Emlyn Williams(1905-1987)
- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Born George Emlyn Williams in Pen-y-Ffordd, Mostyn, Flintshire in
northeast Wales on November 1905, he lived in a rural village in which
Welsh was spoken until he was 12 years old, when his family moved to an
English-speaking town, Connah's Quay. It changed the course of his life,
as it was there that the teacher, Sarah Grace Cooke, recognizing his
literary talent, encouraged him and helped him win a scholarship to
Oxford, where he attended the college of Christ Church. She is
immortalized in the character of "Miss Moffat" in his play, "The Corn
is Green".
Education enabled him to escape the life at hard labor that was the lot
of his people. He attended Christ Church, Oxford and also studied in
Geneva, Switzerland. He joined a repertory theater and made his acting
debut in "And So To Bed" in London in November, 1927. He eventually
became an accomplished stage and screen actor, but it was as a playwright
that he had his greatest success, eventually writing a score of plays.
He had his first theatrical success as a writer with "A Murder Has Been
Arranged". The success of his 1935 play "Night Must Fall", which opened
at London's Duchess Theatre, led to its being transferred to New York
the following year. Williams had made his Broadway debut in 1927, as a
21-year-old in "And So To Bed", a comedy based on the diaries of
Samuel Pepys (the title comes from
how Pepys ended his diary entries; Pepys was the subject of a 1983 TV
movie
Pepys and So to Bed (1983)),
and had appeared again on Broadway in
Edgar Wallace's "Criminal at Large" in
1932. Opening on September 23, 1936 at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre, the play ran
for 64 performances. It was made into a movie twice, in 1937 with
Robert Montgomery in the lead
role of the young psychopath, and later, in 1964, with
Albert Finney taking over the role.
Walking around for two years with the head of a woman in a hat box,
Williams recalled in 1965, likely was the reason that Sir
Alexander Korda hired him for
the part of "Caligula" in the 1937 version of
Robert Graves's
I, Claudius (1937), famous as "The
Epic That Never Was", in which
Charles Laughton was cast as the fourth
Roman Emperor of the Julian-Claudian dynasty. The production was
canceled after leading lady Merle Oberon
got into a car accident.
"The Corn Is Green" was a Broadway triumph for the great
Ethel Barrymore in 1940, and the 1945 film adaptation starred Bette Davis, as well as John Dall and Joan Lorring in Oscar-nominated performances.
Katharine Hepburn later played the
part of "Miss Moffat" in the 1979 TV movie directed by
George Cukor, for which she won an Emmy
Award nomination as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a
Special.
Williams' plays "Yesterday's Magic", "The Morning Star" and "Someone
Waiting" were also performed on Broadway, and he had a success on the
Great White Way as an actor, himself, in a solo performance as
Charles Dickens, which he
revived twice. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a
Play for "A Boy Growing Up" (1958), an adaptation of a work by fellow
Welshman Dylan Thomas. The tribal
Williams also nurtured the young Welshman
Richard Burton, whom he directed
in his first lead film role in
Woman of Dolwyn (1949).
(Burton's professional stage debut had been in Williams' play "Druid's
Rest", and Emyln Williams' son,
Brook Williams, became one of
Burton's life-long friends). Williams was the godfather to his Burton's
daughter, Kate Burton, who is also
an actress. In addition to directing and acting in film, Emlyn Williams
famously collaborated with the great director
Alfred Hitchcock. Williams
acted in and wrote additional dialog for both the original
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
(1934) and Jamaica Inn (1939).
Emlyn Williams wrote two memoirs, "George, An Early Autobiography"
(1961), and "Emlyn: An Early Autography, 1927-1935" (1974), as well as
a 1967 non-fiction account of the Moors Murders entitled "Beyond
Belief". His 1980 novel "Headlong" was adapted by
David S. Ward into the movie
King Ralph (1991). He was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1962.
