Ivor Novello

Ivor Novello

IVOR NOVELLO d1951. Welsh composer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical family and his first successes were as a songwriter. His first big hit was Keep The Home Fires Burning which was enormously popular during the First World War. After the war, he contributed numbers to several successful musical comedies and was eventually commissioned to write the scores of complete shows. His 1917 show Theodore & Co was a wartime hit. During the 1920s, he turned to acting, first in British films and then on stage with considerable success in both. He starred in two silent films in 1927 (both directed by Alfred Hitchcock) The Lodger and Downhill. On stage, he played the title character in the first London production of Liliom (1926) and then briefly went to Hollywood, but he soon returned to Britain where he had more success, especially on stage appearing in his own lavish West End productions of musicals. The best known of these were Glamorous Night (1935) and The Dancing Years (1939). From the 1930s, he often performed with Zena Dare writing parts for her in his works. He continued to write for film, but he had his biggest late successes with stage musicals : Perchance To Dream (1945) / Kings Rhapsody (1949) and Gays The Word (1951). He died suddenly aged just 58 from coronary thrombosis in 1951.

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Ivor Novello

Reference Number. 14098P

£45.00

An original vintage 1940s postcard, clearly signed in ink by Ivor Novello

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Ivor Novello

Reference Number. 10900

£48.00

An original vintage circa 1930s autograph book page, clearly signed by Ivor Novello

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Ivor Novello

Reference Number. 7689

£75.00

A very good original vintage promo-postcard, clearly signed in ink by Ivor Novello.

 

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