Paul Ritter
The actor who played Anatoly Dyatlov in the miniseries.
Last updated
Paul Ritter was the English actor who played Anatoly Dyatlov, the deputy chief engineer, in the miniseries Chernobyl. He was born Simon Paul Adams on 20 December 1966 and died on 5 April 2021. His performance in the series was critically acclaimed.
Last updated 2026-09-29 from the source article.
Lore & Background
Ritter was born in Gravesend in Kent. His father worked at power stations and his mother was a school secretary. He studied German and French at Cambridge, then worked at a theatre in Hamburg. He took the stage name Ritter because another actor named Simon Adams was already registered with the acting trade union, and because he admired a German actor of that surname.
His film roles included Quantum of Solace and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. On television he was known for Friday Night Dinner, Vera and The Hollow Crown. On stage he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Coram Boy and for a Tony Award in 2009 for The Norman Conquests.
Reader's Guide
In Chernobyl, a miniseries made for HBO and Sky, Ritter had a main role as Dyatlov, and critics acclaimed the performance.
A newspaper had earlier described him as an actor surely destined for greatness, after his Pistol in the cycle of history plays The Hollow Crown. He also played the pathologist Dr. Billy Cartwright in the first three series of the crime drama Vera.
Elsewhere in Chernobyl: The HBO Miniseries
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Paul Ritter (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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