Greene, Graham

NOVELIST, PLAYWRIGHT (ENGLAND)
BORN 2 Oct 1904, Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire - DIED 3 Apr 1991, Vevey, Vaud
BIRTH NAME Greene, Henry Graham
GRAVE LOCATION Corseaux, Vaud: Cimetière des Monts-de-Corsier, Chemin d'entre Deux Villes

Son a schoolmaster at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire. Graham attended the school were his father had become headmaster in 1910 and got so depressed that he attempted to commit suicide. When he was 16 he had pssycho analysis for hald a year in London. One of his school friends was Peter Quennel.

When he studied at Oxford he published his first volume of poetry in 1925. He graduated in history and became a journalist. In 1926 he became a Catholic after corresponding with Vivien Dayrell-Browning. He married her in 1927 and they had two childeren.

In 1929 his novel "The Man Within" appeared. In 1932 "Stamboul Train" was a success and in 1934 it was turned into the movie "The Orient Express". After he wrote that the young Shirley Temple appealed to middle-aged men he was sued for libel and risked a prison sentence.

During the Second World Was he worked for MI16 in Sierra Leone. His supervisor was Kim Philby, who was later unmasked as a double agent for the Soviet-Union.

In 1948 he left Vivien her for Dorothy Glover, but he never divorced her. Also in 1948 he received the Tait Black Memorial Prize for "The Heart of the Matter". In 1949 he wrote the screenplay for the movie "The Third Man".

In 1966 he moved to Antibes because he wanted to be near to Yvonne Cloetta (1924-2001). His relationship with her lasted until his death and they spent two months a year together on Capri from 1967 until 1989. In 1974 he was a candidate for the Nobel Prize, but he never received it. During his last years he lived in Vevey on Lake Geneva.

His younger brother Hugh became Director-General of the BBC and married the German actress Tatjana Sais.

Images

The grave of Graham Greene at the Cimetière des Monts-de-Corsier, Corseaux, Vaud.
Picture by Androom (05 Dec 2007)

 

Sources
Find-A-Grave
• Daiches, David (ed.), The Penguin Companion to Literature 1, Penguin Books, 1971
Graham Greene - Wikipedia
Graham Greene Biography


Grégoire, Hélène

Published: 29 Jun 2008
Last update: 16 May 2020