British character actor David Ryall appeared in theater productions, numerous television shows, miniseries and feature films over a five-decade career.

His U.K. television credits included the BBC’s The Singing Detective, and roles on popular British series such as Prime Suspect, The Borrowers, Outnumbered and The Village. In the latter series, he played Old Bert, the town patriarch and narrator. In the BBC sitcom Outnumbered, he played Frank, a character who suffers from dementia.

In 2005, Ryall played the role of Winston Churchill in the French television drama De Gaulle.

Ryall was perhaps best known to American audiences for his role as Elphias Doge in 2010’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part I.

Ryall died December 25, 2014, in England. He was 79.