Born On This Day- January 15th... Gay Icon Ivor Novello

"Lovemaking is an art which must be studied & practiced."





I love this film & after seeing Robert Altman's brilliant Best Picture nominated film- Gosford Park for the 4th time, I had to explain to a friend that the character of Ivor Novello was not from the imagination of screenwriters Bob Balaban & Mr. Altman. Jeremy Northam's portrayal of the matinee idol was so effortless & elegant that it's easy to believe him to be just another one of Altman's brilliant creations. But Ivor Novello was, in fact, a major & important celebrity in the 1st half of the 20th century, the kind Cole Porter & Noel Coward personified & loved to write about: the smoking jacket wearing, martini drinking, man-about-town, & what a big surprise… Ivor Novello was gay!

He was born David Ivor Davies January 15th, 1893 in Cardiff, Wales.

Ivor Novello did it all, working on the stage to the silent screen in D.W. Griffith's The White Rose & the early Hitchcock thriller- The Lodger. He wrote popular plays such as The Rat & movies- Tarzan the Ape Man ("Me Tarzan, you Jane" was the invention of Novello). He gave Vivien Leigh her stage name, & wrote the patriotic song Keep the Home Fires Burning. He was the Andrew Lloyd Webber of the '30s & '40s, composing lush, romantic musicals- like Glamorous Night & Perchance to Dream.

He was as versatile & prolific as his friend & rival Noel Coward. Critics fell all over themselves trying to describe his romantic appeal, which proved to be as powerful to many male theatre & moviegoers as to the legions of Novello's swooning female fans. Coward himself would admit Novello could be "violently glamorous" but also "a little vulgar too”. I think that was the secret of his appeal.

In 1916, Novello met 21 year old actor Robert Andrews. They became lovers & remained together for 35 years. They appeared together in many of Ivor Novello's plays & musicals. Novello bought a house in Jamaica, near Noel Coward’s, where he & Andrews spent time together. They were devoted to each other until Novello’s death & were rarely seen without the other. In 1951, Andrews was with Ivor Novello when he died at their London flat. 10,000+ fans lined the streets of London to say good-bye, & the service was broadcast live. Noel Coward: "Ivor & Bobby are beguiling, but they also ramble on ad nauseam about 1 topic- the month Novello spent in prison in 1944 for misusing wartime petrol coupons. They forever lamented the ‘injustice’ of it all”. On Novello’s passing Coward wrote in his diary: "Another landmark swept away. Poor, poor Bobby…he will be utterly devastated.”

The Ivor Novello Awards have been given annually, since 1956, to British songwriters & music publishers. Past recipients of "Ivors" include Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Sting & Paul McCartney. Last year the fab song The Fear by Lily Allen won for best song.

In an era before there was such a thing as "openly gay," Ivor Novello lived an unapologized for life of authenticity & openness. How great is it that his last play, staged in 1951, would be titled- Gay's the Word?