Gareth Hughes
Encyclopedia
Gareth Hughes was a Welsh
stage and silent screen actor. Usually cast as a callow, sensitive hero in Hollywood silent films, Hughes got his start on stage during childhood and continued to play youthful leads on Broadway
.
and joined a West End theatre
based group of Welsh players. The group took a tour to the United States
, and although not successful Hughes was spotted in New York
, and left the group to take a series of minor roles on Broadway
. Seen by the right people, they persuaded Hughes to get involved in the new-fangled picture business.
in Eyes of Youth
(1919) and with Marguerite Clark
in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
(1920). He was teamed with Viola Dana
in The Chorus Girl’s Romance (1920), and signed with Paramount Pictures
for Sentimental Tommy
(1921), the picture which attracted attention to his ability.
Even though he had already appeared in many films before this,he always regarded Sentimental Tommy as his favorite and most successful. He made forty five films spanning 1918 to 1931. He was also the Welsh dialect coach, on The Corn Is Green
(1945) starring Bette Davis
. Cecil B. DeMille
called him “a young idealist”, and Fulton Oursler
described him as ”the charm boy to end all charm boys”.
Indians on the Pyramid Lake Reservation
of Nevada
. Hughes spent almost 14 years with his “children” as he liked to call them.
. Later Hughes moved into the Motion Picture Country Home, in Woodland Hills
, where he had his own cottage. He baptised silent film actress Clara Kimball Young
prior to her death. There he died at the age of seventy-one, and his cremains were buried in a Masonic Cemetery at Reno, Nevada
.
In 2000 the first ever TV documentary on Hughes's life was produced by Nant Films in collaboration with Stephen Lyons, Hughes's biographer. The programme was in Welsh and was broadcast on S4C. In 2008, Hughes relative Kelvin Guy made an award winning film In Search of Gareth Hughes, which has received only limited release. It has not been broadcast and there is no sign of the film being made available for public viewing.
To complement the work done by Official Biographer, Stephen Lyons, who unveiled a bronze plaque to Gareth's memory in Parc Howard Museum (Llanelli) with Gareth's niece in 2000, on the 21st. of August 2010 a blue plaque was unveiled by members of his family in Llanelli. The plaque was sponsored by AMRITSA Ltd and Pyramid Lake Productions Ltd. The plaque is positioned on the street facing wall of the house where Gareth once lived as boy in Princess Street. Stephen Lyons, Llanelli community heritage and relative Kelvin Guy are to be thanked for these tributes to this sometimes forgotten silent film star.
The National Library of Wales has recently designated official biographer Stephen Lyons's web site as an important part of Wales's documentary heritage and wants to preserve the contents for future researchers. The web site is to be included in the UK Web Archive - a partnership between the National Library of Wales and the British Library.
A play based on the relationship between Gareth and the famous American showbiz journalist Hedda Hopper
had its premiere reading at the CAA in London on June 7-8, 2011. Hedda & Hughes: A Hollywood Love Story by Binda Singh, starred Nigel Osner as Hughes and Sara Mason as Hopper. The reading was directed by J. D. Douglas and produced by Karen Struel-White for Welsh Dragon Pictures. The Executive Producer in charge was Gregg Robblee. This staging was a co production of KSW Productions, Welsh Dragon Pictures, Break-a-Leg Management and Robeson International. A fuller production of the play is planned for the fall of 2011.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
stage and silent screen actor. Usually cast as a callow, sensitive hero in Hollywood silent films, Hughes got his start on stage during childhood and continued to play youthful leads on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
Biography
Born William John Hughes into a working class family in Dafen, Carmarthenshire, after undertaking some local amateur roles aged 15 he walked to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and joined a West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
based group of Welsh players. The group took a tour to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and although not successful Hughes was spotted in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and left the group to take a series of minor roles on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. Seen by the right people, they persuaded Hughes to get involved in the new-fangled picture business.
Film career
Hughes' earlier screen work was with Clara Kimball YoungClara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young was an American film actress, who was highly regarded and publicly popular in the early silent film era.-Early life:...
in Eyes of Youth
Eyes of Youth
Eyes of Youth is a silent film directed by Albert Parker and starring Clara Kimball Young. The film was based on a stage play Eyes of Youth performed on Broadway in 1917-18 and had starred Marjorie Rambeau. This film also featured actor named Rudolph Valentino in a role as a thief/con artist...
(1919) and with Marguerite Clark
Marguerite Clark
Marguerite Clark was an American stage and silent film actress.-Early life and theater:Born to a farming family in Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio, Clark was educated at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cincinnati...
in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch is a 1934 comedy-genre film, directed by Norman Taurog, and based on the 1901 novel by Alice Hegan Rice. It also appeared as a radio series between 1936 and 1938. It is one of two movies that feature a rare film performance by famed Broadway stage actress Pauline...
