The Coliseum - Emlyn Williams |
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George Emlyn Williams CBE 26th November 1905 – 25th September 1987 |
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| Born into a Welsh speaking working class family in Flintshire,
Williams spoke only Welsh until the age of eight.
Barely literate, a future in the mines beckoned until he caught the
attention of a London social worker named
Sarah Grace Cooke. Her recognition and support of Williams’ talents
led him, at age 17, to win a scholarship to
Christ Church College, Oxford where he read French and Italian. |
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Bette Davies in The Corn is Green – Warner Bros. 1945 |
As an actor his breakthrough role was as a murderer in the psychological
thriller Night Must Fall a play he also
wrote as well as starred in. One of his most famous plays must be The
Corn is Green in which he initially starred
in London’s West End. This play was made into the 1945 film starring
Bette Davies playing the role of Miss
Moffat a character based on Williams’ mentor Sarah Grace Cooke. |
As well as playwright Williams wrote for the screen both television and film adapting his own and others works and also penned both non-fiction and fiction works, including the 1980 novel Headlong which was loosely adapted into the movie King Ralph. Williams was also well known for his one man shows about Charles Dickens and Dylan Thomas both of which he toured internationally. |
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Emlyn Williams as Charles Dickens at the Coliseum. |
Portrait of Emlyn Williams by Allen Warren. |
