Vivian Ellis
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Vivian Ellis | |
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Birth name | Vivian John Herman Ellis |
Born | 29 October 1903 Hampstead, London, England, United Kingdom |
Died | 19 June 1996 (aged 92) |
Genres |
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Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, lyricist |
Instrument(s) | Piano |
Vivian John Herman Ellis, CBE (29 October 1903 – 19 June 1996) was an English musical comedy composer best known for the song "Spread a Little Happiness" and the theme "Coronation Scot".
Life and work
Ellis was born in Hampstead, London in 1903 and educated at Cheltenham College.[1] He began a musical career as a concert pianist, but became a composer and lyricist. His grandmother, Julia Woolf, had also been a concert pianist as well as composing an opera, Carina.
He had great success with the foxtrot song "Over My Shoulder" in the early 20s. This led to further contributions of pieces for several revues in the 1920s. Another hit song was his "Yale Blues" which had a dance step called the "Yale" and became a craze in 1927 both in the UK, Europe and the US.
He became well known in the
His last full-length musical, Half in Earnest, appeared in 1958. He contributed to revues for a few more years and then turned his hand to writing a series of amusing books such as How To Enjoy Your Operation.
Ellis became the President of the
Ellis as a composer was "rediscovered" in the 1980s when his 1929 musical Mr. Cinders (featuring the hit song, "Spread a Little Happiness") was revived at the King's Head Theatre in London and then transferred to the West End for a very successful run of over 500 performances . The song also charted in a version by Sting, following its ironic use in the film Brimstone and Treacle. His song "This is My Lovely Day" also appeared in the John Cleese comedy Clockwise in 1987.
Ellis's composition "Alpine Pastures" was used as the theme song for the long-running BBC radio series
In 2008, the King's Head Theatre in London announced they would present the world premiere of Godiva, a previously unproduced musical (book by Guy Bolton) written in the 1950s, but the production never materialised.
Productions
Pre-World War II
- By-the-Way (1925)
- Mercenary Mary (1925) – interpolations only into UK production
- Still Dancing (1925)
- Kid Boots (1926) – interpolations only into UK production
- Blue Skies (1927)
- Clowns in Clover revue (1927) – interpolations only
- The Girl Friend (1927) – interpolations only into UK production
- Will o' the Whisper (1928)
- Mr. Cinders (1929)
- The House That Jack Built (1929)
- Follow a Star (1930)
- Little Tommy Tucker (1930)
- Blue Roses (1931)
- Stand Up & Sing (1931)
- Song of the Drum (1931) – with Herman Finck
- Out of the Bottle (1932)
- Please (1933)
- Jill Darling (1933)
- Streamline (1934)
- The Town Talks revue (1936)
- Going Places revue (1936)
- Floodlight revue (1937)
- Hide & Seek (1937)
- The Fleets Lit Up (1938)
- Running Riot (1938)
Post World War II
- Big Ben (1946)
- Bless the Bride (1947)
- Tough at the Top (1949)
- And So To Bed (1951)
- Over the Moon (1953)
- Listen to the Wind (1954)
- The Water Gipsies (novel) (1955)
- Half in Earnest (1958)
Songs (some that have recordings)
- "Over My Shoulder"
- "The Yale Blues" (1927)
- "I'm on a See Saw"
- "Piccadilly" (1944)
- "She's My Lovely"
- "Spread a Little Happiness"
- "This is My Lovely Day"
- "Ma Belle Marguerite"
References
- "Halliwell's Who's Who of the movies" ISBN 0-06-093507-3
- "Oxford Companion to Popular Music" ISBN 0-19-280004-3
- "Directory of Popular Music" by Leslie Lowe ISBN 0-904520-70-6
- "Vivian Ellis". Robert Farnon Society. Archived from the original on 27 December 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
Notes
- ^ "Vivian Ellis". Robert Farnon Society. Archived from the original on 27 December 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2009. His date of birth is frequently given as 1904 but the Births, Marriages and Deaths Index gives 1903 as the year of registration.
- ^ "Robert Farnon Society - Cecil Milner".