William Gwenlyn Parry (8 June 1932 – 5 November 1991) was a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
dramatist,
the author of several plays in Welsh, including ''Saer Doliau'' (1966), ''Ty ar y Tywod'' (1968), ''Y Ffin (1973), ''Panto'', ''Sal'' and ''Y Tŵr'' (1978).
Early life
Parry was born in the Welsh slate-quarrying village of
Deiniolen
Deiniolen (; ; ) is a village in Gwynedd, Wales, at the foot of Elidir Fawr, in Llanddeiniolen Community. Deiniolen has views over Caernarfon (7 miles away) and on a clear day, Holyhead Mountain and occasionally the Wicklow Mountains in Irelan ...
,
Caernarfonshire
, HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon
, Map=
, Image= Flag
, Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd)
, year_start=
, Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...
(
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
).
He initially worked as a teacher, teaching mathematics at a school in London and later science through the medium of Welsh in
Bethesda, Wales
Bethesda (; ) is a town and community on the River Ogwen and the A5 road on the edge of Snowdonia, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is the fifth-largest community in Gwynedd.
History
The settlement's ancient name was Cilfoden, formerly know ...
.
Drama
Parry joined
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...
in 1966 and helped to establish the scripts department, where he worked on Welsh programmes such as ''
Pobol y Cwm
''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC One Wales and l ...
''.
He also has writing credits for the TV play ''
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
'' and the feature film ''Un Nos 'Ola Leuad'' (based on the book by
Caradog Prichard
Caradog Prichard (3 November 1904 – 25 February 1980) was a Welsh poet and novelist writing in Welsh. His daughter, Mari Prichard, was married to the late Humphrey Carpenter.
Caradog Prichard was born and grew up in the Gwynedd slate-quarrying ...
).
Parry's early work has been called
Absurdist. He created and co-wrote the comedy series ''Fo a Fe'' with Rhydderch Jones.
[In Wels]
Retrieved 2 May 2017.
/ref>
Family
Parry was married twice, first to Joy and then to Ann Beynon. He had two daughters from his first marriage and a son and a daughter from his second. He died in the Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
area of South Wales in 1991. He is buried in Macpela, Penygroes, Gwynedd
Penygroes () is a village in Gwynedd, Wales. The village is located to the south of Caernarfon, and north of Porthmadog, by the A487 road. Penygroes' population stands at 1,793 at the 2011 census, of which 88% are Welsh-speaking, making it one o ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Gwenlyn
1932 births
1991 deaths
Welsh-language writers
People educated at Ysgol Brynrefail
20th-century Welsh dramatists and playwrights