Draft:Arwel Gruffydd

Arwel Gruffydd is a Welsh singer, actor and director.

Early life and education
Born August 1967 as Arwel Glyn Griffiths, he grew up in the North Wales village of Tanygrisiau, near Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd. He received his education at Ysgol y Moelwyn Comprehensive, before graduating with BA Hons in Welsh from Bangor University, North Wales in 1988. He went on to study a post-graduate diploma at The Webber Douglas Academy, London and then established a career as an actor, working mainly in his native Welsh language, working initially for professional theatre companies such as Cwmni Theatr Gwynedd, Hwyl a Fflag and Theatr Bara Caws.

He started performing on stage at a very early age, mainly by competing in singing and poetry recital competitions at local eiteddfodau. His greatest competitive success came in 1987, when he was second to Sir Bryn Terfel at the National Eisteddfod of Wales under 25s baritone competition.

At the age of nine, he joined his local brass band, The Royal Oakeley Silver Band.

While studying at Bangor University he was cast first of all in a leading role in the TV series Deryn for Welsh broadcaster S4C, and then in the lead role in the first ever Welsh-language film shot on 35mm film, and the first Welsh-language film made on a £1 million + budget, Stormydd Awst / Storms of August.

In 1997, he released his only album to date, Cyrraedd yr Haul, which he co-wrote with music producer John Hywel.

Career
He was Literary Manager at Welsh new writing theatre company, Sgript Cymru 2006-2008, and then Associate Director at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff from 2008-2011. He was Artistic Director (and CEO) of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, the Welsh-language national theatre of Wales 2011-2022. Since then he has returned to a freelance career as an actor and theatre director.

His appearances on film and television include his role as William Morris in the 1992 film Hedd Wyn, which was nominated for Best Film in a Foreign Language; in 2024 as Huw Donald in S4C's Creisis, and Berwyn/Fanny Ample in the BBC gay adoption drama, Lost Boys and Fairies in 2024.

Awards
He won the Best Actor award at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival for his portrayal of an orchestral lead trumpet player fighting alcohol addiction, in the film, Do Not Go Gentle (Oed yr Addewid). In the early 2000s he started writing, producing and directing his own short films and won the DM Davies Award at the Cardiff International Film Festival of Wales in 2002 for his short film Cyn Elo'r Haul/Day's End. In 2003 he won the BAFTA Cymru Best Male Actor Award for his work on the TV series Treflan for S4C, directed by Timothy Lyn.