When he died in 1987, Emlyn Williams had written or co-written 20
screenplays in addition to his 20 plays. As an actor, he had appeared
in 41 films and teleplays, plus made numerous appearances on stage.
northeast Wales on November 1905, he lived in a rural village in which
Welsh was spoken until he was 12 years old, when his family moved to an
English-speaking town, Connah's Quay. It changed the course of his life,
as it was there that the teacher, Sarah Grace Cooke, recognizing his
literary talent, encouraged him and helped him win a scholarship to
Oxford, where he attended the college of Christ Church. She is
immortalized in the character of "Miss Moffat" in his play, "The Corn
is Green".
Education enabled him to escape the life at hard labor that was the lot
of his people. He attended Christ Church, Oxford and also studied in
Geneva, Switzerland. He joined a repertory theater and made his acting
debut in "And So To Bed" in London in November, 1927. He eventually
became an accomplished stage and screen actor, but it was as a playwright
that he had his greatest success, eventually writing a score of plays.
He had his first theatrical success as a writer with "A Murder Has Been
Arranged". The success of his 1935 play "Night Must Fall", which opened
at London's Duchess Theatre, led to its being transferred to New York
the following year. Williams had made his Broadway debut in 1927, as a
21-year-old in "And So To Bed", a comedy based on the diaries of
Samuel Pepys (the title comes from
how Pepys ended his diary entries; Pepys was the subject of a 1983 TV
movie
Pepys and So to Bed (1983)),
and had appeared again on Broadway in
Edgar Wallace's "Criminal at Large" in
1932. Opening on September 23, 1936 at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre, the play ran
for 64 performances. It was made into a movie twice, in 1937 with
Robert Montgomery in the lead
role of the young psychopath, and later, in 1964, with
Albert Finney taking over the role.
Walking around for two years with the head of a woman in a hat box,
Williams recalled in 1965, likely was the reason that Sir
Alexander Korda hired him for
the part of "Caligula" in the 1937 version of
Robert Graves's
I, Claudius (1937), famous as "The
Epic That Never Was", in which
Charles Laughton was cast as the fourth
Roman Emperor of the Julian-Claudian dynasty. The production was
canceled after leading lady Merle Oberon
got into a car accident.
"The Corn Is Green" was a Broadway triumph for the great
Ethel Barrymore in 1940, and the 1945 film adaptation starred Bette Davis, as well as John Dall and Joan Lorring in Oscar-nominated performances.
Katharine Hepburn later played the
part of "Miss Moffat" in the 1979 TV movie directed by
George Cukor, for which she won an Emmy
Award nomination as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a
Special.
Williams' plays "Yesterday's Magic", "The Morning Star" and "Someone
Waiting" were also performed on Broadway, and he had a success on the
Great White Way as an actor, himself, in a solo performance as
Charles Dickens, which he
revived twice. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a
Play for "A Boy Growing Up" (1958), an adaptation of a work by fellow
Welshman Dylan Thomas. The tribal
Williams also nurtured the young Welshman
Richard Burton, whom he directed
in his first lead film role in
Woman of Dolwyn (1949).
(Burton's professional stage debut had been in Williams' play "Druid's
Rest", and Emyln Williams' son,
Brook Williams, became one of
Burton's life-long friends). Williams was the godfather to his Burton's
daughter, Kate Burton, who is also
an actress. In addition to directing and acting in film, Emlyn Williams
famously collaborated with the great director
Alfred Hitchcock. Williams
acted in and wrote additional dialog for both the original
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
(1934) and Jamaica Inn (1939).
Emlyn Williams wrote two memoirs, "George, An Early Autobiography"
(1961), and "Emlyn: An Early Autography, 1927-1935" (1974), as well as
a 1967 non-fiction account of the Moors Murders entitled "Beyond
Belief". His 1980 novel "Headlong" was adapted by
David S. Ward into the movie
King Ralph (1991). He was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1962.
When he died in 1987, Emlyn Williams had written or co-written 20
screenplays in addition to his 20 plays. As an actor, he had appeared
in 41 films and teleplays, plus made numerous appearances on stage.