07 September,2011 09:22 AM IST | | Special Features
Britain's chocolate hero, Hugh Grant turns 52 today. CS brings you some trivia on this actor who, with his sexy smile, has managed to curl quite a few toes globally.
>>u00a0After making his debut as Hughie Grant in the Oxford-financed Privileged (1982), Hugh dabbled in a variety of jobs. He wrote book reviews, worked as an assistant groundsman at Fulham Football Club, tried his hand at tutoring, wrote comedy sketches for TV shows, and so on.
>>u00a0Hugh's first leading role came in Merchant-Ivory's 1987 Edwardian drama, Maurice, adapted from E.M. Forster's novel of the same name. He then experimented with quite a few roles and cameos as well.
>>u00a0Disappointed with his career was, Hugh was about to give up acting when he came across the script of Richard Curtis's sleeper hit Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). The film got Hugh international stardom.
>>u00a0His film, Notting Hill, with Julia Roberts in 1999 turned out to be the biggest British hit earnings equalling $363 million worldwide.
>>u00a0Though he neither listens to music nor owns any CDs, Hugh learned to sing, play the piano, dance and studied the mannerisms of prominent musicians to prepare for his role in Music and Lyrics (2007) as a has-been pop singer, based loosely on Andrew Ridgeley.
>>u00a0On June 27, 1995, Hugh was arrested in an LA for lewd conduct in a public place with a Hollywood prostitute, Divine Brown. He was fined $1,180, placed on two years' summary probation, and was ordered to complete an AIDS education programme.
u00a0
