Emlyn Williams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Emlyn Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 November 1905 Mostyn, Flintshire, Wales, UK |
| Died | 25 September 1987 London, England, UK |
George Emlyn Williams (26 November 1905 - 25 September 1987) was a Welsh dramatist and actor. He was born into a Welsh-speaking, working-class family in Mostyn, Flintshire, Wales, but won a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford.
In 1927, he joined a repertory company and began his stage career. By 1930, he had branched out into writing, and his first major success was with the thriller, Night Must Fall (1935), which was later made into a film. His other great play was very different: The Corn is Green (1938).
He often appeared in his own plays, and was famous for his one-man-show, with which he toured the world, playing Charles Dickens in an evening of readings from Dickens' novels.
His autobiography, in the volumes George (1961) and Emlyn (1973), was also highly successful. His novel, Headlong, was the basis of the film King Ralph, but little of the characters or story survived the transition to the screen.
Among William's other books was the popular best seller Beyond Belief: A Chronicle of Murder and its Detection (1968), a semi-fictionalized account of the Moors murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.
Emlyn Williams died in London, aged 81, from complications from cancer.
