You hate to refer to anyone as "The Fat Lady" - but that's exactly who Elizabeth Spriggs played in the first Harry Potter film. The Fat Lady - the living (well, sort of) portrait that served as the secret entrance to Gryffindor tower, demanding the password from any and all before allowing them through. Spriggs was an Olivier Award-winning and BAFTA Award-nominated who appeared in Sense And Sensibility in 1995, a film which featured five other actors who would turn up in the Harry Potter series: Emma Thompson herself, Imelda Staunton, Robert Hardy, Gemma Jones, and, of course, Alan Rickman. Spriggs passed away July 2nd, 2008 at the age of 78.