Richard E. Grant
actor, writer and director
RICHARD E. GRANT was born on the 5th of May, 1957 in Mbabane, Swaziland. His father was the Minister of Education for the British government in Swaziland and his mother was a local ballet teacher. Richard attended Waterford boarding school as a child, and from an early age, he knew he wanted to be an actor. Richard went on to study drama at Cape Town University where he co-founded a multi-racial, avant garde ensemble called the Troupe Theatre Company. He acted in many Troupe productions over that two year period, including Fanshen, Total Eclipse and Steven Berkoff’s Agamemnon. He also directed versions of Metamorphosis and The Threepenny Opera.
In 1982, Richard moved to England; arriving in London, he initially worked as a waiter in Covent Garden until getting work in the theatre, culminating in his 1984 nomination as Most Promising Newcomer for his performance in Tramway Road at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. His first film was an award winning TV production called Honest, Decent and True, he has also appeared in numerous TV roles including that of Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Nick Balmer in Dennis Potter's Karaoke and in Doctor Who. He has also appeared in the comedy programmes Shooting Stars, Absolutely Fabulous and QI among others.
Richard E. Grant is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Withnail, an unsuccessful actor in the film Withnail and I, which earned him recognition and cult status on both sides of the Atlantic. Since then, Richard has had roles in over 35 films and has worked with some of America’s greatest directors, including Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. Richard's film credits include: Withnail and I, Hidden City, Warlock, Killing Dad, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Mountains of the Moon, Henry and June, L.A. Story, Hudson Hawk, The Player, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, Calliope, The Age of Innocence, In the Cold Light of Day, Prêt-à-Porter, Jack and Sarah, Twelfth Night, The Portrait of a Lady, The Serpent's Kiss, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Spice World, Food of Love, Cash In Hand, The Match, The Little Vampire, Gosford Park, Monsieur N, Bright Young Things, Tooth, The Story of an African Farm, Corpse Bride, Colour Me Kubrick, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, Always Crashing in the Same Car, Penelope, Jackboots on Whitehall, The Garden of Eden, Nutcracker: The Untold Story and Filth and Wisdom.
Along with the rest of the cast of Gosford Park he won a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture.
Richard has written a novel, published his diaries With Nails and written and directed his first feature film Wah-Wah loosely based on his own childhood experiences. The film took him over seven years to complete and Richard kept a diary of the experience, later published as a book The Wah-Wah Diaries.
Richard lives in London and is married to voice coach Joan Washington, he has a daughter, Olivia and a stepson, Tom.
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