Richard E Grant has thanked all his friends and social media followers for their support since the death of his wife.
Richard E Grant has thanked all his friends and social media followers for their support since the death of his wife
The ‘Saltburn’ actor, 66, was left devastated when his dialect coach partner Joan Washington passed away aged 75 from lung cancer in September 2021.
Richard, who married her in 1986 and with whom he had two children, said in a New Year message to his fans on his Instagram: “Thank you to all my friends and followers on social media for the incredible support and love I’ve felt, especially over the last two years, and I’ve been buoyed up and hovercrafted by your support and feedback.
“Wishing you – to every one of you – the finest health for 2024, and all good things to come.”
Richard was wearing a white polo neck jumper in his Instagram video, which ended with him grinning as he said: “Yeah, baby – up, up and away.”
His clip also ended with a clip of lights and a lakeside scene, and was captioned: “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Pockets filled with Happiness.”
Richard’s message comes months after he vented his frustration over former friends abandoning him after Joan’s death.
He said in a conversation at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival in October: “Subsequent to her death, I have had people cross the road rather than talk.
“Whether they think you’re going to fall apart and you’re an emotional wreck, I don’t know. But I will never speak to them again.”
He went on to recall an occasion during which a couple who’d lived near to his and Joan’s holiday home in France ignored him when he waved, saying: “As I walked towards them they both turned their heads.
“I thought, ‘(F– you.)’ I felt I was being punished because Joan had died. They had never acknowledged it. Maybe they didn’t know how to deal with it.”
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