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Famous people of West Wales

Griffith Jones, writer from Carmarthenshire, Wales

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Griffith Jones Founder of the "Circulating Schools", Griffith Jones has been credited with making Wales "the most literate nation in the world". By Jones's death in 1761 it was estimated that 158,000 Welsh-folk of a population of 480,000 (33%) were literate and 3,500 schools had been established.

Helen Watts CBE, contralto from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Helen Watts CBE, contralto from Milford Haven
  • Person's Name: Helen Watts
  • Fame as?: Contralto
  • Fame Hilite: One of the finest British contraltos of her generation, from Milford Haven.
  • Death info: Died 7 October 2009, aged 81.
  • Birth info: Born 7 December 1927 in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
  • Body Text 2:

    In opera she toured the Soviet Union with Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group in 1964, singing the title role in The Rape of Lucretia, sang at Covent Garden, and joined Welsh National Opera in 1969 as Mistress Quickly in Falstaff, appearing with the company until 1983. She also recorded Welsh songs with the Treorchy Male Choir, was a guest on Desert Island Discs in 1970, and was appointed CBE in 1978.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: 1955 - Proms debut
    • Career Highlight: 1964 - Lucretia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia on tour in the Soviet Union
    • Career Highlight: 1978 - Appointed CBE
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  • Connection: Born in Milford Haven and schooled at Taskers School in Haverfordwest before training at the Royal Academy of Music.
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  • Location String: Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.7142,-5.0427
Helen Josephine Watts was born in Milford Haven on 7 December 1927. She was educated at Taskers School for Girls in Haverfordwest and at Abbots Bromley, and trained at the Royal Academy of Music, beginning her career in the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus. Her rich contralto quickly made her one of the most admired concert singers in Britain. She made her Proms debut in 1955 singing Bach, and became especially associated with Bach and Handel, recording forty Bach cantatas with Helmuth Rilling as well as Handel's Messiah.

Imogen Thomas, media personality with a connection to Wales (Llanelli)

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Imogen Thomas She was MisSouth Wales in 2003, but shot to fame in 2006 on UK Channel 4 reality TV show big brother. Since leaving the Big Brother house Imogen has appeared on various television and radio shows including Pobal y Cwm, Wedi 7 Jonathan and Uned 5.

John Cale, musician born in Garnant, Wales

  • Person's Name: John Cale
  • Fame as?: Musician, composer and producer; co-founder of The Velvet Underground
  • Fame Hilite: Co-founded The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed and became one of rock's most influential producers and solo artists.
  • Birth info: Born 9 March 1942 in Garnant, Carmarthenshire, Wales
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    Cale has spoken and written about his Welsh upbringing throughout his career, and is widely celebrated in Wales as one of its most globally influential musical exports, alongside his role in shaping the sound of The Velvet Underground.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: 1965 – Co-founded The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York
    • Career Highlight: 1996 – Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Velvet Underground
    • Career Highlight: Produced landmark albums for Patti Smith, the Stooges, the Modern Lovers and Nico
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  • Connection: Born and raised in Garnant; Welsh was his first language, and he played viola in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales before leaving for London and New York.
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  • Location String: Garnant, Carmarthenshire
  • Connection Place Map: 51.7911,-3.9967
John Davies Cale was born on 9 March 1942 in the coal-mining village of Garnant, Carmarthenshire, the son of a miner father and a schoolteacher mother. Welsh was his first language, and he later described some tension in his household as a result, since his father spoke only English. A prodigiously talented child, Cale performed an original piano composition on the BBC before his teens, played organ at a local chapel, and joined the National Youth Orchestra of Wales on viola aged just thirteen. Cale went on to study...

Josh Richards, from Tenby, Wales

Joshua Richards as Bear Wolf in Emmerdale. Image courtesy of ITV Studios.
  • Person's Name: Josh Richards
  • Fame as?: Actor
  • Fame Hilite: Tenby-born Royal Shakespeare Company actor, best known for his acclaimed one-man show Playing Burton, an evocation of Richard Burton's life
  • Birth info: Born and raised in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales; exact birth date not publicly documented
  • Body Text 2:

    Richards trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff before going on to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including the filmed production RSC Live: Richard II. His screen work spans Hollywood epics - he appeared in Troy (2004) - through to genre films such as Panic Button (2011) and King Arthur: Excalibur Rising (2017), as well as television roles including a stint on the long-running soap Emmerdale.

