BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– It has been a year of hard work and reaping the fruits for Eswatini-born and United Kingdom-based actor Richard E. Grant.
Not only did the internationally and ward-winning actor publish a book that made it into the Sunday Times Bestseller, Grant also made the cast of popular British TV show ‘The Outlaws’.
‘The Outlaws’ is a comedy, drama series about seven strangers from different walks of life forced together to complete a payback sentence (community service) in Bristol. Grant is a villain father to one of the seven strangers and portrays a character of a powerful and yet heartless businessman. He is known as ‘The Earl’ in the TV show.
‘The Outlaws’ started starring this and has grown viral for its wit.
Grant has been making great strides in his career. Over two months ago, we published that his book titled ‘A Pocket Full of Happiness’ has been listed in the top five of the Sunday Times Bestseller list. The memoir was seated at number four on the reputable charts for a few weeks.
The Sunday Times Bestseller list is the oldest and most influential book sales chart in the UK and the one that every author wants to be on.
The rankings are published weekly and online.
Grant said he was thrilled by the listing. He said this on his official Instagram page.
“Absolutely thrilled! Thank you so much for everyone who has bought a copy. It means the world to me and I am levitating (sic),” said Grant.
The book is Grant’s memoir, where he talks about his life, from the time he was born in Eswatini.
Amazon described the book as an intimate and uplifting memoir, giving the book a complete five stars.
“Born in Swaziland in 1957, Richard E. Grant moved to the UK to pursue his acting career and has been a fixture on our screens since his breakout role in Withnail and I in 1987. When his beloved wife, Joan, died in 2021 after almost 40 years together, she set him a challenge: to find a pocketful of happiness in every day.
“Set between the present day and flashbacks to delightfully indiscreet diary entries recalling landmarks from his remarkable life and glittering career, this is an immensely personal and profound memoir that celebrates and cherishes life’s unexpected joys. Funny, moving and perceptive, A Pocketful of Happiness is an insight into the life of a much loved British actor,” Amazon narrated the contents of the book.
According to Wikipedia, as a boy, Grant went to primary school at St Mark’s, a local government school in Mbabane that only recently had become racially integrated.
Grant attended secondary school at Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa, an independent school near Mbabane. He then studied English and drama at the University of Cape Town. He adopted his stage name when he moved to Britain as an adult and registered with equity.
He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy Withnail and I (1987) and his career has grown since then.
