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Greene, Graham

Graham Greene was born in Berkhamsted on 2nd October, 1904. Growing up, he lived with his parents and five siblings at Berkhamsted School, where his father was the headmaster. He was a quiet child predisposed to bouts of depression that would lead to a fascination with suicide; on a number of occasions he attempted to take his own life, and it was for these reasons that Greene was eventually sent to a London psychoanalyst. Greene’s interest with suicide would never fully leave him, and the subject was discussed in a number of his literary works, including Brighton Rock.

As a student, Greene studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and graduated with a second-class degree in History. It was while he was studying that his first collection of poems was released in 1925, though it was not well received. During his time at Oxford, Greene met Vivien Dayrell-Browning and fell in love with her. She was a Catholic convert and refused to become involved with him unless he too converted to Catholicism.

After graduation, Greene moved to Nottingham, where he worked as a journalist on the Nottingham Journal. At this time he began the process of converting to Catholicism and was baptised in February of 1926. A year later, he and Vivien were married. However, Greene did not remain faithful to Vivien and he embarked upon a series of affairs, and although the couple did eventually separate, they made the decision not to get divorced.

In later years, Greene worked as a spy for the British government as part of MI6, and was posted to Sierra Leone during the Second World War. Greene’s superior officer was a man named Kim Philby, who gained notoriety when it was discovered he was a Soviet double agent during the Cold War.

Greene’s literary career included 27 novels, numerous collections of short stories, books of travel writing, essays, plays, autobiographies, biographies and children’s books, but these were just the tip of the iceberg. He worked as a book and film reviewer for The Spectator and Night and Day magazines, and was subeditor of The Times newspaper. Greene got into the habit of writing 500 words a day, and often worked for only two hours a day.

Greene courted controversy with some of his works, most notably a review for a Shirley Temple film, Wee Willie Winkie (1937), in which he implied that the child actress’s success was mostly due to middle-aged men and clergymen with paedophilic leanings watching her films. The furore and the libel lawsuit that followed his acerbic review was a direct cause of the collapse of Night and Day magazine, for which the article was written.

Greene died in 1991 at the age of 86.
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1904, 2nd October

Birth

Born one of six children in Berkhamsted, Graham Greene was the son of the local headmaster.
1921–1925

Education

Greene studied History at Balliol College, Oxford. His first collection of poems, Babbling April, was published in 1925, while he was a student.
1922

Student politics

While at Oxford, Greene briefly joined the Communist Party.
1926

Conversion to Catholicism

The subject of Catholicism and the concept of guilt were prevalent in many of Greene's novels – prominent examples included Brighton Rock (1938), The Power And The Glory (1940), andThe Heart Of The Matter (1948}. In this year Greene also began working as a sub-editor at The Times
1929

Publication of first novel, The Man Within.

The Man Within (1929) is considered one of Greene's literary novels. However, the author classified others such as Stamboul Train (1932) and Our Man In Havana (1958) as 'entertainments'. This distinction was abandoned, however, in the author's later years.
1929–1934

Critical reception

The Man Within was well received critically, and cemented Greene's decision to pursue a career as a novelist. His subsequent two novels – The Name of Action (1930) and Rumour at Nightfall (1932) – were less well received. However, it was with the 'entertainment' Stamboul Train (1932) that Greene's writing gained a wider audience.
1933

Fatherhood

The Greenes had a daughter, Lucy Caroline.
1934–2010

Cinema

Stamboul Train was Greene's first novel to be turned into a film (Orient Express (1934)). Between 1934 and 2010, 66 films based upon Greene's writing had been produced. Some novels, such as A Gun For Sale (1936), Brighton Rock (1938) and The Quiet American (1955), have had multiple screen adaptations.
1934

International travel

Greene took the first of what would become a lifetime’s worth of extended foreign journeys, in this case to Liberia. These excursions to exotic and often politically volatile locations would provide the backdrop for many of Greene’s future novels. Examples include Vietnam during the Indo-China War in The Quiet American (1955) and 'Papa Doc' Duvalier's Haiti in The Comedians (1966).
1936

Fatherhood

The Greenes had a son, Francis.
1937

Controversy

Greene's 1937 film review in ‘Night and Day’ of Wee Willie Winkie described child star Shirley Temple as having ‘dubious coquetry’ that would be enjoyed by ‘middle-aged men and clergymen’. The suggestion that it was catering to paedophiles led the studio producing the film, Twentieth Century Fox, to sue the journal for over £3,500.
1938

