Vivian Ellis
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Vivian Ellis (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".
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Life and Work
Ellis was born in Hampstead, London in 1903, not 1904 as is usually stated. He studied the piano with Myra Hess and began a musical career as a concert pianist, but became a composer and lyricist. Initially he contributed pieces for several revues in the 1920s. He became well known in the London West End Theatres for providing the music and collaborating in the production of a large number of musical shows, spanning from 1925 to 1958. In fact he was to dominate the theatre of the 1930s having one to three shows run most years of this decade. However, in spite of his music being both pleasant and catchy, few of his compositions were recorded (with the exception of "I'm On A See-Saw" by Fats Waller and "This is my lovely day" by Lizbeth Webb and Georges Guetary, so his name became less well known after his last London production. He wrote some songs used in British films of the 1930s.
By the 1950s musical comedy had begin to fall out of fashion, and 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 Performing Right Society and in 1984 the society instituted an annual event - the Vivian Ellis Prize - to encourage young composers and lyricists to write for the musical stage. Ellis gave all the writers the same advice: "Try and put at least one hit song in every musical you write." Several of the promising writers featured in the competition went on to success, including Charles Hart who wrote lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of The Phantom of the Opera, and Philip Glassborow whose comedy musical The Great Big Radio Show! was a personal favourite.
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. The song also charted again 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 My Word and another light music composition of his, "Coronation Scot," was the signature tune for the Paul Temple series.
His grandmother was the composer Julia Woolf. His autobiography, published in 1953, is entitled "I'm on a See-Saw", named after the hit song from his musical Jill Darling.
In December 2008, the King's Head Theatre in London will present the world premiere of "Godiva", a previously unproduced musical (book by Guy Bolton) written in the 1950s.
Productions
Pre-World War II
- By-the-Way - 1925
- Mercenart Mary - 1925
- Still Dancing - 1925
- Kid Boots - 1926
- Blue Skies - 1927
- The Yale Blues - 1927
- Clowns in Clover -1927
- Girl Friend - 1927
- 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
- Out of the Bottle - 1932
- Please - 1933
- Jill Darling - 1933
- Streamline - 1934
- The Town Talks - 1936 (review)
- Going Places - 1936 (review)
- Floodlight - 1937 (review)
- 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
- The Water Gypsies - 1955
- Half in Earnest - 1958
Songs (some that have recordings)
- Over my Shoulder
- I'm on a See Saw
- She's my Lovely
- Spread a Little Happiness
- This is my Lovely Day
