Emlyn Williams

Actor, Playwright

About

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Also Known As

George Emlyn Williams

Birth Place

United Kingdom

Born

November 26, 1905

Died

September 25, 1987

Cause of Death

Cancer

Biography

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Versatile, diminutive, Welsh-born actor and playwright, most typically cast as put-upon working-class heroes and loyal pals. Among the Williams plays which were adapted to film were "Night Must Fall" and "The Corn Is Green." He began in films in the early 1930s and made his last appearance in 1970's "The Walking Stick."...

Filmography

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The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949)

Past Caring (1985)

The Walking Stick (1970)

David Copperfield (1970)

Eye of the Devil (1967)

Alain de Montfaucon

The Epic That Never Was (I, Claudius) (1965)

Caligula ("I, Claudius"), Interviewee

Photos & Videos

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Corn Is Green, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) So This Is My House

Corn Is Green, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) Did You Write This?

Family & Companions

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Molly O'Shann

Wife

Married in 1935 until her death in 1970.

Bibliography

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"Emlyn Williams"

James Harding, Welsh Academic Press (2002)

"Doctor Crippen's Diary"

Emlyn Williams (1981)

"Headlong"

Emlyn Williams (1981)

"Emlyn: An Early Autobiography"

Emlyn Williams (1973)

Notes

Williams received the Order of Commander of the British Empire in 1962.

Biography

Versatile, diminutive, Welsh-born actor and playwright, most typically cast as put-upon working-class heroes and loyal pals. Among the Williams plays which were adapted to film were "Night Must Fall" and "The Corn Is Green." He began in films in the early 1930s and made his last appearance in 1970's "The Walking Stick."

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949)

Cast (Feature Film)

Past Caring (1985)

The Walking Stick (1970)

David Copperfield (1970)

Eye of the Devil (1967)

Alain de Montfaucon

The Epic That Never Was (I, Claudius) (1965)

Caligula ("I, Claudius"), Interviewee

The L-Shaped Room (1963)

The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)

Sir Wilfred Falcett

Web Of Evidence (1959)

I Accuse! (1958)

The Deep Blue Sea (1955)

Sir William Collyer

Another Man's Poison (1952)

The Scarf (1951)

Dr. David Dunbar

The Magic Box (1951)

Three Husbands (1950)

The Bachelor [Maxwell Bard]

The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949)

Hatter's Castle (1948)

The Girl in the News (1941)

Major Barbara (1941)

Jamaica Inn (1939)

Harry the Pedlar

The Stars Look Down (1939)

The Citadel (1938)

Broken Blossoms (1936)

The Iron Duke (1935)

My Song for You (1935)

Friday the 13th (1934)

Evensong (1934)

Road House (1934)

Criminal at Large (1932)

Writer (Feature Film)

The Corn Is Green (1979)

Play As Source Material

Time Without Pity (1957)

Play As Source Material ("Someone Waiting")

The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949)

The Citadel (1938)

Additional Dialogue

Broken Blossoms (1936)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1935)

Additional Dialogue

Evergreen (1934)

Adapted and dial

Friday the 13th (1934)

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

King Ralph (1991)

Source Material (From Novel)

Cast (Special)

Richard Burton: In From the Cold (1989)

Deadly Game (1982)

Life Events

1925

First produced play "Vigil"

1927

Stage acting debut in London, "And So To Bed"; reprised role in NYC stage debut later that year

1932

Film acting debut in "The Case of the Frightened Lady/Criminal at Large"

1948

Film directing debut, "The Last Days of Dolwyn"

Videos

Corn Is Green, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) So This Is My House Miss Moffat (Bette Davis), with Watty (Rosalind Ivan), arrives at her inherited Welsh home, the squire (Nigel Bruce), Miss Ronberry (Mildred Dunnock) and Jones (Rhys Williams) surprised to discover she's a female, early in The Corn Is Green, 1945.

Corn Is Green, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) Did You Write This? Miss Moffatt (Bette Davis), with aide Ronberry (Mildred Dunnock), despairing over whether she'll ever start her Welsh school, then discovering miner Evans (John Dall) and his prodigious work, in The Corn Is Green, 1945.

Corn Is Green, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) Kill Two Birds Miss Moffat (Bette Davis) with miner and star student Evans (John Dall), who is taunted by devious Bessie (Joan Loring), who then gets into her own trouble, her mother (Rosalind Ivan) helping quell, in The Corn Is Green, 1945.

Night Must Fall (1964) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Danny, Olivia Opening from director Karel Reisz, screenplay by Clive Exton from the sensational Emlyn Williams play, first filmed with Robert Montgomery in 1937, introduces Susan Hampshire whom we’ll learn is Olivia, and co-producer Albert Finney as Danny, hiding a body, Ron Grainer’s score doing much of the lifting, in Night Must Fall, 1964, from MGM-British studios.

