Ivor Emmanuel
Encyclopedia
Ivor Lewis Emmanuel was a Welsh
musical theatre
and television
singer and actor. He led the rendition of "Men of Harlech
" in the 1964 film Zulu
.
, near Port Talbot
, Wales, and moved to Pontrhydyfen
near Port Talbot
as a young child. He was 14 years old when his father, mother, sister and grandfather were killed by a stray bomb that hit their village during World War II
. A 2001 documentary programme about the incident was made by S4C
(Channel Four Wales). His aunt Flossie took him in (his younger brother John lived with an uncle), and he began working in the coal mine like his father and grandfather before him.
He developed a keen interest in music and singing and was a member of Pontrhydyfen Operatic Society. Emmanuel used to carry a wind-up gramophone up nearby mountains to listen to recordings of Enrico Caruso.
. He took solace by drinking with an old friend Richard Burton
, who was performing in The Lady's Not for Burning at the time in London, and telling him how desperate he was to break into show business. Two weeks later a telegram arrived from Burton telling him to be at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
the following day for an audition. He was cast in the musical Oklahoma!
.
Emmanuel was eventually hired by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a chorister in March 1950, staying until August 1951 when he married fellow D'Oyly Carte chorister Jean Beazleigh. He was assigned the small role of Associate in Trial by Jury
and shared the larger one of Luiz in The Gondoliers
. He and Beazleigh had two children, a girl Sian and a boy Simon.
Emmanuel's masculine looks and ringing baritone
voice suited him for musicals
, and he soon took principal roles on the West End
. At the Drury Lane, he played Sgt. Kenneth Johnson in the hit production of South Pacific
(1951–53), then played small roles in two more long-running shows, The King and I
and Plain and Fancy
. At the London Coliseum, he finally got a leading role, playing Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees
(1957) and then played Woody Mahoney in Finian's Rainbow
in Liverpool
and on a short tour. In the 1960s, Emmanuel returned to stage performing, pantomime
and cabaret. In 1966, he appeared on Broadway
as Mr. Gruffydd, the minister, in A Time for Singing
, a musical version of Richard Llewellyn
's novel How Green Was My Valley
, but the show ran for only 41 performances. The following year he played his last West End role in 110 in the Shade
, at the Palace Theatre. He continued to play in summer seasons of theatre and in cabaret and variety, particularly at holiday resorts, into the 1980s.
singing programme called Dewch i Mewn and from 1958 to 1964 was lead singer on the TWW
show, Gwlad y Gan
('Land of Song'), acting as an older brother figure for the Pontcanna Children's Choir. The show was broadcast across the UK once a month and regularly attracted an audience of some ten million people, helping to popularize the Welsh language. Emmanuel later performed on, and was an interviewer for, other TWW shows.
In May 1960, Emmanuel performed in the first televised edition of the Royal Variety Performance
. Other performers at that performance included The Crazy Gang
, Benny Hill
, Frankie Howerd
, Vera Lynn
, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole
and Liberace
. He continued, through the 1970s, to make numerous television appearance.
Emmanuel's record output included the 1959 studio cast recordings of Show Boat
, Kiss Me Kate
and The King and I, and the 1966 Broadway
original cast recording of A Time for Singing as David Griffith (Gruffydd). He is also featured on the five-disc box set, The Greatest Musicals of the 20th Century, where it says of him, "one singer who really stands out on this volume is the Welsh baritone Ivor Emmanuel .... [h]e was of the same era and very much in the fine tradition of the great American musical theatre baritones: Howard Keel
, John Raitt
and Gordon Macrae
." He was featured as Frederic on the 1966 RCA Victrola
recording of The Pirates of Penzance
, which starred Martyn Green
. He also made his own album of 24 songs, The Best of Ivor Emmanuel.
In 1964, Emmanuel appeared as "Private Owen" in the epic film Zulu
, which launched the career of Michael Caine
. Emmanuel's character rallies the outnumbered British soldiers on the barricade at Rorke's Drift
in 1879 by leading the men in the stirring Welsh battle hymn Men of Harlech
to counter the Zulu war chants. The same year, he married actress Patricia Bredin
, but they had no children, and the marriage ended in divorce less than two years later. He later married Malinee Oppenborn, and the couple had one daughter, Emily.
on Spain
’s Costa del Sol, in 1984 with his wife. There he was filmed for an HTV television profile, Its My Life: Man of Song (broadcast on 14 July 1997). In 1991, Emmanuel lost his life's savings of £220,000 in the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
. In 2006, he appeared in a BBC TV documentary with fellow Welsh singer Bryn Terfel
. Emmanuel died of a stroke in Malaga, aged 79. He was survived by his wife, Malinee, and his three children.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
singer and actor. He led the rendition of "Men of Harlech
Men of Harlech
"Men of Harlech" or "The March of the Men of Harlech" is a song and military march which is traditionally said to describe events during the seven year long siege of Harlech Castle between 1461 and 1468. Commanded by Constable Dafydd ap Ieuan, the garrison held out in what is the longest known...
