Hugh Grant, blessed with the middle names John and Mungo, was born in London Sept. 9, 1960. His father, James, was an artist who made money running a carpet firm (公司), while his mother was a teacher.

　　His greatest humiliation onstage

　　Growing up in suburbia, Grant won a scholarship to Oxford, going up to New College in 1979. Though considering a career as an art historian, here he tried his hand at student drama, at one point featuring in Hamlet — performed in Star Trek (《星际舰队》) costumes (服装). Before this, his efforts onstage had only served to bring about his greatest humiliation (难堪).

　　During a school play, he was called upon to sing If They Could See Me Now, but came in way out-of-key (走调), having to stop and start again. He still recalls the laughing and the pointing.

　　On leaving, he was unsure of what to do next. He tells a story of teaching where he tutored a young girl. After she refused to answer any of his questions, he lost patience with her, only to discover that she was deaf in one ear and could not hear him.

　　His first paid acting job

　　Grant continued to pursue a movie career. A big break, and his first paid acting job, came almost immediately when he was cast in 1984’s The Bounty, the Mel Gibson remake (重拍) of Mutiny On the Bounty (《叛舰喋血记》).

　　All set for a few weeks filming in Tahiti, Grant was sacked (解雇) on the day of departure for having no Union (工会，此制演员行会) card.

　　Maurice earned him recognition

　　Following some theater and television roles, Grant appeared in E.M Forster’s Maurice (1987), earning himself recognition.

　　In 1987 Grant also met his longtime girlfriend and Estee Lauder model, Elizabeth Hurley. They went on to form production company Simian Films together.

　　Grant later starred in the thriller Bitter Moon (1992). Many might find Grant’s performance in Bitter Moon to be irritating (令人愤怒的), so innately (天生地) hopeless is his character. But this has, in fact, turned out to be his greatest strength, a character he plays brilliantly for comic (喜剧的) purposes.

　　It certainly helped him now, as his showing in that movie won him the part in Four Weddings and a Funeral, as the mumbling (喃喃自语的), yet profoundly charming toff (花花公子) who (kind of) chases after Andie MacDowell.

　　The film made US$320 million, making it the highest grossing (收入) British film ever, and Grant won both a BAFTA (英国电影协会奖) and a Golden Globe. Now he is an international star.

　　The following year was certainly productive as he appeared in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Restoration, and as a neurotic (神经质的) father-to-be in Hollywood project Nine Months.

　　What could go wrong? Well, who would have guessed? On June 27, 1995, Grant was arrested after being found in a car with a Hollywood prostitute (妓女) named Divine Brown; he pled (申请) no contest (辩护) and paid a fine (罚款).

　　Coming back with Notting Hill

　　After several years away from the Hollywood spotlight, Grant returned to the big screen with 1999’s Notting Hill, costarring Julia Roberts. It was a box-office success.

　　Hugh Grant, earning US$7 million a movie, is now Britain’s most successful actor, a position he neither understands nor likes. He said. “I was in this joke job of acting, thinking it’d be a laugh before I did something more serious, and just as I was about to get out, Four Weddings happened.” Hugh later said that he hoped his film stardom would just be a phase, hopefully lasting no more than 10 years.

　　So, 2004 may well see Hugh Grant say farewell to cinema. Enjoy him while you can.

　　(SD-Agencies)