17 Facts About Ivor Novello

1. On 27 June 2009, a statue of Ivor Novello was unveiled outside the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay.

2. In 2005, the Strand Theatre, above which Ivor Novello lived for many years, was renamed the Novello Theatre, with a plaque in his honour set at the entrance.

3. Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting, established in 1955 in Novello's memory, are awarded each year by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors to British songwriters and composers as well as to an outstanding international music writer.

4. Ivor Novello was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium, and his ashes are buried beneath a lilac bush and marked with a plaque that reads "Ivor Novello 6th March 1951 'Till you are home once more'.

5. Ivor Novello died suddenly from a coronary thrombosis at the age of 58, a few hours after completing a performance in the run of King's Rhapsody.

6. Ivor Novello had written no role for himself; the show starred the comedy actress Cicely Courtneidge and was a departure from his established pattern, balancing the contrasting styles of European operetta and post-war American musicals.

7. Ivor Novello presented only two new shows during the Second World War.

8. Ivor Novello accepted a contract to write for and appear in MGM films.

9. Ivor Novello renamed the property Redroofs, and he entertained there famously and with little regard for convention.

10. Ivor Novello wrote, "I just felt suddenly conscious of the long way I had to go before I could break into the magic atmosphere in which he moved and breathed with such nonchalance".

11. Ivor Novello continued to write songs while serving in the RNAS.

12. Ivor Novello avoided enlistment until June 1916, when he reported to a Royal Naval Air Service training depot as a probationary flight sub-lieutenant.

13. Ivor Novello adopted part of his mother's maiden name, "Novello" as his professional surname, although he did not change it legally until 1927.

14. Ivor Novello was educated privately in Cardiff and then in Gloucester, where he studied harmony and counterpoint with Herbert Brewer, the cathedral organist.

15. Ivor Novello continued to write for film, but he had his biggest late successes with stage musicals: Perchance to Dream, King's Rhapsody (1949) and Gay's the Word (1951).

16. Ivor Novello starred in two silent films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, The Lodger and Downhill.

17. Ivor Novello wrote his musicals in the style of operetta and often composed his music to the libretti of Christopher Hassall.