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Greene, Graham, 1904-1991

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1904 - 1991

Biographical Note

Graham Greene was born in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire on October 2, 1904. He attended Berkhamstead School, Balliol College at Oxford, and became a journalist. Greene converted to Roman Catholicism (1926) and married Vivien Dayrell-Browning (1927), with whom he had two children. Greene wrote and published The Man Within (1929), a critical and commercial success that enabled him to leave his job. Greene was an avid cinemagoer and reviewed many films in the 1930s before working as a screenwriter. Some of Greene’s film treatments were published as novels, including The Third Man. During World War II, he was employed at the Ministry of Information commissioning and editing war propaganda and as an air raid warden. Greene moved to the Secret Intelligence Service (1941) and was sent to Sierra Leone as a counter espionage officer (1941-1943). He moved to the Iberian branch of the Intelligence Service where he monitored operations in Gibraltar, Lisbon, Madrid, and Tangier. Greene’s experience of espionage work informed the plots of a number of his most celebrated novels. Greene continued working unofficially for the Intelligence Service after the war, which supported his extensive travels in the 1950s and 1960s. Greene and Vivienne lived apart staring in 1946, but never divorced. Greene had affairs with Catherine Walston and later Yvonne Cloetta, who was his companion until his death in 1990.

Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:

Philip Caraman, SJ papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS-1998-030
Abstract Correspondence, photographs, clippings, and writings comprise the papers of British Jesuit Philip Caraman. The bulk of the collection is his personal and professional correspondence with other Jesuits, authors, and poets. Among the correspondents are: John Betjeman; Martin Cyril D'Arcy, SJ; John W. Gran; Graham Greene; Peter Levi; André Malraux; Norman Sherry; Edith Sitwell; Muriel Spark; Francis Sweeney, SJ; Catherine Walston; and Evelyn Waugh. Some of the writers are further represented...
Restrictions on access

Collection is open for research.

Dates: 1944 - 1998

Greene, Graham, 1975-1981

 File — Shared_box 22430: Series III [Barcode: C0129644], Folder: 18
Scope and Contents From the Collection:

Consists of correspondence to John Cumming, literary editor of The Tablet, from various English and Scottish writers. Manuscripts of poems, essays, and reviews by these authors are also included.

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research.

Dates: 1975-1981
Found in: / Tablet Publishing Company editorial correspondence

Graham Greene papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS-1995-003
Abstract The Graham Greene papers document the life and work of Greene, including his childhood and family, as well as his career as a journalist and writer. The collection is global, with material from and concerning a variety of countries. Topics include literary culture, film history, mid-to-late twentieth century world history, wars, revolutions, counterintelligence, communism, and Catholicism. The collection consists of art, artifacts, correspondence, ephemera, legal records, literary...
Restrictions on access

Collection is open for research; some folders are closed for privacy or condition concerns. Audiovisual materials may not be immediately available due to formatting issues. End dates for restrictions are indicated at the folder-level.

Dates: 1807 - 1999; Majority of material found within 1940 - 1989

Gerald C. Walling collection of Graham Greene play ephemera

 Collection — Shared_box 1222: Series II; Series I; Series III
Identifier: MS-1993-007
Scope and Contents

Consists of reviews, articles and playbills concerning the first productions of Greene's plays, mainly in London. The articles, all from Theatre World, include some biographical information on Greene and the actors who appeared in these premiere performances.

Restrictions on access

Collection is open for research.

Dates: 1953 - 1975

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