Who was Ivor Novello?
Actor, writer, composer, songwriter, manager, and playwright. Date and Place of Birth: 15th January 1893, Llwyn-yr-Eos (Grove of the Nightingale in Welsh), Cowbridge Road, East, Cardiff, Wales. Christened David Ivor Davies. Family Background: His father was David Davies, a tax collector and his mother was the celebrated Welsh singing teacher, Dame Clara Novello who founded the Welsh Ladies Choir. Education: Magdalen College, Oxford. Chronology/Biography of Ivor Novello: 1915: Composition of “Keep the Home Fires Burning” 1916: He received a commission as a Sub-Lieutenant Officer in the Royal Naval Air Service and trained as a pilot. He crash landed on his first and second solo flights and he was therefore grounded and put on clerical duties for the rest of the First World War. 1917: He composed while he was still in the Navy and his musical, “Theodore & Co” became a wartime hit. 1918: Known by his stage name as Ivor Novello for the first time. 1926: He went onto the London stage occasio
