Richard Llewellyn is a bestselling British novelist, who is most famous for his historical fiction works. Born in Hendon, North London in 1906, Llewellyn was actually raised with a strong Welsh identity, despite having been born in England. This Welsh heritage would go on to play a significant role in his writing.
Llewellyn's real name was Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd, and he was born to Welsh parents. However, it was only discovered after his death that his claim of being born in St. Davids, West Wales was false. Despite this, he was undoubtedly of Welsh blood, and this heritage heavily influenced his writing. One of his most famous works, "How Green Was My Valley," is set in the South Wales Valleys coal mining communities, where Llewellyn had spent some time with his grandfather. The novel was a huge success and was later made into a classic Hollywood film. Llewellyn went on to write three sequels to this beloved work.
Llewellyn lived a peripatetic life, traveling widely throughout his life. Before World War II, he worked in hotels, wrote a play, and spent time as a coal miner, all while producing his best-known novel. During the war, he rose to the rank of Captain in the Welsh Guards. Following the war, he worked as a journalist, covering the Nuremberg Trials, and then as a screenwriter for MGM. Late in his life, he lived in Eilat, Israel. Protagonists who assume new identities, often because they are transplanted into foreign cultures, are a recurring element in Llewellyn's novels, including a spy adventure that extends through several volumes.
Llewellyn married twice in his lifetime. His first wife was Nona Sonstenby, whom he married in 1952 and divorced in 1968. His second wife was Susan Heimann, whom he married in 1974.