Richard E. Grant
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Biography
Lanky, British player who has had some success in mainstream Hollywood features. Grant began acting in his native South Africa, where he founded the multi-ethnic Troupe Theater Company. In 1982, he moved to London to stomp the boards in fringe and repertory productions. Grant made his English TV-film debut in Les Blair's improvisational satire, "Honest, Decent and True" (1985). The next year, he entered films as the star of "Withnail & I" (1986), writer-director Bruce Robinson's brilliant observation of the eccentricities of English actors in the 1960s. As the acerbic Withnail, Grant conveyed the great likability of a mostly vile character. He reteamed with Robinson for "How to Get Ahead in Advertising" (1988), a scathing comic indictment of the industry's morals or lack thereof. Here he was Dennis Dimbleby Bagley, an ad exec whose head is taken over by an evil boil.
Grant's American film credits in the early 90s include some of Hollywood's more notorious productions. He co-starred as the husband of Anais Nin in "Henry & June" (1990), the first film to receive the NC-17 rating. He also played the mad English villain opposite Bruce Willis in the much-maligned "Hudson Hawk" (1991). Grant had supporting roles in Robert Altman's "The Player," as the English filmmaker who initially refuses to compromise his "artistic integrity," and Francis Ford Coppola's florid "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (both 1992), as Dr. Seward. He worked with another one of cinema's titans, Martin Scorsese, in the opulent adaptation of Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" (1993), as a smug member of turn-of-the-century New York's high society. He reteamed with Altman for "Ready-to-Wear (Pret-a-Porter)" (1994) as an eccentric homosexual and portrayed a grieving widower coping with a newborn in "Jack and Sarah" (1995). The following year, he played a wealthy suitor to Nicole Kidman's Isabel Archer in Jane Campion's "Portrait of a Lady" and appeared as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Trevor Nunn's film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." Also in 1996, Grant published "With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E Grant" in England.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (Short)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1979
Formed touring Troupe Theatre Company with actors from Cape Town University and Cape Town's Space Theatre
1980
Appeared in David Hare's "Fanshen" in Cape Town
1982
Moved to London from Swaziland
1984
Began appearing at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park
1985
British TV-movie debut, "Honest, Decent and True"
1986
Feature acting debut, "Withnail and I"; directed by Bruce Robinson
1988
Reteamed with Bruce Robinson for "How to Get Ahead in Advertising"
1988
American TV debut, "Codename: Kyril" (Showtime)
1989
American feature debut, "Warlock"
1991
Offered a comically villainous turn in "Hudson Hawk"
1992
Had supporting role in Robert Altman's superb Hollywood satire "The Player"
1993
Returned to the stage as Algernon Moncrieff in a revival of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest"
1994
Had small role in Altman's "Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter)"
1995
Starred as a widower raising a baby in "Jack and Sarah"
1996
Published memoir "With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E Grant"
1997
Starred opposite Helen Bonham Carter in "A Merry War/Keep the Aspidistra Flying"
1998
Co-starred as the manager of the Spice Girls in "Spiceworld"
1998
Published first novel "By Design"
1999
Cast as Bob Cratchit in the TNT remake of "A Christmas Carol"
1999
Played title role in three TV-movies (aired on A&E in the USA) based on "The Scarlet Pimpernel"
2001
Portrayed a lecherous footman in Robert Altman's "Gosford Park"
2003
Cast in Stephen Fry's "Bright Young Things"
2004
Cast in the final two episodes of "Frasier" (NBC)
2005
Voiced Barkis Bittern in Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride"
2006
Feature writing and directing debut with "Wah-Wah" an autobiographical piece about growing up in Swaziland at the time of independence
2008
Co-starred in "Penelope"; produced by and co-starred Reese Witherspoon
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