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 the popular British crime drama, Vera, as pathologist Dr. Billy Cartwright. 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 Netflix Operation Mincemeat as Bentley Purchase. The film was released after his death 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 named Frank and Noah. Ritter died of heart failure and complications of brain cancer on 5 April 2021, aged 54, in his home, surrounded by his family. Long-time 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 actors from Friday Night Dinner also paid tribute. Writing in The Guardian, Tamsin Greig said she was "eternally grateful" to have known Ritter. Simon Bird said he always aspired to be like him whilst Tom Rosenthal called him an "ultimate professional". A tenth anniversary retrospective of Friday Night Dinner aired on 28 May 2021. Filmography Awards and nominations References External links 1966 births 2021 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Deaths from brain cancer in England English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English television actors Male actors from Kent People from Gravesend, Kent