Ivor Novello

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Ivor Novello

Ivor Novello (actually David Ivor Davies; born January 15, 1893 in Cardiff , Wales , † March 6, 1951 in London ) was a British entertainer. He became known as an actor, playwright and musical composer.

biography

He went to school in Gloucester , then from 1905 to 1909 at Magdalen College Choir School in Oxford . His mother was already active as a singer and music teacher; she founded the Welsh Ladys Choir. In 1910 he came to London and published songs for the first time under the stage name Ivor Novello. However, planning a tour in the USA and Canada in 1911 failed him. Novello first became known to the general public with his World War II song Keep the Home Fires Burning, composed in 1914 with a text by Lena Ford . From 1916 he was a pilot himself with the Royal Naval Air Service . On the side he continued to write music, for example for the successful musical comedy Theodore & Co, which premiered in 1916 .

In 1919 Ivor Novello made his film debut as an actor. After two French films by Louis Mercanton he played under the director Harley Knoles from 1921/22 in British films . Also in 1921 he made his acting debut in London's West End ; as a co-author he was successful there in 1923 with the play The Rat . In the same year he appeared in David Wark Griffith 's American film The White Rose in the leading role of the clergyman Joseph, who impregnates the orphan Bessie (played by Mae Marsh ) and then cheats.

From 1925 Ivor Novello was stylized as the male star of British film in the style of Rudolph Valentino . A successful film adaptation of Novello's play The Rat, starring Mae Marsh at Novello's side, was directed by Graham Cutts . In 1926 and 1929 two sequels of this film were released. In 1926/27 Novello worked with Alfred Hitchcock ; he played the leading roles in The Lodger and in Hitchcock's Novello film adaptation Downhill . He then made two films with director Adrian Brunel , the popular hit The Constant Nymph with Mabel Poulton and the Noël Coward film adaptation The Vortex .

In 1931/32 Novello tried unsuccessfully to gain a foothold in the USA as a screenwriter for MGM . As a performer he played there alongside Ruth Chatterton and Jill Esmond in Once a Lady (1931). Back in England he shot the first sound film remake of The Lodger (1932) with Maurice Elvey and, based on his own play, the comedy I Lived With You (1933). He made his last film appearance in 1934 in Autumn Crocus by Basil Dean .

After that, Novello devoted himself exclusively to writing and composing musicals in which he played himself. Careless Rapture (1936), The Dancing Years (1939), and Perchance to Dream (1945) were created, among others . Novello wrote his musicals in the style of operettas to libretti by Christopher Hassall (1912–1963). Some have also been filmed without his direct involvement: Glamorous Night (1937) by Brian Desmond Hurst , The Dancing Years (1948) by Harold French and King's Rhapsody (1955) directed by Herbert Wilcox .

He was in the Golders Green Crematorium in London cremated , where his ashes is located.

Others

Statue of Ivor Novello on Cardiff Bay in Wales

During World War II , Novello was convicted of illegal gasoline consumption and briefly imprisoned.

Novello was gay and known for his glamorous love affairs. He was Bobbie Andrews ' lover for 35 years and had an affair with British author Siegfried Sassoon .

The Ivor Novello Award , a prize for songwriters and composers, is named after him. The Novello Theater in London was also named after him.

Jeremy Northam played Novello in Robert Altman's Gosford Park in 2001 . The film's soundtrack consists largely of Novello's songs.

In Guy Hamilton's film Evil Under the Sun (1982) the name of Ivor Novello is in the hotel's guest book when Hercule Poirot looks for Patrick Redfern's signature towards the end of the film.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1923: The White Rose
  • 1925: The Rat of Paris (The Rat)
  • 1927: The tenant ( The Lodger )
  • 1927: Downhill ( Downhill )
  • 1928: The Constant Nymph
  • 1931: Once a Lady
  • 1932: The Lodger
  • 1933: I Lived With You

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Text from Keep the Home Fires Burning (1914) ( Memento of the original dated November 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.aftermathww1.com
  2. ↑ [1]
personal data
SURNAME Novello, Ivor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Davies, David Ivor (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Cardiff , Wales
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1951
Place of death London