" in the 1964 film Zulu
Zulu (film)
Zulu is a 1964 historical war film depicting the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulus in January 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War....
.
Life and career
Emmanuel was born in MargamMargam
Margam is a suburb of Port Talbot in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway.- History :...
, near Port Talbot
Port Talbot
Port Talbot is a town in Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.-History:Port Talbot grew out of the original small port and market town of Aberafan , which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan. The area of the parish of Margam lying on the west bank of the lower Afan...
, Wales, and moved to Pontrhydyfen
Pontrhydyfen
Pontrhydyfen is a small village in the Afan Valley, in Neath Port Talbot county borough in Wales.-Location:It is situated in the Afan Valley at , at the confluence of the River Afan and the smaller Afon Pelenna, 1.8 miles north of the larger village of Cwmafan and not far from the towns of Port...
near Port Talbot
Port Talbot
Port Talbot is a town in Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.-History:Port Talbot grew out of the original small port and market town of Aberafan , which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan. The area of the parish of Margam lying on the west bank of the lower Afan...
as a young child. He was 14 years old when his father, mother, sister and grandfather were killed by a stray bomb that hit their village during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A 2001 documentary programme about the incident was made by S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
(Channel Four Wales). His aunt Flossie took him in (his younger brother John lived with an uncle), and he began working in the coal mine like his father and grandfather before him.
He developed a keen interest in music and singing and was a member of Pontrhydyfen Operatic Society. Emmanuel used to carry a wind-up gramophone up nearby mountains to listen to recordings of Enrico Caruso.
Stage career
At the age of 20, Emmanuel unsuccessfully auditioned for The D'Oyly Carte Opera CompanyD'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
. He took solace by drinking with an old friend Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
, who was performing in The Lady's Not for Burning at the time in London, and telling him how desperate he was to break into show business. Two weeks later a telegram arrived from Burton telling him to be at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
the following day for an audition. He was cast in the musical Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
.
Emmanuel was eventually hired by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as a chorister in March 1950, staying until August 1951 when he married fellow D'Oyly Carte chorister Jean Beazleigh. He was assigned the small role of Associate in Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
and shared the larger one of Luiz in The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances , closing on 30 June 1891...
. He and Beazleigh had two children, a girl Sian and a boy Simon.
Emmanuel's masculine looks and ringing baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
voice suited him for musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, and he soon took principal roles on the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. At the Drury Lane, he played Sgt. Kenneth Johnson in the hit production of South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
(1951–53), then played small roles in two more long-running shows, The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
and Plain and Fancy
Plain and Fancy
Plain and Fancy is a musical comedy with a book by Joseph Stein and Will Glickman, lyrics by Arnold Horwitt, and music by Albert Hague. One of the first depictions of an Amish community in American pop culture, it includes a traditional barn-raising and an old-fashioned country...
. At the London Coliseum, he finally got a leading role, playing Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
(1957) and then played Woody Mahoney in Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow is a musical with a book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane. The 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances. Several revivals and a 1968 film version followed. A Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009 until January 17, 2010...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and on a short tour. In the 1960s, Emmanuel returned to stage performing, pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
and cabaret. In 1966, he appeared on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
as Mr. Gruffydd, the minister, in A Time for Singing
A Time for Singing
A Time for Singing is a musical with music by John Morris, lyrics by Gerald Freedman and John Morris, and a book by Gerald Freedman and John Morris. The work was based on Richard Llewellyn's novel of a Welsh mining village, How Green Was My Valley...
, a musical version of Richard Llewellyn
Richard Llewellyn
Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd , better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd (8 December 1906 – 30 November 1983), better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd...
's novel How Green Was My Valley
How Green Was My Valley
How Green Was My Valley is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, telling the story through narration of the main character, of his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed to have based the book on his own knowledge of the Gilfach Goch area, but this was proven...
, but the show ran for only 41 performances. The following year he played his last West End role in 110 in the Shade
110 in the Shade
110 in the Shade is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt.Based on Nash's 1954 play The Rainmaker, it focuses on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American southwest, and her relationships with local sheriff File, a cautious...
, at the Palace Theatre. He continued to play in summer seasons of theatre and in cabaret and variety, particularly at holiday resorts, into the 1980s.
