St David's Day: Celebrating the Acting Hidden Gems of Wales

This Saturday 1st March is St. David’s Day, the national day of Wales. The country is famous for many things and one of those is producing some of the UK’s best actors. Of course you’ve all heard of Sir Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta Jones, but what about some of the nation’s acting hidden gems?

To mark St. David’s Day 2025, our Welsh Senior PR Account Manager Elaine Jones gives us her top Welsh five actors you may not have heard of or realised had Welsh roots. And if you’re keen to hear more about Welsh culture and its various knockbacks and triumphs, you can read Elaine’s previous Home Is Where The Art Is blog here.

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus!

1. Ray Milland

The first Welsh actor to win an Oscar, Milland was born in Neath in 1907. He served in the British Army before making his way into acting, appearing in several British films before his first major role in The Flying Scotsman in 1929. The role he’s best remembered for which won him the Best Actor Oscar in 1946 was alcoholic writer Don Birnam in The Lost Weekend from legendary director Billy Wilder. The great Al Pacino has talked many times about the effect Ray’s performance had on him and how he used to reenact one of its most famous scenes where Don is tearing up his house searching for alcohol for his family as a child. Ray went on to appear in many other notable films including Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder and appeared alongside some of the most popular actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age including Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich and Lana Turner.

2. Rachel Roberts

An actress of real power on both stage and screen, Llanelli’s Rachel Roberts began her career in 1950’s rep in Swansea with Richard Burton and Kenneth Williams. Her breakthrough came in 1960’s classic kitchen sink dramas where she played the older mistress of the central male characters in both Saturday Night and Sunday Morning alongside Albert Finney and This Sporting Life with Richard Harris which she was Oscar nominated for. Just as effective on stage, her theatre credits include the original production of Maggie May which earnt her a Tony nomination. Sadly Rachel struggled with depression and alcoholism for a lot of her life and was known for some pretty eccentric behaviour and a volatile marriage to fellow actor Rex Harrison. She died in 1980 of barbiturate poisoning which was ruled a suicide. A few years after she died, her diaries, No Bells on Sunday: The Journals of Rachel Roberts were published which also featured stories from her colleagues, doctors and friends which give an insight into her life which is a really moving read and I hope one day, she’ll come back into the public consciousness and receive the credit she deserves.

3. Hugh Griffith

The second Welsh actor to win an Oscar for the epic Ben-Hur (1959), Hugh Griffith was also a renowned stage actor who Richard Burton once called the best actor Wales had produced. He beat 300 applicants to win a scholarship to RADA and later became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared on Broadway, notably with Anthony Perkins in Look Homeward, Angel which he was Tony nominated for. A master of cameos and a true scene stealer, he also appeared in classics Tom Jones and Oliver!. One of his most famous parts and his final role was the 1978 iconic Welsh comedy Grand Slam which follows four men who travel to Paris to watch the Welsh rugby team take on France to win the Five Nations (now Six Nations). I love the story director and producer John Hefin told about how Hugh would use his Oscar as a cigarette lighter by striking his match on the statue’s backside. He didn’t think he’d win so didn’t bother going to the ceremony and only knew he’d won when his sister called him to tell him.

4. Joanna Scanlan

I must admit, this was a pleasant surprise to discover this wonderful actress and writer grew up in North Wales after moving from Cheshire when she was three because I had no idea! Joanna worked at the Leicester Polytechnic lecturing in drama and later the Arts Council before deciding to try and become a professional actor when she was 34, inspiration for anyone looking for a career change later in life. She’s been a constant presence on our screens for years now and appears in one of my favourite shows The Thick of It playing the hopeless press officer (I do like watching a hopeless press officer) Terri Coverley. But for me her finest hour so far and one of the best performances of recent years is the film After Love in which she plays a widow who discovers her husband’s secret family after his unexpected death. She deservedly won the BAFTA for Best Actress and was absolutely robbed of an Oscar nomination. If you haven’t seen it you must and prepare to be amazed. As great as she is in comedy, I hope we see more of her in dramas.

5. Ian Whyte

Speaking of career switches later in life and also showing it’s never too late, Ian Whyte was a professional basketball player until 2003 when he retired and began his second career as a stuntman and actor. Ian stood tall at 7 foot 1 when he was just 17 and though he was bullied at school about his height, it later became his calling card. He’s appeared in many action and sci-fi films including Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and has played a number of parts in Game of Thrones including the infamous White Walkers. When asked about any advice to anyone who feels different like he once did, he said ‘’own it, make it yours, you can’t hide in a crowd so why bother trying’ and if that isn’t great life advice, I don’t know what is.

We’ve worked with a number of Welsh companies over the years including the Sherman Theatre and more recently Fran Wen and if you’re a Welsh writer or company looking for PR or marketing do get in touch!

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