Silence Of The Lambs actor, Anthony Hopkins has sent a message to his estranged daughter Abigail Harrison wishing her luck and saying he hopes she is well. The actor, who is now a US citizen, was speaking in an interview with US radio DJ Howard Stern, when he admitted that he has no idea where his daughter is, other than that she lives “in England somewhere”.
He went on to say: “Wherever you are, Abigail, I wish you luck.”
Abigail, who is the actor’s only child, is the product of Sir Anthony’s first marriage to Petronella Barker, from whom he was separated in the Seventies. The couple were divorced in 1973 when Abigail was just four years old, and the youngster was brought up by her mum.
Although father and daughter stayed in touch, and Abigail worked with her famous father on Shadowlands and The Remains Of the Day, Anthony admits that these days he hardly ever hears from her. “I guess we are estranged,” he said. “I don’t think she wants to know very much. I hope she is well. I hope she is okay.
“The divorce with her mother was long time ago. She has probably got good reasons. She is too busy and all that. She has to do her own thing. I think she is in England somewhere. Life is life. You get on with it.”
His daughter, who recently starred as Catherine Parr in the historical docudrama Elizabeth, changed her name after entering the acting profession, saying she didn’t want to ride the shirt-tails of her famous father. Referring to her decision, Abigail once said: “It was the start of my career and I wanted it to be clear that I wasn’t going to cash in on my father’s name. I felt that if I used a different name it would give me a chance to have a career on my own terms.”
Sir Anthony has had a somewhat chequered romantic history. He was divorced from his second wife, Jenni, after 29 years in early 2002 after he had a liaison with mother-of-two Joyce Ingalis. Although he currently lives alone in Malibu, he has been seen out and about recently with his new love Stella Arrovyave.
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