(1920). He was teamed with Viola Dana
Viola Dana
Viola Dana was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent movies.- Career :Born Virginia Flugrath, Dana was a child star, appearing on the stage at the age of three. She read Shakespeare and particularly identified with the teenage Juliet. She enjoyed a long run at the...
in The Chorus Girl’s Romance (1920), and signed with Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
for Sentimental Tommy
Sentimental Tommy (1921 film)
Sentimental Tommy is a silent film directed by John S. Robertson which has Mary Astor in one of her earliest roles, although her scenes were deleted before release. The film, which made a star of Gareth Hughes, is now considered a lost film.-Cast:...
(1921), the picture which attracted attention to his ability.
Even though he had already appeared in many films before this,he always regarded Sentimental Tommy as his favorite and most successful. He made forty five films spanning 1918 to 1931. He was also the Welsh dialect coach, on The Corn Is Green
The Corn Is Green (1945 film)
The Corn Is Green is a 1945 drama film starring Bette Davis as a schoolteacher determined to bring education to a Welsh coal mining town, despite great opposition...
(1945) starring Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
. Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
called him “a young idealist”, and Fulton Oursler
Fulton Oursler
Charles Fulton Oursler was an American journalist, playwright, editor and writer. Writing as Anthony Abbot, he was an notable author of mysteries and detective fiction.-Life:...
described him as ”the charm boy to end all charm boys”.
Return to theatre
In 1929 like many others he lost his fortune in the Wall Street crash and was left penniless, but he carried on making films until 1931 when he appeared in Scarce Heads. He then decided to leave the world of film and return to theatre, which he had always been his first love. His last performance ran for 18 weeks at the Hollywood Playhouse in 1938, where he starred as Shylock in the Merchant of Venice.Missionary
In the early 1940s Hughes decided it was time to leave his full and exciting but also lavish and selfish lifestyle. Adopting the name of Brother David, in 1944 he became a missionary to the PaiutePaiute
Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
Indians on the Pyramid Lake Reservation
Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation
The Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation is a United States reservation in northwestern Nevada ~approximately northeast of Reno, in Washoe, Storey, and Lyon Counties. It lies almost entirely in Washoe County , with but tiny amounts of land in the other two counties . It is governed by the Pyramid Lake...
of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. Hughes spent almost 14 years with his “children” as he liked to call them.
Later years
In 1958 Hughes decided to return to Llanelli to spend his final years. But he longed for the sunshine of the West Coast, and after five months he returned to CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Later Hughes moved into the Motion Picture Country Home, in Woodland Hills
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
, where he had his own cottage. He baptised silent film actress Clara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young was an American film actress, who was highly regarded and publicly popular in the early silent film era.-Early life:...
prior to her death. There he died at the age of seventy-one, and his cremains were buried in a Masonic Cemetery at Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
.
In 2000 the first ever TV documentary on Hughes's life was produced by Nant Films in collaboration with Stephen Lyons, Hughes's biographer. The programme was in Welsh and was broadcast on S4C. In 2008, Hughes relative Kelvin Guy made an award winning film In Search of Gareth Hughes, which has received only limited release. It has not been broadcast and there is no sign of the film being made available for public viewing.
To complement the work done by Official Biographer, Stephen Lyons, who unveiled a bronze plaque to Gareth's memory in Parc Howard Museum (Llanelli) with Gareth's niece in 2000, on the 21st. of August 2010 a blue plaque was unveiled by members of his family in Llanelli. The plaque was sponsored by AMRITSA Ltd and Pyramid Lake Productions Ltd. The plaque is positioned on the street facing wall of the house where Gareth once lived as boy in Princess Street. Stephen Lyons, Llanelli community heritage and relative Kelvin Guy are to be thanked for these tributes to this sometimes forgotten silent film star.
The National Library of Wales has recently designated official biographer Stephen Lyons's web site as an important part of Wales's documentary heritage and wants to preserve the contents for future researchers. The web site is to be included in the UK Web Archive - a partnership between the National Library of Wales and the British Library.
A play based on the relationship between Gareth and the famous American showbiz journalist Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
had its premiere reading at the CAA in London on June 7-8, 2011. Hedda & Hughes: A Hollywood Love Story by Binda Singh, starred Nigel Osner as Hughes and Sara Mason as Hopper. The reading was directed by J. D. Douglas and produced by Karen Struel-White for Welsh Dragon Pictures. The Executive Producer in charge was Gregg Robblee. This staging was a co production of KSW Productions, Welsh Dragon Pictures, Break-a-Leg Management and Robeson International. A fuller production of the play is planned for the fall of 2011.
External links
- Gareth Hughes Site run by official biographer Stephen Lyons
- Brother David A site set up by Kelvin Guy, a relative of Gareth Hughes
- William John Hughes a Forgotten Welsh Hero Llanelli Community Heritgae site
- Hedda & Hughes: A Hollywood Love Story