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Today's Birthday May 5: Swazi actor Richard E Grant (1957-).
With an extensive resume in film which includes writing and directing credits, actor Richard E Grant has played a rich variety of roles from the perpetually inebriated title character in Withnail and I to the Spice Girls' manager in Spiceworld.
Born on May 5, 1957, Grant is also well known as Sir Percy Blakeney from the television cult hit The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999), a role which he reprised in three movie specials.
Growing up in Swaziland, where his father was the education minister, Grant fostered an early interest in the arts and after completing a drama degree at Cape Town University, he founded his own multi-ethnic theatre group.
It wasn't long after moving to London in 1982 before he began his film career, starting off with the highly acclaimed Withnail & I (1987), a movie about the eccentricities of English actors.
Parts in several arthouse films followed and Grant earned a more public profile with supporting roles in hit movies like Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)and The Age of Innocence (1993).
Other notable performances include those in Gosford Park (2001), The Portrait of a Lady (1996) and Corpse Bride (2005) in which he provided the voice of the evil Lord Barkis Bittern.
More recently, Grant wrote and directed an auto-biographical movie about his childhood in Africa, called Wah-Wah (2005).
This year he has played Jasper on the hit TV Series Girls and is due to appear as Major Cross in Queen and Country.
While Grant counts Swaziland as his homeland he continues to live in London, with wife Joan Washington.
