- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRichard Arthur Warren Hughes
- British novelist Richard Hughes was born in Weybridge, Surrey, in 1900. A graduate of Oriel College in Oxford, he wrote his first play, "The Sisters' Tragedy", while still an undergraduate. Although at first he wrote plays--he was at one time president of the Welsh National Theatre--and short stories, he eventually turned to novels as his main writing outlet. In the mid-'20s his health took a turn for the worse, and he spent the better part of a year recuperating, most of it in the US and several months at a quiet farm in Virginia.
Probably his best-known work is "The Innocent Voyage", a novel he wrote in 1929 about several English schoolchildren in Jamaica being sent back to England but whose ship is captured by a pirate captain. It was made into a successful film in 1965, A High Wind in Jamaica (1965), starring Anthony Quinn.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- SpouseFrances Catherine Ruth Bazley(January 1, 1932 - August 28, 1976) (his death, 5 children)
- Founded the Portmadoc Players, an acting troupe in Wales.
- (1924-1936) First vice-chairman of the Welsh National Theatre.
- Served in the British army, 1918.
- Wrote "A Comedy of Danger", the first play written for BBC radio in 1924. This was the subject of another play, "A Leap in the Dark" by Ron Hutchinson, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 26th February 2022. Hughes was played by Jos Vantyler.
- He was notoriously slow novelist. He published his first novel in 1929, to enormous acclaim, but it was not until 1938 that his second one appeared, and his third was not published until 1961. He published only one more before his death.
- [asked if he considered writing a pleasure] "Pleasure" suggests something voluntary. If one is under a compulsion, "pleasure" is not the right word.
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