actor/writer/director George Emlyn Williams was born on November 26, 1905, in northeastern Wales. He penned two autobiographies, a novel, a non-fiction investigation into the shocking "Moors Murders" of the 1960s, in addition to numerous plays, including Night Must Fall and The Corn Is Green, both of which were made into successful films. He was a regular on the London stage in roles like Richard III and Iago, and played the leads in many of his own plays, but in his later career, he became most identified with his one-man Charles Dickens show, with which he toured the globe, making over 2,000 appearances in the role. He also created and starred in one-man touring shows as Dylan Thomas and Saki. His film roles were mostly character parts (and frequently villains), but they were usually memorable. His appearances as Caligula in 1937's uncompleted I, Claudius (completed scenes were later shown in the 1965 BBC documentary The Epic That Never Was); Harry the Pedlar in 1939's Jamaica Inn (directed by Alfred Hitchcock); Joe Gowlan in Carol Reed's adaptation of A. J. Cronin's The Stars Look Down; Dennis in another Cronin adaptation, 1942's Hatter's Castle; and Wamba in 1952's Ivanhoe were all scene stealers, as were his brief but pivotal roles as Émile Zola in 1957's I Accuse and barrister Sir Wilfred Falcett in 1959's The Wreck of the Mary Deare. It was Williams who gave Richard Burton his first break into acting, casting him in his stage play The Druid's Rest as well as the 1948 film The Last Days of Dolwyn, which Williams wrote, directed, and starred in. Burton remained close friends with Williams's son Brook, also an actor, until his death. Emlyn Williams died in 1987.

copyright © 2006-2007 Susan D. Ciriello, all rights reserved 

This bio is currently "under construction" while I read and try to summarize in my own words the thousands of pages of biographical information written about and by Emlyn Williams. In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of the site, including the video montage below; participate in the discussion on the forum; and stop back soon! And for more information about the life of Emlyn Williams, visit some of the other sites on the Links page.

 

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