Swashbuckling Scarlet Pimpernel star Richard E Grant has announced that at the age of 45 he has quit his acting career. Speaking at the Tuesday's Laurent-Perrier Tickled Pink Party at Claridges Hotel in London – where he drew the raffle in aid of breast cancer research – the actor said he had "quietly stopped acting two months ago" and henceforth plans to devote his time to charitable causes.
"I've retired from acting," he added. "I just withdrew quietly. I thought my time had come, really."
And apparently not even the offer of a particularly juicy role would persuade him back into the saddle. "No, I wouldn't do it," he told the Daily Express. I'm now concentrating on working for a whole variety of charities."
Richard, who gained international recognition following his role in the 1987 cult classic Withnail And I and set English hearts aflutter as the ruffle-sporting Pimpernel, will not disappear entirely from our screens in the near future, however. In addition to his series of comic ads for catalogue chain Argos in which he plays an egotistical rock star, the cut-glass accented star is due to appear in a new production directed by Stephen Fry.
His body of screen work includes Jack And Sarah, Hudson Hawk - in which he starred opposite Bruce Willis - and Robert Altman's Tinsel Town flick The Player.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
