 She was her father's first child and her mother's second.She had an older brother, Thomas, from her mother's previous marriage (which ended due to Thomas' father dying during a storm at sea a few months before Thomas' birth).Elen's younger sister, Siarlot, was born two years later (1910–1993), followed by her brother Hugh Griffith (1912–1980), who became a world-famous actor, winning an Oscar for his part in the movie "Ben-Hur".