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.
- Also Credited As:
Richard Grant Esterhusyen
- Born:
Richard Grant Esterhusyen on May 5, 1957 in Mbabane, Swaziland
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Job Titles:
Actor, Waiter
Family
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Brother: Stuart Esterhuysen. Estranged from Grant
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Daughter: Olivia Grant. Born c. 1988; mother, Joan Washington
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Daughter: Tiffany Grant. Died within half-hour of her birth
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Father: Henrik Esterhuysen. Minister of Education for the British Ministry in South Africa; died in 1981 at age 51 from lung and brain cancer
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Step-son: Tom. Ffrom Joan Washington's previous marriage
Significant Others
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Companion: Fiona Ramsey. first met in 1975 at university; later lived together for seven years
Education
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Waterford Kamhlaba, Mbabane, Swaziland
Milestones
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1979 Formed touring Troupe Theatre Company with actors from Cape Town University and Cape Town's Space Theatre
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1980 Appeared in David Hare's "Fanshen" in Cape Town
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1982 Moved to London from Swaziland
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1984 Began appearing at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park
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1985 British TV-movie debut, "Honest, Decent and True"
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1986 Feature acting debut, "Withnail and I"; directed by Bruce Robinson
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1988 American TV debut, "Codename: Kyril" (Showtime)
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1988 Reteamed with Bruce Robinson for "How to Get Ahead in Advertising"
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1989 American feature debut, "Warlock"
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1991 Offered a comically villainous turn in "Hudson Hawk"
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1992 Had supporting role in Robert Altman's superb Hollywood satire "The Player"
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1993 Returned to the stage as Algernon Moncrieff in a revival of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest"
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1994 Had small role in Altman's "Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter)"
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1995 Starred as a widower raising a baby in "Jack and Sarah"
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1996 Published memoir "With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E Grant"
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1997 Starred opposite Helen Bonham Carter in "A Merry War/Keep the Aspidistra Flying"
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1998 Co-starred as the manager of the Spice Girls in "Spiceworld"
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1998 Published first novel "By Design"
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1999 Cast as Bob Cratchit in the TNT remake of "A Christmas Carol"
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1999 Played title role in three TV-movies (aired on A&E in the USA) based on "The Scarlet Pimpernel"
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2001 Portrayed a lecherous footman in Robert Altman's "Gosford Park"
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2003 Cast in Stephen Fry's "Bright Young Things"
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2004 Cast in the final two episodes of "Frasier" (NBC)
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2005 Voiced Barkis Bittern in Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride"
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2006 Feature writing and directing debut with "Wah-Wah" an autobiographical piece about growing up in Swaziland at the time of independence
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2008 Co-starred in "Penelope"; produced by and co-starred Reese Witherspoon
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Born and raised in Mbabane, Swaziland
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British TV series debut, "Sweet Sixteen"
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While an undergraduate at Univeristy of Cape Town, dropped surname
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Worked as a "dogsbody" on Jonathan Miller's production of "Hamlet" at the Donmar Warehouse
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Worked as a waiter at Covent Garden