Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent

‘My father said he’d blow my brains out’: Richard E Grant tells of grief and trauma

Richard E Grant photographed in London in September 2021.
Richard E Grant, photographed in London in September 2021. Photograph: Mike Marsland/WireImage

Five days after marking the anniversary of his wedding to his late wife, a grieving Richard E Grant will talk candidly about surviving an upsetting childhood in Eswatini (then called Swaziland) before finding sanctuary in his 38-year marriage.

The Oscar-nominated film star, who appears as the guest on Desert Island Discs on Sunday morning, met his wife – the renowned dialect expert Joan Washington – when, as an aspiring young actor, he hired her as a voice coach. Grant details the shock of Washington’s diagnosis with lung cancer in 2020 and tells how they prioritised time together in the months before her death in September last year.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.