    His signature stage work, Playing Burton, sees him single-handedly bring to life the story of fellow Welshman Richard Burton - a fitting connection for an actor whose own career, like Burton's, began on the stages of Wales before reaching a national audience.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff
    • Career Highlight: Member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, including RSC Live: Richard II
    • Career Highlight: Created and performs the acclaimed one-man show Playing Burton, an evocation of Richard Burton's life
    • Career Highlight: Film credits include Troy (2004), Panic Button (2011) and King Arthur: Excalibur Rising (2017)
    • Career Highlight: Television work including a role in Emmerdale
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  • Connection: Born and raised in Tenby, educated at Greenhill School and the Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff
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  • Location String: Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales
  • Public Videos:
  • Connection Place Map: 51.6725,-4.7009
Josh Richards - billed professionally as Joshua Richards, and known to friends and family back home in Tenby by his given first name, Mark - is a stage and screen actor educated at Greenhill School in Tenby and the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. He has been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in productions including RSC Live: Richard II. His best-known individual work is the one-man show Playing Burton, an evocation of the life of fellow Welsh actor Richard Burton, which he has performed...

Keith Allen, actor born in Gorseinon, Swansea

  • Person's Name: Keith Allen
  • Fame as?: Actor born in Gorseinon, Swansea
  • Fame Hilite: Welsh actor, comedian and broadcaster born in Gorseinon, known for Trainspotting, Twin Town and the BBC's Robin Hood; father of singer Lily Allen.
  • Birth info: Born Keith Howell Charles Allen, 2 September 1953, Gorseinon, Wales.
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    Allen settled the long-running question of how he identifies himself during a press panel for 'The Pembrokeshire Murders' in 2021, when he was asked directly and replied simply, 'I am Welsh.' Apprently his mother's family were from Llanelli.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Played the drug dealer in Trainspotting (1996) and Emrys in the Welsh film Twin Town (1997), directed by his brother Kevin Allen
    • Career Highlight: Played the Sheriff of Nottingham in the BBC's Robin Hood (2006-2009)
    • Career Highlight: Co-wrote England's 1990 World Cup song World in Motion and the football anthem Vindaloo with his band Fat Les
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  • Connection: Born in Gorseinon, near Swansea
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Gorseinon, Swansea, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.6653,-4.0403
  • Comments:
    • Comment By: tinkerbelle , This Comment: Keith Allen is father of pop singer Lily Allen.
    • Comment By: RoyBoy , This Comment: Keith Allen was born in Hampshire but spent some of his younger years living with his mother's parents in Llanelli.
    • Comment By: garethhopkins , This Comment: Famous brother Kevin Allen, writer, director and actor, and daughter Lily Allen.
Keith Howell Charles Allen was born on 2 September 1953 in Gorseinon, near Swansea, Wales — though an older source instead names nearby Llanelli, where his mother's family lived. His father, Edward Charles Owen, was a Royal Navy petty officer submariner, and his mother was a Welsh waitress. He spent his early years near Swansea and in Malta before the family settled in Gosport, Hampshire, while his father was based at Portsmouth. At the age of eleven, when his father was posted to Singapore, Allen was sent to boarding...

Keith Hodge, Drummer born in Llanelli, Wales

Keith Hodge, Drummer born in Llanelli, Wales
  • Person's Name: Keith Hodge
  • Fame as?: Drummer and Session Musician
  • Fame Hilite: Touring and session drummer, including time with the band Clancy alongside a young Lemmy Kilmister.
  • Birth info: Born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales (exact birth date not publicly documented).
  • Body Text 2:

    Hodge played in several local Llanelli-area bands during the 1960s before moving on to London and the United States to work as a touring and session drummer. Verified public detail on his full discography and later career is limited, but his time in Clancy, and the band's connection to the young Lemmy Kilmister, remains his most documented credit.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Drummer with several Llanelli-area bands during the 1960s
    • Career Highlight: Played with the band Clancy, alongside a young Lemmy Kilmister
    • Career Highlight: Worked as a recording and session drummer on chart albums
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  • Connection: Born and raised in Llanelli before building a career as a session and touring drummer.
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  • Location String: Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, South Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 51.6789,-4.1592
Keith Hodge is a drummer born in Llanelli, South Wales, who went on to build a career as a touring and session musician through the 1960s, 70s and beyond, working in local bands before moving on to London and the United States. Detailed biographical records for Hodge are sparse compared with better-documented contemporaries, but his name has long been associated with the Welsh music scene of that era. Among his best-known credits, Hodge played drums with Clancy, the band that at one point featured a young Ian "Lemmy"...