Who was Richard E. Grant’s wife who he ‘still writes to every night’?

Richard E. Grant has never shied away from being open about the love of his life, his late wife Joan Washington (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images) Richard E Grant is one of the UK’s most adored actors, so it’s no shock that the death of his wife a few years ago caused widespread anguish across the nation. The screen icon, 69, is one of this year’s Celebrity Traitors stars, and may certainly be one of this year’s ‘Big Dogs’ thanks to his infectiously warm personality, as well as his genuine national treasure status. But his stint in Claudia Winkleman’s castle comes after one of the darkest periods of his life – the death of his wife Joan Washington. Withnail and I actor Grant was left devastated following her death from lung cancer in 2021 at the age of 74, after a diagnosis in 2020. He had been with Washington, an acclaimed Hollywood dialect coach, for 38 years, having met in the early 1980s. They married in 1986 and welcomed their daughter Olivia in 1989. It remains to be seen how open Saltburn star Grant will be about his late wife in the BBC series, but it’s fair to assume he may be fairly forthcoming as he has never shied away from praising her in public and sharing his grief. Announcing her death in September 2021, the Oscar-nominated actor shared a sweet video of the pair of them dancing, declaring her the ‘love of my life’. He was always revealing about his relationship with Washington, often sharing loved-up photos of them together, especially on milestones and anniversaries. Who was Joan Washington? Washington was a revered dialect coach and had a successful career spanning almost 40 years. Born in Aberdeen and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, she worked across theatre, television and film, helping actors master everything from individual accents to the subtleties of character voice. Her credits included Yentl, The Bounty, Highlander and The Favourite, while the actors she coached included Vanessa Redgrave, Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway and Thandiwe Newton. Washington met Grant at the Actor’s Centre in London in the early 1980s, a meeting that the actor remembers fondly. Washington was a revered voice coach and worked on many Hollywood films (Picture: John Minihan/ANL/Shutterstock) Grant and Washington had a wonderful relationship, full of ups and downs, but always love and understanding (Picture: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock) Speaking to the Independent in 1994, he said: ‘She was wearing a boiler suit and had fairly short, cropped hair and Kicker shoes, and was chain-smoking, which I thought was insane. ‘She was teaching an accent session with a bunch of actors, and I thought she had the most wonderful voice and huge, sort of monkey eyes. She seemed fairly frenetic. I thought that she was really cute and all that. It was December 1982.’ Although he remembered that they ‘got on instantly’, Washington claimed she initially him to be ‘quite annoying’ as he’d get the giggles at completely inappropriate moments. But their love story endured beyond those early annoyances, and Grant once described their marriage as ‘the story of my adult life’, saying they began a conversation when they met and never really stopped. As well as their daughter Olivia, Washington also had a son, Tom, from her previous marriage to Keith Washington. The couple also endured the devastating loss of a prematurely born daughter, Tiffany, before Olivia was born. Washington was the ‘love of my life’, Grant has said (Picture: Bogdan Maran/EPA/Shutterstock) Grant has spoken proudly and candidly about how much he admired Washington’s strength and personality, while frequently revealing intimate details of their relationship, including in his 2023 memoir A Pocket Full of Happiness. When they first met, she was the more established name in their profession, and he later recalled how difficult she found it when his own fame grew and people increasingly treated her simply as his wife rather than recognising her career. As recently as 2019, when Grant was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Washington refused to go to the awards ceremony because she didn’t want to be the plus one again, something he understood. But she was also deeply supportive of his career, and she herself continued working with major stars throughout her life and was described by colleagues as one of the great unsung figures of the British entertainment industry. Following her death from lung cancer, Grant has continued to speak about Washington as a constant presence in his life. He has said that after 38 years together he can still anticipate what she would think about things, describing the conversations he has with her in his head as a way of keeping their connection alive. In 2024, he confessed that he even writes letters to her every night as a way of staying in touch. ‘I write to her every night,’ he told The Guardian. ‘[I write down] everything. Stuff I know would amuse her… I have no spiritual or religious delusion that I’m ever going to get a reply. ‘But after 38 years of marriage, I can hear what her response would be. It feels as close a connection as I can have. And I’ve found it very hopeful, that at the end of the day I’m having a conversation.’ Ever the open book, Grant also admitted that Washington gave him a list of women he must never date, just one month before her death. Explaining that he did not expect to fall in love again, he noted the ‘hilarious’ list of ladies handed down to him. Grant is one of the 21 stars in this year’s Celebrity Traitors (Picture: BBC/Studio Lambert/Cody Burridge/BBC Creative) Who is in the Celebrity Traitors season 2 cast? Amol Rajan – Journalist Bella Ramsey – Actor Hannah Fry – Mathematician James Acaster – Comedian James Blunt – Musician Jerry Hall – Model Joanne McNally – Comedian Joe Lycett – Comedian Julie Hesmondhalgh – Actor King Kenny – Social media personality Leigh-Anne Pinnock – Singer Maya Jama – Presenter Michael Sheen – Actor Miranda Hart – Actor Myha’la – Actor Richard E. Grant – Actor Rob Beckett – Comedian Romesh Ranganathan – Comedian Ross Kemp – Actor/Presenter Sebastian Croft – Actor/Singer-songwriter Sharon Rooney – Actor Keep up with all the latest castle drama on our dedicated Celebrity Traitors page In September, shortly before his primetime TV run in the BBC’s Celebrity Traitors, Grand shared a beautiful tribute to Washington on the fifth anniversary of her death, admitting that he ‘no longer remembers the last eight months’ of her life. Sharing a clip from an episode of Nigel Slater’s A Taste of Your Life, in which Washington describes how Grant likes his porridge, he wrote: ‘THANK YOU for ALL your compassionate messages on my late wife’s 5th Anniversary. ‘The wonderful trick of memory is that I no longer remember her final 8 months, but rather her Life enhancing vibrancy and humour. ‘Special thanks to @nigelslater for inviting me on A TASTE OF YOUR LIFE.’ Celebrity Traitors season 2 launches on Thursday October 1 at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. 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