Trivia

Joined the British Army and served in both India and Burma during World War II.

He was drunk through much of the production of Tom Jones (1963). The scene in which his horse falls on him was not planned, and many believe he was saved only by virtue of his inebriated condition. The film incorporated every frame of footage before rescuers entered the scene to assist him.

With his Oscar win for Ben-Hur (1959), he became the second Welsh performer to win an Oscar for acting. The first one was Ray Milland.

Was nominated for Broadway's 1958 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "Look Homeward, Angel."

During production of How to Steal a Million (1966), he was fired for persistent bad behavior, including walking around naked through the corridors of the George V Hotel holding a 'Do not disturb' sign over his privates, which he'd altered to read 'Do disturb'.

Appeared in three Best Picture Oscar winners: Ben-Hur (1959), Tom Jones (1963) and Oliver! (1968); and one Best Picture Oscar nominee: Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).

His sister Elen Roger Jones was a well-known actress in her native Wales.

He was affectionately described by Charlton Heston as "that wild Welsh goat", but others were less affectionate - it is known that Edith Evans, who played his sister in Tom Jones (1963), actively couldn't stand him, any more than he could her. However, as they were supposed to be antagonists in the film, each used this hostility to the film's advantage.

Always known as a heavy drinker, he eventually became a victim of chronic alcoholism, which limited his film roles to brief cameos during the 1970s - increasingly brief, indeed, as the decade wore on. When he made the television film "Grand Slam" on location in Paris, another actor helped him with his baggage when they both arrived at their hotel, and realized with astonishment that the large and heavy suitcase he had offered to carry was entirely filled with bottles of whiskey.

He appeared as the rascally judge Azdak in a 1960s London stage production of Bertolt Brecht's "The Caucasian Chalk Circle", in which his character is very nearly hanged on-stage in an early scene. Something went wrong with the trick noose used in this scene one night, and Griffith was very nearly hanged (fatally) in reality. He blacked out, but was luckily cut down before he could be asphyxiated. Coming round, he was offered brandy from a half-bottle, and it was reported that he drank its entire contents.

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

He may have also appeared in a 1954 short entitled Outpost.