Richard E Grant’s life off screen including heartbreaking reason he wears three watches

2023-02-20

Following in the footsteps of comedy stars such as Stephen Fry and Richard Ayoade, this year’s BAFTA film awards will be hosted by Hollywood actor Richard E Grant and This Morning presenter Alison Hammond.

Dressed to the nines for one night only, the charismatic duo will be joining forces as the reveal the winners of this year’s closely run awards race, to see who will get to take home of of the iconic BAFTA mask trophies.

Yet while all eyes may be on the ceremony itself, many fans at home may also be wondering about the star’s lives off screen.

Here, we take a closer look at Richard E Grant’s life away from the limelight, from humble beginnings through to a heartbreaking romance.

Early years

Born in the Summer of 1957, Richard Grant Esterhuysen is the eldest son of Leonne and Henrik Esterhuysen; the former head of education for the British government administration in Swaziland.

He also has a younger brother named Stuart, who works as an accountant in Johannesburg, South Africa, but the two are estranged and have “never had a relationship” according to the actor.

Growing up in Swaziland, (now named Eswatini,) Richard went to primary school at St Mark's, a local government school in Mbabane, which had only recently been racially integrated at the time of his attendance.

A keen academic, Richard later went on to study astWaterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa, an independent secondary school in Mbabane, before continuing his studies further at The University of Cape Town, where he studied English and Drama in 1976.

Following his graduation, he went on to move to Britain in 1982, where he adopted his stage name Richard E Grant, and registered with Equity, an acting trade union.

Enduring marriage

Four years after moving to the UK, Richard met and fell head over heels for voice coach Joan Washington, who he married just two short years later after realising she was the love of his life.

Joan, who was eight years older than Richard at the time, first met when Richard sought her help for perfecting a Belfast accent for a role he was working on at the time.

Recalling their meeting, he told The Independent back in 1994 that "I went to learn a Belfast accent from her and I then met her in this house, but she was still married to someone else."

"She was doing a play at the Royal Shakespeare Company and needed a black African accent."

"She told me that I was the only person she knew in London who could do this, and that I should come and make some tapes for her," he continued.

"I didn't go home that night. We found that we had a fair amount in common, and that we liked speaking a huge amount. She seemed very un-English in that way. We just got on instantly.”

The couple later went on to have one daughter together, Olivia, but Richard also has a stepson, Tom, from Joan’s first marriage. He was just 7 years old when the couple first met.

Wife’s tragic death

After enjoying a happy and heartfelt marriage for 34 years, the couple’s idyllic life came to an abrupt end, when Joan was devastatingly diagnosed with terminal cancer on Christmas Eve 2020.

"Joan was given a 12 to 18-month prognosis by the oncologist, so we quietly counted on this being our penultimate Christmas together," he told The Daily Mail.

"Covid lockdown meant that we had to cancel the Doyle clan coming to us for carols and dinner, so it was just Joan, myself, our daughter Olivia and her partner Florian.

"We began the day opening stocking presents, all of us sitting on our bed, followed by breakfast, then more presents from beneath the tree and beginning the feast preparations. Joan resolutely determined to take everything a day at a time and trying not to project ahead.”

Having made a series of cherished memories together, Joan was offered some hope in the form of newly approved drug tepotinib, which she began taking in the first few months of 2021, however by early June the miracle drug had stopped working, with medics warning she had just weeks left to live by August.

Four days prior to her death, Joan optimistically challenged her daughter and husband to ‘Try and find a pocketful of happiness in each day’, before ultimately succumbing to her illness on September 2, 2021.

With the help of palliative nurses from the Longfield Hospice in Gloucestershire, Joan felt no pain as she passed away, with Richard able to fulfil one of his final promises as he held her hand until she took her final breath at home.

Following her death, Richard heartbreakingly shared a video of the pair dancing on Twitter, alongside the words: ”ONLY YOU! Joan – Love of my Life & Giver of Life to our daughter Olivia.

"Our hearts are broken with the loss of your Life last night. 35 years married & 38 together."To be truly known and seen by you, is your immeasurable gift. Do not forget us, sweet Monkee-mine."

Relationship with his children

Since the passing of his beloved wife, Richard’s daughter Olivia has been making frequent appearances on his social media feeds, including at a variety of star studded events as she attended as his guest.

The proud father is clearly very close to his daughter, with the duo even sharing a smiling selfie during a recent sun soaked holiday back in January.

He is also believed to still be in touch with Joan’s son, Tom, with whom he shares a good relationship.

Why does he wear three watches?

One of Richard’s unusual quirks, is he decision to always wear multiple watches at once.

Out of of his own personal preference, the actor always wears one watch and either wrist, while a third was gifted to him by his late father and is permanently set on Eswatini time, in a nod to always remember his homeland.

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