International travel

Greene travelled to Mexico, witnessing first-hand the religious persecution of non-Catholics in the country. This was later documented in The Lawless Roads (1939).
1941

Literary recognition

The Power and the Glory won the Hawthornden Prize in 1941. The novel also drew criticism from the Vatican for its perceived antagonism towards the Catholic Church. With literary recognition and his involvement in screenwriting, Greene became an associate of many prominent literary and cinematic figures. These included T S Eliot, Herbert Read, Evelyn Waugh, Alexander Korda, Ian Fleming and Noel Coward.
1941–1944

Espionage

Greene worked with the Secret Intelligence Service (now MI6) in Sierra Leone several times in the course of the Second World War. His experience of the country provided him with the setting of his acclaimed work The Heart Of The Matter (1948). He had originally been recruited by his sister Elisabeth in 1941, who worked for the service. He was supervised and became a long-time friend of Kim Philby, who became notorious as a British double agent. Greene formally severed his ties with British espionage in 1944. However, Greene’s general interest in espionage is evident in his writing, notably in works such as The Confidential Agent (1939), The Third Man (1950), The Quiet American (1955), Our Man in Havana (1958) and The Human Factor (1978).

For an overview of Greene’s brief espionage career see: ‘The Times view on Graham Greene’s attempts at espionage: The Man Within’.

1947

Separation

Greene left his family in the wake of an affair with Catherine Walston. However, as a result of his wife’s strict Catholicism, the couple never divorced.
1948

Screenwriting recognition

Greene gained an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay for Carol Reed’s The Third Man.
1953

Writing for theatre

Greene’s first play, The Living Room, was performed in London.
1957

The Cuban revolution

Greene spent time in Cuba at the time of the revolution and had an undercover role as a courier providing clothing for Fidel Castro’s followers in their hideouts.
1957–1968

Publishing

Greene was a director at the publishing house The Bodley Head for 11 years.
1966

Life as an émigré

Greene left Britain to live in Antibes on the French Riviera. This decision was the result of Greene having been the victim of a financial scam and also his desire to live near Yvonne Cloetta, with whom he had been involved since 1959.

Read more detail about Greene’s life and habits in Antibes.

1966

Literary recognition

Greene was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1969

Literary recognition

Greene was awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the French Government.
1971–1980

Perspectives on writing

In A Sort Of Life (1971), Greene elaborated upon the principles he followed as a writer. These included ensuring that sentences were characterised by simplicity and immediacy, with very little figurative or descriptive language. He also described how certain episodes or chapters in his novels stood out as successfully cohesive, and how these provided him with a particular sense of satisfaction. In Ways of Escape (1980) Greene also expressed the opinion that stories should set their natural limits when it came to the number of characters. He mentioned several of his own characters that he felt functioned merely in the service of the plot, such as Parkinson, the journalist in A Burnt-Out Case (1939) and Wilson in The Heart Of The Matter (1948). In Ways Of Escape Greene also specified that the two greatest literary influences on him as a young writer were T S Eliot and Herbert Read.
1981

Literary recognition

Greene received the Jerusalem Prize, awarded to writers who addressed the issue of individual freedoms and the threats posed to these by society.
1982

Controversy

Greene wrote a pamphlet entitled ‘J'Accuse: The Dark Side of Nice’ which accused the city authorities of turning a blind eye to widespread police and judicial corruption and organised crime. Greene lost a libel lawsuit as a result. However, Jacques Médecin, a serving mayor at the time, was later convicted for corruption and other crimes.
1986

Literary recognition

Greene was awarded Britain’s Order of Merit.
1991, 3rd April

Died

Greene passed away from leukaemia. He died peacefully in Vevey, Switzerland, where he had been living with Yvonne Cloetta.
2009

Uncovered material

The Strand serialised a newly discovered novel by Greene called The Empty Chair, written when he was 22.
2011

Legacy

English Heritage erected a blue plaque to celebrate Greene’s legacy at 14 Clapham Common North Side in London. The Graham Greene Birthplace Trust organises The Graham Greene International Festival in Berkhamsted, an annual four-day event in October intended to promote wider interest in and research into Greene’s work. The festival consists of conference papers, readings, debates, films, and creative writing workshops.

Details of the Trust and the Festival can be found here.

2013

Film biography

A biopic on Greene was produced entitled, Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene.