Ivor Novello
b. David Ivor Davies, 15 January 1893, Cardiff, Wales, d. 6 March 1951, London, England. Born into a highly musical family, Novello was encouraged by his mother, a singing teacher. He took up piano and singing and quickly established a local reputation. That reputation spread throughout the UK when he was only 16, upon the publication of a song which encapsulated the feelings of many families torn apart by World War I. Setting to music a poem by the American Lena Guilbert Ford, Novello's Keep The Home Fires Burning was a huge popular success. He continued to write songs while serving in the military but in 1919 turned mainly to acting, appearing in a number of silent films. His classic profile gained him a huge following amongst the film-going public. Novello's film career continued through into the '30s; however, he kept trying to write for the stage. Not dissuaded by a 1921 flop, THE GOLDEN MOTH written with P.G. Wodehouse, he persevered. Eventually he was rewarded when he suggested to impresario H.M. Tennent that he had the skills needed to counter the transatlantic successes in the West End. Tennant, who was also deeply conscious of the equal success currently being enjoyed by Noël Coward, needed a hit show for his financially beleaguered Drury Lane Theatre. Tennant took a chance and commissioned a show from the playwright, actor and film star who was also a would-be director and manager. Despite the fact that he had not written any music for 10 years, Novello was given carte blanche. Novello promptly teamed up with lyricist Christopher Hassall and the result was the hugely popular Glamorous Night. Later shows by Novello, who often worked thereafter with Hassall, included CARELESS RAPTURE, CREST OF THE WAVE, Perchance To Dream, The Dancing Years and King's Rhapsody. With these shows Novello found and profitably mined a market for lushly sentimental music and stories of monumental banality. By customarily taking the non-singing romantic lead in his own shows,he also built a great following with the female audience, despite the fact that in his private life he was homosexual, often flagrantly so. Novello's shows helped fill London's theatres during the darkest days of World War I and he continued to write and produce new ones, amongst them ARC DE TRIOMPHEand GAY'S THE WORD. This last show, which included the song, Vitality, sung by Cecily Courtneidge, opened in London in 1951, three weeks before he died during a revival of KING'S RHAPSODY. In 1993, the centenary of his birth was celebrated by several special shows around the UK, including one at the Players Theatre in London. 
Further reading: PERCHANCE TO DREAM (THE WORLD OF IVOR NOVELLO), R. Rose. IVOR NOVELLO, S. Wilson. IVOR NOVELLO (MAN OF THE THEATRE), Peter Noble.