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Richard E Grant makes moving tribute to his late wife on Late Late

Updated / Saturday, 22 Oct 2022 10:27
Richard E Grant on Friday's Late Late Show
Richard E Grant on Friday's Late Late Show

Oscar-nominated actor Richard E Grant has paid a heartfelt tribute to his late wife Joan, saying that she urged him and their daughter to find "a pocketful of happiness" every day after she had gone.

The 65-year-old star of cult classic Withnail & I and Can You Ever Forgive Me? was married to Joan Washington, who passed away last year after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

Speaking on Friday's Late Late Show, he said, "I'd been with my wife for 38 years. Our conversation began in January in bed in 1983 and ended in bed with her last breath on September 2, 2021. Our whole lives have been together."

Richard has just released his memoir, A Pocket Full of Happiness, and gave a reading of it last night in the NCH in Dublin and he told Late Late host Ryan Tubridy that he kept a diary after Joan's diagnosis because he didn't want to forget anything that happened in the last months of her life.

"My wife said this amazing thing to my daughter and I four days before she died. She said, 'I know you're going to be sad but I challenge you to find a pocket full happiness in each day'. That really has become the most brilliant mantra by which to live by."

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