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Richard E. Grant Says He Still Cries Daily, Four Years After Wife Joan Washington’s Death

A new podcast interview details the nightly letters he uses to live with grief.

Overview

  • Appearing on Paloma Faith’s Mad, Sad and Bad podcast, the actor said his brain “cannot compute” that his partner is gone even though he understands it rationally.
  • He said he cries every day, from both grief and joy, and has stopped watching the news because it makes him cry.
  • Grant shared that he began writing to Washington every night after her death and has kept up the practice.
  • He reflected that his memory now centers on her years in full health, noting only the final eight months were marked by illness during their 38 years together.
  • Washington, a respected dialect coach who worked with major film actors, died in 2021 after a stage four lung cancer diagnosis, and Grant said he rejects the idea of “getting over” grief, choosing instead to navigate it.