Ivor Novello

Acting Jan 15, 1893 Mar 6, 1951 (aged 58) Cardiff, Wales, UK

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).

22 Acting Credits

15 Crew Credits

Ivor Novello

Acting

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog

Downhill

The Lodger

The White Rose

I Lived with You

The Bohemian Girl

Once a Lady

The Triumph of the Rat

The Return of the Rat

Autumn Crocus

The Man Without Desire

The Rat

The Vortex

Sleeping Car

Carnival

The Constant Nymph

A South Sea Bubble

Bonnie Prince Charlie

Symphony in Two Flats

The Gallant Hussar

Miarka, la fille à l'ourse

The Call of the Blood

Crew

Tarzan the Ape Man

Downhill

The Dancing Years

Free and Easy

I Lived with You

The Return of the Rat

But the Flesh Is Weak

The Rat

King's Rhapsody

The Rat

The Man Without Desire

Glamorous Night