Richard E Grant, an English actor, screenwriter and director, was born on 5 May 1957 in Mbabane, Swaziland. He received his primary education in a local government school at St Marks and his high school education at Waterford Kamhlaba. He went on to study English and Drama at the University of Cape Town. Richard E Grant was a part of the Space theatre company in Cape Town, before moving to London in 1982. After moving to London, he registered with the British Actors' Equity Association, a trade union for actors, stage managers and models. Richard E Grant is married to Joan Washington, a voice coach and the couple has two children.
In 1987, Richard E Grant made his first film appearance by playing the title role in Withnail and I. Following his debut, he acted in many notable films, like Warlock (1989), Mountains of the Moon (1990), The Player (1992), Jack and Sarah (1995), Spice World (1997), Gosford Park (2001), Bright Young Things (2003) and The Story of an African Farm (2004). He was both the writer and director of the drama film, Wah-Wah (2005). The film was based on his childhood memories and became the first picture to be filmed in Swaziland. It featured famous actors, like Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Julie Walters and Emily Watson. Richard E Grant wrote a diary to make a mark of his experiences during the making of the film. It was later published as The Wah-Wah Diaries and received a positive welcome from the critics. In 2008, he performed in Filth and Wisdom (2008), a comedy film shot in London. It was the first film to be directed by the famous pop singer, Madonna. The same year, Richard E Grant also acted in the film, The Garden of Eden as Colonel Philip Boyle and in Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, originally a novel by Irvine Welsh.
In 1988, Richard E Grant acted as Sculby in the TV series, Codename Kyril. Since then, he went on to perform in a couple of TV series. He casted as the unofficial tenth doctor in the four-episode special of Doctor Who, “Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death” (1999). Richard E Grant has also acted in many TV series like A Christmas Carol (1999), The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002), Above and Beyond (2006) and Dalziel and Pascoe (2007).
Richard E Grant was the narrator of the audio book, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. He has performed voice-overs for characters in The Legends of Treasure Island (1993), The Miracle Maker (2000), Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka (2003) and Jackboots on Whitehall (2008). In Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka, he was the voice of the ninth doctor.
Richard E Grant is an ardent fan of the football club, West Ham United and has featured on Sky Sports' Soccer AM on the day of the 2006 FA Cup Final to show his staunch support for the team. On 1 December 2006, with the aid of BBC Newsnight, he did a real life investigation and exposed a $98 million scam. On 14 July 2007, he featured on Saturday Kitchen, a show on BBC 1 and on 22 November 2007, he delivered a speech as a part of the Performing Arts Centre Opening Festival at North London Collegiate School. He was the anchor for the Laurence Olivier Awards in 2008.
Richard E Grant has written a book on his experiences in Hollywood named, By Design. In 2008, at the Theatre Royal in Sydney, Richard E Grant is to play as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. It would be his first musical theatre performance at the Opera Australia.
