Roman Grant
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Roman Grant is a fictional character in the HBO series, Big Love, and is portrayed by Harry Dean Stanton. He is the prophet of the Juniper Creek Compound, and is the father of Nicolette Grant and Alby Grant.
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[edit] History
Little is known of Grant's early life. Born c. 1927 (Nicki stated in Season 2 that her father the prophet said he would reign till he was 118 years old and that is another 38 years). In his younger years he was friendly with Bill Henrickson's grandfather, Orville Henrickson (who though he was Bill's maternal grandfather had the same surname due to the illegitimate legal status of children of second wives). Orville held Grant's current position as leader and prophet of Juniper Creek while Grant, apparently educated in and definitely skilled with finance, was Henrickson's accountant. At some point Grant wrested control of Juniper Creek from Henrickson and older relatives have implied he was responsible for his predecessor's death.
Grant has always been involved in Bill's life. Fearful of Bill's familial and emotional closeness to the previous Prophet and natural charisma, he had Bill excommunicated and expelled from the compound (with the full cooperation of Bill's father, Frank Harlow) when he was only 14 years old. Nevertheless, he assisted Bill much later financially with the expenses of his first wife Barb's cancer treatment and with the opening of his first Home Plus store, the latter in exchange for a share of its profits (though whether this was for the first store only is a source of serious contention between the men as the store expands into a chain).
Roman loves music and has been heard singing both hymns (including The Church in the Wildwood) and folk-songs (including Big Rock Candy Mountain [in spite of its references to cigarette trees and alcohol]) for his own entertainment and that of his hosts and guests. His most prized possession is a guitar that accompanied the first Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.
[edit] Family
Grant, a polygamist, has 14 wives, including the loyal Adaleen Grant (his sixth). Rhonda Volmer is his 15 year old bride to be. His 31 children (18 sons, 13 daughters) include Nicolette (married to Bill Henrickson), son and heir apparent Alby Grant, and an infant, Emory Grant. He has 187 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is suspected of outing the Henrickson family as polygamists. He shares a rambling stately old home known as "The Big House" (previously the home of Orville Henrickson) with several of his wives; the home was enlarged to include an additional wing for Rhonda funded by his wife Adaleen's credit card.
Grant seems to be a caring father in spite of the enormity of his family. His daughter Nicolette was genuinely thrilled to learn he was coming for her son's birthday party, and he was extremely concerned over the attempted murder of his son Alby. He was witnessed by Bill affectionately holding his infant son in another episode.
Some of Grant's children are out of favor. Nicki makes references to two of her brothers who are "in exile", and during a second season episode when Nicki attempts to visit her mother while her father is hospitalized the guards at the Compound entrance display a list of Grant's children, most of them in the "Good" category but Nicki and four others in the "Bad" category. All of the children have the surname Grant, the oldest seeming to be a son named Homer (never referred to on the series) aged 59 and the youngest a son named Alman, 18, listed in the "bad" column. Grant is known to have at least two younger children (the infant son Emmett and a pre-adolescent daughter seen at the family reunion) who were probably left off the list as they were still living with their mothers.
Though he is almost 80 years old and this may account for some of his diminished interest in sex, Grant does not appear to be particularly lecherous. Even his relationship with his betrothed Rhonda, more than 60 years his junior, seems to be respectful and their relationship has never been consummated nor does he seem to be solely interested in her for sexual pleasure. Other than polygamy he has never been implied to be guilty of sexual improprieties (i.e. adultery, child molestation, incest, etc.) such as those practiced by the fictional Greene and Abbot clans or the real-life LeBaron and Kingston polygamous cults upon whom the Greenes and Abbots are probably, at least in part, based.
[edit] Alby
Following Grant's shooting Alby claimed to have been told by God that he should stand in for the ailing Prophet. Alby then took total control of his father's well-being, and allowed no one, other than himself and his wife, to see Roman. Alby and his wife kept Roman in a coma using morphine and other painkillers.
When Adaleen Grant sneaks into her husband's room and witnesses Alby drugging Roman, she sneaks out of the compound with Grant and takes him to her daughter Nicolette's house where he remains until Bill sends him back to the compound.
[edit] Business
When Bill severed all ties between the compound and Henrickson's Home Plus, Grant has done all in his power to convince Bill of his mistake. In addition to being (at least seemingly) greedy, Grant is an extremely well-informed business leader who has converted his following into a well invested diverse powerhouse and he is not willing to let go easily of a lucrative and growing business. Grant is also extremely adept at finding legal loopholes (such as zoning and historic preservation) to legally harass Henricksen.
[edit] Shooting
Grant's many enemies include Hollis Greene, the leader and prophet of a rival polygamous cult. Their enmity seems to go back for many decades but most recently has centered upon Juniper Creek's business interests and has resulted in violence from and against both sides.
After stepping out of his favorite diner near the Juniper Creek compound, two women associated with Greene walked up un-expectedly, announced his name, and shot Grant three times, then ran off. Alby and Adaleen ran to him immediately afterwards, sobbing over their father/husband.
[edit] Arrest
Upon returning to the Compound with Joey Henrickson and Adaleen Grant, he was arrested for 7 counts of violation of the Mann Act for transporting women across state lines for "amoral purposes".
