Richard E Grant

Richard E. Grant is an English screenwriter, actor, and director. He was born as Richard Grant Esterhuysen on May 5, 1957, in Mbabane, Swaziland. He attended St. Mark’s in Mbabane that was recently turned racially integrated. He later studied at Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa (UWCSA) and became a day scholar. Subsequently, he went to the University of Cape Town, where he took English and Drama.

He got his stage name when he shifted to Britain and joined Equity. Before he moved to London in the year 1982, he became a member of the Space Theatre, a fringe theater in Cape Town. His first film was entitled Withnail and I, a black comedy film that was released in 1987. Since then, he started to appear in Hollywood films and has established himself as a sturdy character actor appearing in a wide range of films. In the span of twenty years, he donned supporting roles in films like Henry & June (1990), L.A. Story (1991), The Player (1992), The age of Innocence (1993),

The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Spice World (1997), Gosford Park (2001), Bright Young Things (2003), and Penelope (2006). In the year 1995, Richard played as Franz Kafka on BB Scotland’s short comic film entitled Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life. This film won the Best Live Action Short Film Award at the Academy Awards in 1995. He played as The Doctor twice on BBC’s sci-fi TV show, Doctor Who. He also played as the 10th Doctor in the comedy sketch, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death. Richard voiced the 9th Doctor on BBC’s Flash-animated series, Scream of the Shalka. In 2012, the network announced that he would be part of Doctor Who in the episode, The Snowmen, where he played as Dr. Walter Simeon.

He then appeared as the Great Intelligence in the next episode entitled The Bells Click to look into! >> Read More... of Saint John. He reprised his role as the Great Intelligence in the final episode of Doctor Who entitled The Name of the Doctor. In 2006, Richard unveiled a $98-million scam about a fake AIDS cure that was being sold. He was starred in Madonna’s directorial debut film, Faith and Wisdom, in 2008. He performed his very first stage performance as Henry Higgins in the musical, My Fair Lady, which was held at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. In the year 2009, Richard was seen as Alain Reille in Yasmina Reza’a God of Carnage. Besides acting, he is also an author. He wrote a novel and autobiography called By Design. Richard is also a mentor of Great Britons Programme by British Airways. He co-starred with Peter Firth, David Caves, Anton Lesser, and Lindsay Duncan in The Iraq Dossier in 2013.

He was the Ministry of Information Advice at the VE Day 70: A Party to Remember, which was held at Horse Guards Parade in London in 2015. He acted as Izembaro in the 6th season of HBO’s Game of Thrones. In 2005, he penned and directed the drama film, Wah-Wah, which was first shown at the Cannes Film Market. Richard was encouraged by a screenwriter, who read his memoirs, Withnail and I. It took him seven years to complete the film and so he kept a diary and wrote all his experiences while filming. Later, it became a book entitled The Wah-Wah Diaries and earned positive reviews from the critics.

Richard got married to Joan Washington in the year 1986. They have one daughter named Olivia. He is set to appear in the upcoming romantic comedy film, We Happy Few, which is based on Lissa Evans novel, Their Finest Hour and a Half. He will also play as Mr. Sinister on Marvel Comics’ Wolverine film, which is set to release in 2017.