A BLUE plaque is set to be unveiled celebrating the life of a Llanelli lad turned Hollywood superstar.

William John Hughes made 45 silent films between 1918 and 1931.

His stage name was Gareth Hughes, and at the height of his popularity he was earning as much as $2,000 a week.

To mark his birthday on Saturday, August 21, the Llanelli Heritage Group has joined up with Kelvin Guy, from Burry Port, a distant relative of Gareth Hughes, to organise a special tribute to the local hero. The official unveiling of Gareth's blue plaque will take place in Princess Street, Llanelli, and it is designed to remember an often- forgotten star.

John Hopkins, of Llanelli Heritage Group, said: "The idea behind the plaque is to tell people about him, because he really was one of the most well respected actors in Hollywood.

"He was regarded as being as good as Rudolph Valentino, the real star of that era, and so we wanted to celebrate his life."

William John Hughes was born on August 23, 1894, at Halfway, in Llanelli.

He began acting at a very young age, first in Wales, then later, at 17 years of age, he was allowed to go to London to pursue his passion for acting.

After a time, he joined the Welsh Players and travelled on tour with them to America, where he decided to stay and eventually found fame.

Mr Hopkins added: "He left Llanelli and travelled to London, where he gained a lot of success, before moving to Hollywood, but it all began here."