2001

Here is a picture of Richard and Joan arriving at Dame Judi Dench’s 67th birthday celebration taken earlier this month at the Haymarket Theatre. Hopefully the programme should be aired on TV sometime in January.

IMDB lists REG as a member of the cast of “Cocozza’s Way” (also called “Strictly Sinatra”) but doesn’t list what character he plays. It was directed by Peter Capaldi, of Kafka’s Wonderful Life fame. This is the IMDB page: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0219327.

Looks like it’s supposed to be released later this year, but it’s been postponed more than once (EW listed it in their Summer Preview issue) so who knows when it’ll hit the multiplexes.

According to upcomingmovies.com Gosford Park will have a limited release from 21st December and wider from January 2002.

Hildegarde is supposed to be released in October in the US. That’s according to Imdb anyway.

And finally just to let everyone know that Blackstar finally has All For Love back in stock. Pat has just heard from them that they have shipped her order.

Any Withnail fans, there is a small bit of an article with a pic of Richard and Paul as the two wasted intellectuals in the latest copy of “Entertainment Weekly” (The one with the picture of Thade from the new Apes movie on the cover.) They’re advertising the release of the DVD with extra features in North America.

They praise the movie, give you a run-down on the extras included, and particularly comment on the right funny scene with Withnail confronting the homophobic bar patron. : )

2001

Denise tells me that she was doing some research on her computer and typed “grant” into the search engine of Encarta, and lo and behold this is what she found:

“Grant, Richard E. (1957- ), British actor, born in Mbabane, Swaziland, who studied drama at the University of Cape Town and moved to Britain in 1982. His acting career took off with his second film, Withnail and I (1987) in which, as one of a pair of unemployed actors at the end of the 1960s, he postured among the cultivated squalor of their flat in Camden Town, London. His performances in subsequent films – including L.A. Story (1991), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992, directed by Francis Ford Coppola), The Age of Innocence (1993, Martin Scorsese), as the eligible Lord Warburton in Portrait of a Lady (1996, Jane Campion), in the Franco-German production, Le Baiser du Serpent (1997; The Serpent’s Kiss, Philippe Rousselot), and as Gordon Comstock in Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997) – have been variable.

His characterizations, when given their head, as in such films as The Player (1992, Robert Altman), display a self-consciously controlled but manic presence. His affected articulation and mannered gestures are both comic and threatening; his manner both seductive and dangerous. A hardworking actor with a star personality, he has reached out into writing diaries of films with which he is associated, and has also done memorable television work. He made a notable guest appearance in the comedy series Absolutely Fabulous (1992), appeared as Harthouse in Hard Times (1994), as the Prince of Wales in A Royal Scandal (1996), and in the final pair of dramas by Dennis Potter, Karaoke and Cold Lazarus (both 1996).

Contributed By:
Kevin Gough-Yates”

I’m not sure which version of Encarta Denise was using, but if you have a copy somewhere on your computer you might want to give it a try.

It’s also interesting to note that Cary is present but not Hugh.

For anyone wanting to read the full interview with Dayne Hudson, the young actor who plays Jeremy the duck owner in Hildegarde then you can do so here.