Welsh Hollywood star to be honoured with commemorative Blue Plaque

Kieran Miller

A commemorative blue plaque will be unveiled at a special event marking the 80th anniversary of Ray Milland becoming the first Welsh actor to win an Oscar.

Neath-born Milland starred alongside the likes of John Wayne and Grace Kelly and was once Paramount’s highest-paid actor during a career which spanned more than 50 years.

The Welshman enjoyed an impressive run of success in 1946, winning three prestigious awards in total.

In addition to the Academy Award (Oscar), he also won Best Actor Award in the Cannes Film Festival and the Best Actor Award at the Golden Globes.

In his later years he appeared in well-known films and TV shows such as Love Story, Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, Columbo and Battlestar Galactica.

He will be most remembered for two films in particular: Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Dial M For Murder, in which he plays a man plotting to kill his wife, this performance has been regarded as the finest of his career, and The Lost Weekend where he portrays a writer whose life and has been destroyed by alcoholism. It was this latter role that earned Milland an Academy Award nomination and ultimately secured his historic Oscar victory.

After acting Milland turned to producing, with his most popular film being Panic in the Year Zero! – the story of nuclear menace in the 1960s which gathered widespread praise from critics. Throughout his career in producing Milland made multiple cameos, and remained involved in production of films until the end.

In honour of his achievements, a free public event has been arranged that offers a first look at the blue plaque before it’s installed at his childhood home on Dalton Road at a later date.

‘Household name’

Neath Port Talbot’s Cabinet Member for Nature, Tourism and Wellbeing, Councillor Cen Phillips says: “It’s great to honour the first Welsh Oscar winner, Ray Milland. He had an amazing career and became a household name in Hollywood.

“This blue plaque celebrates yet another figure from the incredible cultural legacy that we have across the whole of Neath Port Talbot.”

The Blue Plaque scheme aims celebrate notable people, places and events across Neath Port Talbot. A further two Blue Plaques will be funded by Neath Port Talbot Council this year.

There are options for businesses, groups or individual to self-fund a blue plaque, which will still require approval from the Council. This can be done by submitting a nomination online to the Heritage NPT Team’s selection panel, with the panel’s recommendations then being reported to cabinet members for a final decision.

The 2026 Commemorative Blue Plaque funding window at NPT Council will open from 1^st April to 30^th September.

To mark the 80^th anniversary of Ray Milland’s career-defining year, the free event will take place at Melincryddan Community Hall, Crydan Road, Neath, SA11 1TB on Friday 6^th March from 15:00-16:30.