Michael Llewelyn Davies
| Michael Llewelyn Davies | |
|---|---|
Davies in 1917 at age 17
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| Born |
16 June 1900 London |
| Died | 19 May 1921 (aged 20) Sandford-on-Thames |
| Occupation | Student |
| Known for | Foster son of J. M. Barrie |
Michael Llewelyn Davies (16 June 1900 – 19 May 1921) was – along with his four brothers – the inspiration for J. M. Barrie's characters Peter Pan, the Darling brothers, and the Lost Boys. Late in life, his only surviving brother Nico described him as "the cleverest of us, the most original, the potential genius." He drowned in ambiguous circumstances with a close friend – and possible lover – just short of his 21st birthday. He was a first cousin of English writer Daphne du Maurier.
Davies was the fourth of five sons of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. He was born three years after Barrie became friends with his older brothers and mother in 1897. He and his eldest brother George were the boys closest to Barrie, and he is widely reported as the individual who most influenced the portrayal of Peter Pan in the 1911 novel based on the play. He was an infant as Barrie was writing the first appearance of Peter Pan as a newborn in The Little White Bird. He was four and a half years old when Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up debuted in December 1904. The following winter, he was ill for several months, so in February 1906 Barrie and producer Charles Frohman brought scenery and some of the cast to the family's home in Berkhamsted to perform the play for him. Barrie began writing a sequel to Peter Pan about the boy's brother, to be entitled Michael Pan, but instead incorporated this material (such as the hero's nightmares) into the novel Peter and Wendy.
The statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, erected in secret during the night of 30 April 1912, was supposed to be modelled upon photographs of Michael Llewelyn Davies at the age of six, dressed as the character. However, sculptor George Frampton used a different child as his model, leaving Barrie very disappointed with the result. "It doesn't show the devil in Peter," the writer said.
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