Who was Ivor Novello?
Actor, writer, composer, songwriter, manager,
and playwright.
Date and Place of Birth:
15th January 1893, Llwyn-yr-Eos (Grove of the
Nightingale in Welsh), Cowbridge Road, East, Cardiff, Wales. Christened
David Ivor Davies.
Family Background:
His father was David Davies, a tax collector
and his mother was the celebrated Welsh singing teacher, Dame Clara
Novello who founded the Welsh Ladies Choir.
Education:
Magdalen College, Oxford.
Chronology/Biography of Ivor Novello:
1915: Composition
of "Keep the Home Fires Burning"
1916: He received
a commission as a Sub-Lieutenant Officer in the Royal Naval Air
Service and trained as a pilot. He crash landed on his first and
second solo flights and he was therefore grounded and put on clerical
duties for the rest of the First World War.
1917: He composed
while he was still in the Navy and his musical, "Theodore &
Co" became a wartime hit.
1918: Known by his
stage name as Ivor Novello for the first time.
1926: He went onto
the London stage occasionally playing dramatic roles such as in
the first London production of Ferenc Molnár's play "Liliom".
1927: in January
he legally changed his name to Ivor Novello. He went into cinema
and starred in silent films produced by Alfred Hitchcock. He starred
in a screen version of Noel Coward's play "The Vortex"
in London. Coward commented that Novello always looked stiff in
front of a camera and was always more natural on film.
1930's: He appeared
in numerous highly costly and spectacular West End musicals during
this period and it was the stage which was his first love. His stage
works were often written in the style of operettas. He was also
known for his extravagant "gay" lifestyle. He had a long
term relationship with the British actor Bobbie Andrews and had
affairs with numerous other people including the poet and writer
Siegfried Sassoon. He frequently wrote
his own librettos as an accomplished playwright but most of the
lyrics for his shows were written by Christopher Hassal.
1933: Brought the
actress Zena Dare out of retirement and began to write parts for
her.
1935: Directed a
production of "Glamorous Night" which cemented his reputation.
1939: Directed "The
Dancing Years" and then flirted with Hollywood.
1944: In May he
was sentenced to eight weeks in prison (serving only four) for misuse
of petrol coupons which was seen as a major offence during World
War Two. A female fan had got the fuel via her employer. This period
when he moved from a glamorous lifestyle to prison life broke his
spirit and he was never the same again afterwards even though he
continued to perform up until his death.
The annual awards of the Performing Rights Society
to song writers and arrangers are named Novello Awards in his honour.
Major Works:
Music:
- 1915: "Keep
the Home Fires Burning"
- 1916: "What
a Duke Should Be"
- 1921: "Nuts
in May", "And Her Mother Came Too"
- 1924: "The
Land of Might-Have-Been"
- 1935: "Glamorous
Night"
- 1937: "Why
Isn't It You"
- 1939: "Waltz
of My Heart", "I Can Give You the Starlight"
- 1945: "Perchance
to Dream"
- 1951: "Gays
the Word"
Writer:
- 1932: "Tarzan
the Ape Man" (dialogue)
- 1935: "Glamorous
Night"
- 1941: "Free
and Easy"
- 1950: "The
Dancing Years"
- (1955): "King's
Rhapsody"
Actor:
- 1919: "The
Call of the Blood"
- 1920: "Gypsy
Passion"
- 1921: "Carnival"
(as Count Andrea)
- 1922: "The
Bohemian Girl" (as Thaddeus)
- 1923: "Bonnie
Prince Charlie" (as Prince Charles Stuart), "The White
Rose" (as Joseph Beaugarde), "The Man Without Desire"
(as Count Vittorio Dandolo)
- 1925: "The
Rat" (as Pierre Boucheron)
- 1926: "The
Triumph of the Rat" (as Pierre Boucheron)
- 1927: "Downhill"
(as Roddy Berwick)", "The Lodger: A Story of the London
Fog" (as the Lodger)
- 1928: "The
Bold Dragoon" (as Lieutenant Stephen Alrik), "A South
Sea Bubble" (as Vernon Winslow), "The Gallant Hussar",
"The Constant Nymph" (as Lewis Dodd), "The Vortex
(as Nicky Lancaster)
- 1929: "The
Return of the Rat" (as Pierre 'The Rat' Boucheron)
- 1930: "Symphony
in Two Flats" (as David Kennard)
- 1931: "Once
a Lady" (as Bennett Cloud)
- 1932: "The
Lodger" (as Michel Angeloff)
- 1933: "I
Lived with You" (as Prince Felix Lenieff)
- 1934: "Autumn
Crocus" (as Andreas Steiner)
Marriage:
Never married as homosexual. He was the lover
of the British actor Bobbie Andrews for over 35 years.
Places of Interest:
BERKSHIRE:
There is a Blue Plaque on the house he lived at
"Redroofs" in Littlewick Green. The Ivor Novello Appreciation
Bureau hold a pilgrimage to Redroofs in June each year.
WALES:
Blue Plaque on his birthplace in Cowbridge Road,
Cardiff.
Date and Place of Death:
6th March 1951, London, England from a coronary
thrombosis.
Age at Death:
58.
Site of Grave:
Funeral at Golders Green Crematorium. His ashes
are buried beneath a lilac tree which has a plaque enscribed "Ivor
Novello 6th March 1951 'Till you are home once more'. There is also
a memorial plaque in the Crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
St Paul's Cathedral, London
(© Anthony Blagg)
