Richard Llewellyn (Q57803)

Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd (Richard Llewellyn) (1906-1983), novelist, was born in London, England, although he claimed throughout his life that he was born in St Davids, Pembrokeshire. He started work as a dishwasher at the Claridges Hotel in London aged sixteen; and joined the army in 1924, serving in India and Hong Kong for six years. On his return to Britain, he held various jobs, including work as a director, playwright, and miner in South Wales. He retired to Llangollen in 1938, and the following year his first novel, How Green Was My Valley, was published, and later made into a film. The novel was a huge success and made Llewellyn world-famous. During the Second World War he served as a captain with the the Welsh Guards in Italy. He subsequently returned to writing, including work as a reporter during the Nuremberg Trials, and as a screenwriter for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the United States. He spent much of his time thereafter travelling abroad, living in Buenos Aires, Israel and Dublin, which he used as inspiration for his work. He wrote a number of novels between 1939 and 1979, as well as children's books, short stories and plays, though none was as successful as his first novel. He married twice.