ACTOR · BORN 1912 · DIED 1980

Hugh Griffith

Born

30 May 1912

Died

14 May 1980

11 archived facts · 3 topics · 1 source · Last reviewed Sep 2026

All facts (11)

1. #001

   Hugh Griffith joined the British Army and served in both India and Burma during World War II.

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2. #002

   Hugh Griffith was drunk for much of the production of Tom Jones (1963). The scene in which he fell onto his horse was unplanned, and many believe he survived only because he was drunk. The film included every frame of the footage before rescuers came in to help him.

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3. #003

   With his Oscar win for Ben-Hur (1959), Hugh Griffith became the second Welsh actor to win an Academy Award for acting. The first was Ray Milland.

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4. #004

   Hugh Griffith was nominated for Broadway's 1958 Tony Award for Best Actor (Dramatic) for "Look Homeward, Angel."

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5. #005

   Hugh Griffith appeared in three films that won the Best Picture Oscar: Ben-Hur (1959), Tom Jones (1963) and Oliver! (1968); and in one Best Picture Oscar nominee: Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).

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6. #006

   Hugh Griffith's sister, Elen Roger Jones, was a well-known actress in their native Wales.

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7. #007

   Charlton Heston affectionately described Hugh Griffith as "that wild Welsh goat," but others were less fond of him — Edith Evans, who played his sister in Tom Jones (1963), was known to be actively unable to tolerate him more than he could tolerate her. Since they were meant to be enemies in the film, however, each used that hostility to the film's advantage.

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8. #008

   Always known as a heavy drinker, Hugh Griffith eventually fell victim to chronic alcoholism, which limited his film roles in the 1970s to brief camera appearances that grew ever shorter as the decade went on. When he shot the television film "Grand Slam" in Paris, another actor helped him carry his luggage on arrival at their hotel and was astonished to discover that the large, heavy suitcase Griffith had offered to carry was completely filled with whisky bottles.

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9. #009

   In a 1960s London production of Bertolt Brecht's play "The Caucasian Chalk Circle," Hugh Griffith played the notorious judge Azdak; the character was nearly hanged on stage in an early scene. One night something went wrong with the trick noose used in that scene and Griffith was nearly (fatally) hanged for real. He passed out but was fortunately cut down before he suffocated. When he came to, he was offered half a bottle of cognac and reportedly drank all of it.

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10. #010

    Sir John Gielgud referred to Hugh Griffith as "my least favourite actor" in his letters, but praised his famous performance in Ben-Hur (1959).

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11. #011

    Hugh Griffith may also have appeared in a 1954 short film titled Outpost.

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