Here’s a star of more recent vintage who got into a little trouble with the police. He weathered the storm.
Hello, everybody. Joe Morella and Frank Segers, your classic movie guys, here again to enjoy another Mug Shot Monday, which celebrates Oops! moments afflicting big stars. This time, our grim-faced suspect is contemporary rather than classic star, but who cares? Enjoy anyway.
At the time Hugh Grant was arrested by the Los Angeles vice squad — it was very early on the morning of June 27, 1995 — his Hollywood career was gearing up smartly. The year before he had broken through as the charming leading man in the British production, Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Hollywood loved his performance, and the studio projects were lining up. In 1995 alone, he made five pictures including 20th Century Fox’s Nine Months, a romantic comedy costarring Julianne Moore. He really was the British-actor-flavor-of-the-month.
An Oxford graduate who had flirted with a career as an art historian, Grant seemed to have it all — good looks, education, refined taste, an appealing way of projecting vulnerability and comedy onscreen. Adding to the glamour quotient was a Grant’s then girlfriend, model-actress Elizabeth Hurley.
But, there he was in the middle of the night propositioning a 23-year-old black prostitute by the name of Divine Brown.
Los Angeles police said, Grant was observed to drive a vehicle up to a prostitute and allowed her to enter. They drove a short distance to a residential street and engaged in lewd conduct. Vice officers walked up on the car and observed the act.
Police noted that in arresting both Grant and Brown, the actor was extremely embarrassed and was very nice and very cooperative. He was charged with indecent conduct with a prostitute in a public place
By maintaining that stiff upper lip, Grant’s career was barely dented by the indiscretion. The actor immediately went on tv talk shows to discuss how stupidly he had acted. The movie going public seemed more amused than offended. Even Divine Brown got a bit of a media burst from the incident.
Grant went on to make several big studio films including 1999′s Notting Hill opposite Julia Roberts, 2002′s About A Boy and 2007′s Music and Lyrics costarring Drew Barrymore. Now middle-aged, Grant still finds well paying work, and remains one of England’s most recognized personalities.
