Ivor Novello won acclaim for Wales throughout the
world, yet the only memorial to him in his homeland
is a blue plaque on the wall of the Cardiff house where
he was born. The Wales Appeal will commemorate
Ivor Novello, world famous actor, composer and writer,
with a statue to be located in Cardiff Bay outside the
Wales Millennium Centre.
Ivor Novello was a film idol in the USA and Britain, appearing in more than twenty films, and equally
successful as a stage actor in
dramas, comedies and, in 1938, as
Shakespeare’s Henry V.
He also wrote reviews, dramas
and film scripts, but his talent
shone brightest in his song writing,
his musical plays and comedies.
His long string of successes
included Glamorous Night (1935),
Careless Rapture (1936),
The Dancing Years (1939), followed
after the war with the hugely
popular Perchance to Dream and
King’s Rhapsody that had Britain,
and the world, singing. |
He died in 1951 in his flat above
London’s Strand theatre, a few
hours after performing the lead in
King’s Rhapsody.
War time pilot: In the first world war, after composing one of the most moving war songs ever written, Keep the home fires burning, Ivor Novello entertained the troops on the Western front and served as a
pilot in the Royal Naval Air Service,
surviving two crash landings.
Statue Appeal The magnificent twelve feet high bronze statue will be
sited in the plaza, outside the Wales Millennium Centre,
Cardiff Bay.
“We’re nearly halfway to reaching
our target of £85,000 to complete
the sculpture,” said the man who
started the Novello Appeal,
Hilary David. He commissioned
the sculpture and started the
fundraising effort.
You can help us realise this dream
by making a generous donation to
the sculpture fund and join us in
celebrating one of Wales’s most
acclaimed stars of stage, screen and
musical theatre. |
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