Night Must Fall (1964) -- (Movie Clip) Have A Look At The Police Danny (Albert Finney), whom we know is responsible for the body the police are now searching for in the nearby pond, has just begun working as a handyman for Mrs. Branson, employer of his pregnant maid girlfriend, and mother of not-charmed Olivia (Susan Hampshire), in Night Must Fall, 1964, directed by Karel Reisz.

Night Must Fall (1937) -- (Movie Cilp) You Agree With Me Danny (Robert Montgomery) is ingratiating himself with Mrs. Bramson (Dame May Whitty) while her niece Olivia (Rosalind Russell) reconsiders his charms, only to grow suspicious about the tune he whistles, in Night Must Fall, 1937.

Night Must Fall (1937) -- (Movie Cilp) I Am Not A Snob Danny (Robert Montgomery) has just been introduced to the household where his girlfriend Dora (Merle Tottenham) is the maid and Olivia (Rosalind Russell) works for her aunt Mrs. Bramson (Dame May Whitty) in Night Must Fall, 1937.

Night Must Fall (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Perfectly Ordinary English People Joining the interrogation by Matthew Boulton as detective Belsize, who’s just introduced himself to Mrs. Bramson (Dame May Whitty), mistress of a quiet country household, with Kathleen Harrison her cook and Rosalind Russell her niece and assistant, providing a speech from the Emlyn Williams play, in MGM’s Night Must Fall, 1937, starring Academy Award-nominated Robert Montgomery.

Walking Stick, The (1970) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Underground Atmospheric and crowded, no dialogue but much action in London scenes with opening credits from The Walking Stick, 1970, from Winston Graham's novel, starring Samantha Eggar and David Hemmings.

Another Man's Poison (1952) -- (Movie Clip) So Few Things Turn Out The Way We Expect Following credits in which Bette Davis walks on a dark English beach, she rings Larry (Anthony Steel), evidently her lover, who’s with her secretary (Barbara Murray), and then meets neighbor Dr. Henderson (Emlyn Williams), in the English-made mystery Another Man’s Poison, 1952.

Jamaica Inn (1939) -- (Movie Clip) We'll Spin A Coin For These Buckles Irish orphan Mary (Maureen O’Hara), deducing that the inn run by her Cornish relations is the hideout of a criminal gang, intervenes as thugs led by Harry (Emlyn Williams) prepare to string up suspected informant Tremain (Robert Newton), Alfred Hitchcock directing, in Jamaica Inn, 1939.

Jamaica Inn (1939) -- (Movie Clip) While At Death's Door Director Alfred Hitchcock at play with sound, as Irish Mary (Maureen O’Hara) awakens with Tremain (Robert Newton), whom she rescued from execution by his own criminal gang, his motives still not clear, when villains led by Harry (Emlyn Williams) find them in a cave in Cornwall, in Jamaica Inn, 1939.

Wreck of the Mary Deare, The -- (Original Trailer) The skipper of a sunken ship (Gary Cooper) stands trial for The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). Co-starring Charlton Heston.

Ivanhoe - (Original Trailer) Robert Taylor stars in Ivanhoe (1952), Sir Walter Scott's classic tale of the noble knight torn between his fair lady (Joan Fontaine) and a beautiful Jew (Elizabeth Taylor).

L-Shaped Room, The - (U.S. Trailer) An unmarried, pregnant French woman (Leslie Caron) takes up residence in a British boarding house in The L-Shaped Room (1962).

Citadel, The - (Original Trailer) A struggling doctor is tempted to give up his ideals for a posh high-society practice in The Citadel (1938), directed by King Vidor.

Eye of the Devil - (Original Trailer) A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret in Eye of the Devil (1966) starring David Niven and Deborah Kerr.

Family

Richard Williams

Father

Merchant seaman; greengrocer; innkeeper; foreman.

Mary Williams

Mother

Emlyn Williams

Son

Director.

Companions

Molly O'Shann

Wife

Married in 1935 until her death in 1970.

Bibliography

"Emlyn Williams"

James Harding, Welsh Academic Press (2002)

"Doctor Crippen's Diary"

Emlyn Williams (1981)

"Headlong"

Emlyn Williams (1981)

"Emlyn: An Early Autobiography"

Emlyn Williams (1973)

"Beyond Belief: A Study in Murder"

Emlyn Williams (1967)

"George: An Early Autobiography"

Emlyn Williams (1961)

Notes

Williams received the Order of Commander of the British Empire in 1962.

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