Emlyn Williams (1905-1987)

McBEAN, Angus

This portrait show Williams playing a miner in his famous autobiographical play, The Corn Is Green (1938). Williams was born in Mostyn, Flintshire and educated at Oxford University. He made his stage debut in 1927, but became an overnight success with Night Must Fall (1935), a thriller that he both wrote and starred in. Williams also appeared in numerous films and radio plays. His literary one-man shows, a theatrical genre he largely invented, became legendary. Williams was publicly acknowledged as bisexual before many of his contemporaries and wrote frankly about his sexuality in his two autobiographies.

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Details

Collection

Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales

Item Number

NMW A 29537

Creation/Production

McBEAN, Angus

McBean began his career in the theatre as mask-maker and scenery designer before turning to full-time theatre photography. McBean is renowned for his theatrical and inventive photography of the 1930s and 1940s. Imitated throughout his career, his influence especially in advertising is still prominent today. In 1935 he opened his own studio; and his prominent style was soon being published in glossy magazines. The Surrealist Exhibition in 1936 was an influence on McBean's theatrical portraits. After the Second World War he opened a larger studio in Covent Garden, and in the 1940s and 1950s was inundated with commissions from theatre companies. In the 1960s McBean photographed the Beatles for their first album.

Role: Artist

Role: Photographer

Place: London, England

Period: 1938