Ivor Novello

Ivor Novello

1893-01-15 – 1951-03-06 (age 58) Cardiff, Wales, UK
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Biography

Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh composer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century, on both screen and stage.

He was born into a musical Cardiff family and his mother, Clara Novello Davies, was an internationally known singing teacher and choral conductor. As a child, Novello was a successful singer in various eisteddfodau throughout the country. He was educated privately in Cardiff and then in Gloucester and later won a scholarship to Magdalen College School in Oxford.

The family moved to London in 1913 and here Novello's career flourished. In 1914, at the start of World War II, he wrote the words to his most popular song, "Keep the Home Fires Burning".

Novello lived in a flat above the Strand Theatre, where he remained until his death in 1951.

Since 1955 the internationally prestigious The Ivor Novello Awards ("The Ivors") for songwriting and composing are annually awarded by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).

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Known For

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog

1927

as The Lodger Jonathan Drew

Downhill
Downhill

1927

as Roddy Berwick

The White Rose
The White Rose

1923

as Joseph

The Lodger
The Lodger

1932

as Michel Angeloff

Carnival
Carnival

1921

as Count Andrea Scipione

Once a Lady
Once a Lady

1931

as Bennett Cloud

Sleeping Car
Sleeping Car

1933

as Gaston

The Rat
The Rat

1925

as Pierre Boucheron

The Return of the Rat
The Return of the Rat

1929

as Pierre Boucheron

Miarka, la fille à l'ourse
Symphony in Two Flats
Symphony in Two Flats

1930

as David Kennard

I Lived with You
I Lived with You

1933

as Prince Felix Lenieff

The Bohemian Girl
The Bohemian Girl

1922

as Thaddeus

Autumn Crocus
Autumn Crocus

1934

as Andreas Steiner

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The Gallant Hussar

1928

as Lieutenant Stephen Alrik / Feri von Noszty

The Vortex
The Vortex

1928

as Nicky Lancaster

The Constant Nymph
The Constant Nymph

1928

as Lewis Dodd

The Triumph of the Rat
The Triumph of the Rat

1926

as Pierre Boucheron, 'the Rat'

The Man Without Desire
The Man Without Desire

1923

as Count Vittorio Dandolo

The Call of the Blood
The Call of the Blood

1919

as Maurice Delarey