of Rambow (2007), Quantum of Solace (2008), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), The Eagle (2011), and Operation Mincemeat (2021). His television roles included Friday Night Dinner (2011–2020), Vera (2011–2013), The Hollow Crown (2012), The Last Kingdom (2015), Chernobyl (2019), Resistance (2019), and Belgravia (2020).
Early life Ritter was born Simon Paul Adams on 20 December 1966 in Gravesend, Kent. His father Ken Adams, a turner and fitter, worked at various CEGB power stations; his mother Joan ( Mooney) was a school secretary. His family were Catholic and he had four older sisters. Adams attended Gravesend Grammar School and went on to study German and French at St John's College, Cambridge.
After graduating, he went to the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, Germany. Upon returning to the UK, he took the stage name Ritter, of German origin. He took this name because another Simon Adams was registered with the acting trade union, Equity, and he admired a German actor with the surname Ritter.
Ritter studied alongside the actor Stephen Mangan and they later acted together in a 2009 revival of the play The Norman Conquests.
Career Ritter's screen work included roles in Nowhere Boy, the 2007 television serial Instinct, the comedy drama Pulling and the role of Pistol in Henry IV, Part II and Henry V in BBC Two's cycle of William Shakespeare's history plays, The Hollow Crown; The Daily Telegraph described Ritter as "an actor who is surely destined for greatness very soon. His Pistol conveyed perfectly the shock of a man who reluctantly had left behind the rowdy cheer of Eastcheap, and found himself in middle age contemplating the melancholy of a medieval autumn." Ritter also played comic actor Eric Sykes in Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This and took a lead role in BBC One's 2014 serialised Cold War spy drama, The Game.
From 2005 to 2006, Ritter played Otis Gardiner in the original Royal National Theatre production of Helen Edmundson's Coram Boy, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 2009 for his role in The Norman Conquests. In 2012, he appeared as the protagonist's father in the stage version of Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the National Theatre and in 2013 as John Major in the premiere of Peter Morgan's The Audience.
He appeared in the first three series (2011-13) of British crime drama Vera, as pathologist Dr. Billy Cartwright. He also appeared in a main role as Anatoly Dyatlov, the deputy chief engineer, in the HBO and Sky Max miniseries Chernobyl. Ritter's performance in the latter was critically acclaimed.
From 2011 to 2020, Ritter starred as Martin Goodman in the Channel 4 comedy series, Friday Night Dinner. For this role, he received a posthumous nomination at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards for the Best Male Comedy Performance.
Ritter's final performance was in the 2021 film Operation Mincemeat as Bentley Purchase. The film was released posthumously and was dedicated to his memory.
Personal life and death In 1996, Ritter married Polly Radcliffe, a research fellow at King's College London. He lived in Faversham, Kent. He had two sons, Frank and Noah.
Ritter died of a brain tumour on 5 April 2021, aged 54, in his home, surrounded by his family. His friend, Stephen Mangan, tweeted "Trying to find a way to talk about Paul Ritter and struggling. My friend since we were students together. So much talent and it shone from him even as a teenager. I was so lucky to know him and lucky too to work with him many times over the years. Wonderful man." Fellow Friday Night Dinner cast members also paid tribute. A tenth anniversary retrospective of Friday Night Dinner aired on 28 May 2021.
Acting credits Year Title Role Notes 1992, 1996 The Bill – "Overdue", "Accidents Will Happen" Tony Walgrave, Terry Webster 1995 National Achievement Day 1995 Beach 1999 G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time Drug Buyer 2000 The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz Dave 2002 Esther Kahn Alman, the photographer 2004 The Libertine Chiffinch2005 On a Clear Day Mad Bob 2007 Son of Rambow Geography Teacher Hannibal Rising Prisoner Louis Waking the Dead Alan Pierce TV series (Series 6, episode 7: "Mask of Sanity") 2008 The Other Man Guy Quantum of Solace Guy Haines Love You MoreRecord Shop OwnerShort Film 2009 Pulling Martin Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Eldred Worple Nowhere Boy Popjoy 2011–2020 Friday Night Dinner Martin GoodmanSeries regular, all 37 episodes 2011 Great Expectations John Wemmick Land Girls Frank Tucker The Eagle Galba2011Lark Rise to CandlefordMr SteerforthTV series (Series 4, episode 1) 2011–2013 Vera Dr Billy Cartwright 2011 Eliminate: Archie Cookson Ennis Miller2012Midsomer Murders Harry Fleetwood“The Dark Rider” S15E1 2012 Comedy Showcase Jim Costello Dirk Gently Oliver Reynolds Henry IV, Part II Ancient Pistol Henry V Ancient Pistol 2014 The Bletchley Circle Professor Masters TV series (episode: "Blood on their hands – Part 2") Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This Eric Sykes Chasing Shadows Leonard Vance The Game Bobby Waterhouse Mapp & Lucia Reverend Kenneth Bartlett Suite Française Monsieur Dubois Plebs Angelo TV series (Series 2, episode: "The Baby") 2015–2018 No Offence Randolph Miller Series regular, all 21 episodes 2015 Top Coppers Harry McCrane The Last Kingdom King Peredur Season 1, episode 6 We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story Jimmy Perry 2016 Their Finest Raymond Parfitt Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories Dr. Benham/Martyn/Mr. Alman Inferno CRC Tech Arbogast Houdini & Doyle Bram Stoker Episode 8, "Strigoi" 2017 Urban Myths Dave Episode: "Bob Dylan: Knockin' on Dave's Door" Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Franklyn 2017–2020 Cold Feet Benjamin Stevens 2018 Lovesick Peter Hang Ups Werner Lienhard 2019 Resistance General Ormonde Winter Released as Rebellion Season 2 on Netflix Chernobyl Anatoly DyatlovMini-series The Capture Marcus Levy2019Catherine the GreatAlexander Suvorov 2019–2020 The Trial of Christine Keeler Jeremy Hutchinson 2020 Belgravia Turton TV series 2021 Friday Night Dinner: Ten Years And A Lovely Bit of Squirrel Himself Posthumous release 2022 Operation Mincemeat Bentley Purchase Posthumous release; final film role (dedicated in memory)
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref.2006 Laurence Olivier AwardBest Performance in a Supporting Role Coram Boy 2009 Tony AwardBest Featured Actor in a PlayThe Norman Conquests Laurence Olivier AwardBest Performance in a Supporting Role Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Ensemble PerformanceOuter Critics Circle AwardOutstanding Ensemble PerformanceTheatre World AwardSpecial Award2019 Online Film & Television Association Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Limited Series Chernobyl 2021 British Academy Television Award Male Performance in a Comedy Programme Friday Night Dinner
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