This article is about the writer. For the actor, see Graham Greene (actor).Henry Graham Greene, OM (October 2, 1904 – April 3, 1991) was a prolific Englishnovelist, playwright, short story writer and critic whose works explore the doubtfulness of modern man and ambivalent moral or political issues in a contemporary setting. Greene combined serious literary acclaim with wide popularity. Although Greene objected strongly to being described as a mere "Catholic novelist", his religion informs most of his novels, and many of his best works (e.g. Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter and The Power and the Glory) are explicitly Roman Catholic in content and preoccupations. His later works show a greater interest in international politics, e.g. The Quiet American.
In 1910 Charles Greene succeeded Dr Fry as headmaster, and Graham attended the school as a pupil. Bullied and profoundly unhappy as a boarder, Greene made several attempts at suicide (some of them, Greene claimed, by playing Russian roulette - though Michael Shelden's biography of Greene discredits the truth of these incidents), and in 1921 at the age of 17 he underwent six months of psychoanalysis in London to deal with depression. After this he returned to the school as a day boy, living with his family. Schoolfriends included Claud Cockburn and Peter Quennell.