Born in London, England. Floppy-haired with a trademark nervous stutter,
Hugh Grant comes from a modest background; his father ran a carpet business
while his mother was a teacher. He attended New College, Oxford University,
as an English major but turned to acting as a creative outlet in his
final year. In 1982, Grant made his screen debut in Privileged while
still an undergraduate. Following some theatre and television roles,
Grant appeared in the Merchant-Ivory production adaptation of E.M Forster's
Maurice (1987),
earning himself international recognition. In 1987 Grant also met his
long-time girlfriend and Estee Lauder model, Elizabeth Hurley, they
went on to form production company Simian Films together. Grant later
starred in Roman Polanski's erotically charged thriller Bitter Moon
(1992), as an uptight bridegroom spellbound by a wheelchair-bound passenger
on a cruise ship. In 1993 Grant was cast in the Merchant-Ivory production
Remains of the Day
(1993).
His role as a blundering young aristocrat in Four
Weddings and a Funeral (1994), the most successful British film
ever, and the inhibited Reverend Campion in Sirens, propelled him to
Hollywood and international stardom. The following year was certainly
productive as he appeared in Jane Austen’s Sense
and Sensibility, quaint comedy The
Englishman Who Went Up a Hill, But Came Down a Mountain, the minor
An Awfully Big Adventure, Restoration, and as a neurotic father-to-be
in Hollywood project Nine Months. Grant gained worldwide notoriety later
in 1995 when he was arrested for lewd conduct after soliciting the services
of Los Angeles prostitute Divine Brown. Extreme Measures (1996), a film
produced by his and Hurley's company, Simian Films, proved a disappointment.
Grant withdrew from the public eye for a period of time before reappearing
as bookshop owner William Thacker in the informal Four Weddings sequel
Notting Hill
(1999); the combination of Grant and Julia Roberts proved a box office
success. Grant’s other 1999 project was Mickey Blue Eyes, a second release
from Simian Films, the film proved to be a stereotypical and stuttering
comedy that failed to satisfy. Grant and Elizabeth Hurley announced
their separation during the summer of 2000, but continued to work together
on the Simian Films venture. 2001 saw a return to prominence for Grant
with the adaptation of Helen Fielding’s Bridget
Jones's Diary, Hugh playing the slimy boss Daniel Cleaver with consummate
relish. The role of another deceitful character from a novel adaptation
beckons for Grant, in the big screen version of Nick Hornby’s About
a Boy (2002).
