Oscar-Nominated Actor Mourns Wife of 35 Years in Emotional Video
The 69-year-old moved his famous friends to tears with the gut-wrenching post.
Dave Benett/Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Dave Be
Oscar-nominated actor Richard E. Grant is celebrating the life of his late wife, sharing a heartfelt post on the fifth anniversary of her death.
The 69-year-old Swazi-English actor, who has appeared in Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, posted a video on Instagram reflecting on life without his partner of nearly four decades, Joan Washington.
Washington, a Hollywood dialect coach to A-listers like Penélope Cruz, met Grant in 1982 and married him four years later on November 1, 1986.
Richard E. Grant and Joan Washington in London in 1996.
Dave Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
The couple was together for 38 years until Washington died of lung cancer in their Gloucestershire cottage at 74 on Sept. 2, 2021.
“Five years ago today, my beloved wife Joan died at 7:30 in the evening,” Grant began the video. “We were holding each other’s hands when she drew her last breath.”
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“In one sense, five years seems incredibly long and simultaneously a blink of an eye,” Grant continued. “And reflecting back on what it’s like to grieve somebody, I feel unbelievable gratitude that I had almost four decades with her.”
Grant first met Washington in 1982, when she was teaching at the Actors Center in London. Grant, born and raised in Swaziland (now Eswatini), took a class hoping to develop a more British-sounding accent.
He recalled being instantly smitten and begging Washington for private lessons. Grant could not afford Washington’s price of £20 an hour, so Washington offered him a discounted price of £12, telling the aspiring actor to pay her back if he ever “made it.”
The couple began dating in January 1983, and in 1987, Grant nailed his breakthrough role in the hit comedy Withnail and I.
In his video, Grant revealed the secret to the couple’s long-lasting love: “More than anybody in the whole world that I have ever met, she got me. And I got her. And that seems to be the kind of holy grail gift that I never anticipated I would find in my life. But I sure did with her.”
He described Washington as “feisty” and “challenging” and “hilarious.”
The couple shared two children, Olivia Grant, 37, and Tom Washington, from Washington’s previous marriage to Keith Washington.
Grant said Olivia welcomed a baby 12 weeks ago, and he would have “loved more than anything” for Washington to be able to hold her grandchild.
Olivia Grant, Richard E. Grant, and Joan Washington at the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in February 2019, in London, England.
Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
Grant was filming the video on a couch at the Gloucestershire cottage where Washington died.
“I’m surrounded by everything that we made together and collected, so even though I’m totally physically alone here, our life is here, so [it’s as though] she might be in the next room,” he said, growing emotional.
“And in a sense, she is,” Grant added, his voice breaking. “And always will be.”
Joan Washington and Richard E. Grant in London in March 2019.
Dave Benett/Getty Images
Grant said people have suggested he will find somebody new, but he is not interested.
“I’ve not arrived at that station,” he said with a laugh. “So, without sounding morbid, I want to celebrate our fifth anniversary. Happy anniversary.”
Grant ended the video with a slideshow of pictures of Washington.
Many celebrities left comments on Richard E. Grant's post about his late wife.
Instagram/Richard E. Grant
Many celebrities, like Viola Davis, Gwendoline Christie, and Alyssa Milano, remembered Washington in the comments.
Actress Glenn Close wrote, “I have come to believe that if one finds a true soulmate and partner, that is the greatest gift life can offer. I am so deeply moved by the way you talk about Joan and all you have written and shared with us about her—there is boundless joy and love in your grief. Happy Anniversary to you both. ❤️”
Glenn Close was one of the many celebrities to comment on Richard E. Grant’s Instagram post.
Instagram/Richard E. Grant
Grant’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? co-star, comedian Melissa McCarthy, also chimed in: “I’ve never met such a big personality in a glorious way… meaning you… until I [met] Joan… and then you made even more sense… and I loved you, my friend, from the start. But you two together made music. Xoxooxox.”
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