The Actors' Crucible: Port Talbot and the Making of Burton, Hopkins, Sheen and All the Others

The town of Port Talbot has long been seen (quite literally) as synonymous with the steel industry. Yet it also has another claim to fame as the actors' capital of Wales. It has produced a remarkable number of actors since the inter-war years. Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen head the glittering cast but there are many others including early stars such as Ronald Lewis and Ivor Emmanuel, more recent figures like Rob Brydon and Di Botcher as well as a cluster of exciting young actors starting to make their names in the West End and on the big and small screen. This book suggests explanations for this phenomenon.

Angela V. John is a widely published historian and biographer living in Pembrokeshire but originally from Port Talbot. For many years she held the chair in History at the University of Greenwich, London. Her previous biographical subjects include Lady Charlotte Guest, Elizabeth Robins, Henry W. Nevinson and, most recently, Margaret Haig Thomas, otherwise known as Lady Rhondda.