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Hugh John Mungo Grant (born September 9, 1960) is an English actor.
Early life
Grant was born in London, England to James and the late Finvola Grant, who was of Scottish ancestry. He has one brother, James Grant, who lives in New York.
Grant attended Wetherby School, Latymer Upper School and New College, Oxford, where he read English.
Career
Grant made his film debut in 1982 with the Oxford-financed Privileged. Television came later, in 1985. In 1991, he starred in the film Impromptu as Frédéric Chopin opposite Judy Davis (as George Sand) and Julian Sands (as Franz Liszt).
One of his first major film roles was in The Remains of the Day (1993), and he became simultaneously known as the partner of actress Elizabeth Hurley whom he had been dating since at least 1987. However, it was Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) which turned him into a major star.
Not long after gaining a starring role in Sense and Sensibility in 1995 Grant suffered an extreme embarassment that could have ended his career. Grant was arrested near Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, having been caught receiving oral sex from a prostitute, Divine Brown, in his BMW. A sincere public apology for getting caught in such a compromising position on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno helped win back public support.Brozan, Nadine. "Chronicle", The New York Times. 11 July, 1995 Although he was forgiven by Hurley, they broke up some years later.
Grant kept a low profile until 1999, when he starred in Notting Hill opposite Julia Roberts (of which he told E! Online, "It's very weird to be kissing an icon,"), and followed up with major successes in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), About a Boy (2002) and Two Weeks Notice (2002) opposite Sandra Bullock. He returned to frequent collaborator Richard Curtis for the 2003 romantic comedy, Love Actually, and the sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which was released in 2004.
With his career showing no signs of slowing, Grant is due to star this year in Music and Lyrics By as a washed-up singer given a couple of days to write a hit for an aspiring teen sensation played by Drew Barrymore. He also starred in American Dreamz, a satire on reality TV shows.
Trivia
- In his earlier career, he was often credited as Hughie Grant.
- Is good friends with Kyle MacLachlan.
- Thomas Sangster, who played Sam in Love Actually, is Grant's second cousin once removed.
- Grant played cricket in his younger days, and currently enjoys playing golf, frequently taking part in Pro-Am tournaments where he receives tuition from Colin Montgomerie. He is a fan of Fulham Football Club.
- In the pilot episode of Love Monkey one of the characters defines a man's discontentment with a woman, no matter how perfect, as "Grant's Law", named after Hugh Grant. It is a play upon Murphy's Law.
- On the Oprah Winfrey show during the promotions for Edge of Reason, he revealed that the only movie out of his whole career that "does not make [him] cringe" is About A Boy.
- He opted out of a nude scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral after the on-set makeup artist asked him if he wanted definition painted on his body.
- Jay Leno told The Independent (UK) that there are only 18 celebrities worth interviewing on a talk show, and one of them is Hugh Grant.
- Grant was offered the role of Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film, but turned it down. He said that he later regretted this decision.
See also
Working Title Films - production company behind many of Grant's best-known films.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 1982 | Privileged | Lord Adrian | |
| 1987 | Maurice | Clive Durham | Venice Film Festival - Won - Best Actor |
| 1987 | White Mischief | Hugh | |
| 1988 | Lair of the White Worm | Lord James D'Ampton | |
| 1988 | Rowing with the Wind | Lord Byron | |
| 1988 | La Nuit Bengali | Allan | |
| 1988 | The Dawning | Harry | |
| 1989 | Judith Krantz's Till We Meet Again (TV) | Bruno | |
| 1989 | Champagne Charlie (TV) | Charles Heidsieck | |
| 1990 | Crossing the Line | Gordon | |
| 1991 | Impromptu | Chopin | |
| 1991 | Our Sons (TV) | James | |
| 1992 | Bitter Moon | Nigel | |
| 1993 | The Remains of the Day | Cardinal | |
| 1993 | Night Train to Venice | Martin Gamil | |
| 1994 | Sirens | Anthony Campion | |
| 1994 | Four Weddings and a Funeral | Charles | Golden Globe - Won - Best Actor |
| 1995 | An Awfully Big Adventure | Meredith Potter | |
| 1995 | The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain | Reginald Anson | |
| 1995 | Nine Months | Samuel Faulkner | |
| 1995 | Sense and Sensibility | Edward Ferrars | |
| 1995 | Restoration | Elias Finn | |
| 1996 | Extreme Measures | Dr. Guy Luthan | |
| 1999 | Notting Hill | William Thacker | |
| 1999 | Mickey Blue Eyes | Michael Felgate | |
| 2000 | Small Time Crooks | David | |
| 2001 | Bridget Jones's Diary | Daniel Cleaver | |
| 2002 | About a Boy | Will | |
| 2002 | Two Weeks Notice | George Wade | |
| 2003 | Love Actually | The Prime Minister | |
| 2004 | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Daniel Cleaver | |
| 2006 | American Dreamz | Martin Tweed | |
| 2006 | Music and Lyrics By | Alex Fletcher | |
| 2008 | American Dog |