Concerts, recordings, broadcast and film
Emmanuel also had a successful career as a popular concert and recording artist and television personality. During the late 1950s, he made his breakthrough into television. He took part in a Welsh languageWelsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
singing programme called Dewch i Mewn and from 1958 to 1964 was lead singer on the TWW
TWW
TWW may refer to:* Television Wales and the West, a commercial television contractor serving Wales and England from 1958-1968* TheWolfWeb, an internet message board for students at North Carolina State University...
show, Gwlad y Gan
Gwlad y Gan
Gwlad y Gan was a monthly television series that ran from 1958 to 1964 featuring traditional Welsh music and song. The programme aired on Sunday evenings with costumed performers and choreography....
('Land of Song'), acting as an older brother figure for the Pontcanna Children's Choir. The show was broadcast across the UK once a month and regularly attracted an audience of some ten million people, helping to popularize the Welsh language. Emmanuel later performed on, and was an interviewer for, other TWW shows.
In May 1960, Emmanuel performed in the first televised edition of the Royal Variety Performance
Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...
. Other performers at that performance included The Crazy Gang
The Crazy Gang
The Crazy Gang were a group of British entertainers, formed in the early 1930s. In the mature form the group's six men were Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, Jimmy Nervo, Teddy Knox, Charlie Naughton and Jimmy Gold...
, Benny Hill
Benny Hill
Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:...
, Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
, Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...
, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
and Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
. He continued, through the 1970s, to make numerous television appearance.
Emmanuel's record output included the 1959 studio cast recordings of Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
, Kiss Me Kate
Kiss Me Kate
Kiss Me Kate was a British sitcom that ran from 1998 until 2000. It followed the everyday life of a woman counsellor, Kate , who must not only manage her clients' problems, but must also help her neighbours and unsuccessful business partner, Douglas, played by Chris Langham. Amanda Holden played...
and The King and I, and the 1966 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
original cast recording of A Time for Singing as David Griffith (Gruffydd). He is also featured on the five-disc box set, The Greatest Musicals of the 20th Century, where it says of him, "one singer who really stands out on this volume is the Welsh baritone Ivor Emmanuel .... [h]e was of the same era and very much in the fine tradition of the great American musical theatre baritones: Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
, John Raitt
John Raitt
John Emmett Raitt was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theater.-Early years:...
and Gordon Macrae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
." He was featured as Frederic on the 1966 RCA Victrola
RCA Victrola
RCA Victrola was a budget label introduced by RCA Victor in the early 1960s to reissue classical recordings originally issued on the RCA Victor "Red Seal" label. The name "Victrola" came from the early console phonographs marketed by the Victor Talking Machine Company...
recording of The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, which starred Martyn Green
Martyn Green
William Martyn-Green , better known as Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his work as principal comedian in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, which he performed and recorded with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and other troupes.After army service in World War I,...
. He also made his own album of 24 songs, The Best of Ivor Emmanuel.
In 1964, Emmanuel appeared as "Private Owen" in the epic film Zulu
Zulu (film)
Zulu is a 1964 historical war film depicting the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulus in January 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War....
, which launched the career of Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
. Emmanuel's character rallies the outnumbered British soldiers on the barricade at Rorke's Drift
Rorke's Drift
The Battle of Rorke's Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was a battle in the Anglo-Zulu War. The defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, immediately followed the British Army's defeat at the Battle of...
in 1879 by leading the men in the stirring Welsh battle hymn Men of Harlech
Men of Harlech
"Men of Harlech" or "The March of the Men of Harlech" is a song and military march which is traditionally said to describe events during the seven year long siege of Harlech Castle between 1461 and 1468. Commanded by Constable Dafydd ap Ieuan, the garrison held out in what is the longest known...
to counter the Zulu war chants. The same year, he married actress Patricia Bredin
Patricia Bredin
Patricia Bredin is a British actress and one-time singer from Hull, England, who was best known as the very first United Kingdom representative in the Eurovision Song Contest. She took part in the 1957 contest, held in Frankfurt, and finished in seventh place out of ten entries with the song All,...
, but they had no children, and the marriage ended in divorce less than two years later. He later married Malinee Oppenborn, and the couple had one daughter, Emily.
Retirement and death
Emmanuel retired to a quiet life in Benalmadena, a village near MalagaMálaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
on Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
’s Costa del Sol, in 1984 with his wife. There he was filmed for an HTV television profile, Its My Life: Man of Song (broadcast on 14 July 1997). In 1991, Emmanuel lost his life's savings of £220,000 in the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak...
. In 2006, he appeared in a BBC TV documentary with fellow Welsh singer Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....
. Emmanuel died of a stroke in Malaga, aged 79. He was survived by his wife, Malinee, and his three children.