Ivor Novello was one of the most successful British composer/performers from the period of the 1920s until his death in 1951. A successful songwriter, composer, playwright, and stage and screen actor, in England he was as varied and popular a talent as Noël Coward, although as a playwright his work tended more toward lighter, more romantic fare, and utilized more archaic forms than Coward's creations. Born David Ivor Davies in Cardiff, Wales, in 1893, he was the son of David Davies, a government official, and Clara Novello, a renowned music teacher and chorus leader. Their son...