Anthony Newley

Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, director, comedian, singer, and composer. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. Newley won the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "What Kind of Fool Am I?", sung by Sammy Davis Jr., and wrote "Feeling Good", which became a signature hit for Nina Simone. His songs have been sung by a wide variety of singers including Fiona Apple, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé, and Mariah Carey.

With songwriting partner Leslie Bricusse, Newley was nominated for an Academy Award for the film score of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), featuring "Pure Imagination", which has been recorded by dozens of singers. He collaborated with John Barry on the title song for the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964), sung by Shirley Bassey. An "icon of the early 1960s", his TV series The Strange World of Gurney Slade "continues to have a cult following due to its advanced postmodern premise that [he] is trapped inside a television programme."

Described by The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums as "among the most innovative UK acts of the early rock years before moving into musicals and cabaret", Newley was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989. He was of Jewish descent through his maternal grandmother.

When his parents separated, his aunt and uncle brought him up through unofficial adoption.

Newley attended Clapton Park Lower School, now named Mandeville Primary School, which today recognises him as an alumnus with an official plaque. Although recognised as very bright by his teachers, by the age of fourteen he had left education and was working as an office boy for an advertising agency in Fleet Street called Hannaford and Goodman.

Prompted by an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph entitled "Boy Actors Urgently Wanted", he applied to the Italia Conti Stage School, only to discover that the fees were too high. Nevertheless, after a brief audition, he was offered a job as an office boy on a salary of 30 shillings a week plus tuition at the school. While serving tea one afternoon he caught the eye of producer Geoffrey de Barkus, who cast Newley as the title character in the children's film serial Dusty Bates (a.k.a. The Adventures of Dusty Bates, 1947).

During the 1950s, Newley made twenty-seven movies for J. Arthur Rank, many of them in the United States, "comfortably transitioning from child to adult actor". He was under contract for many years to Warwick Productions who built him into a star.

He also had to spend two years in the UK military in what was then called "national service".

During the decade, Newley appeared in many British radio programmes, including as Cyril in Floggits, which starred Elsie and Doris Waters, and also "became increasingly involved with the theatre." His 1961 version of the traditional "Pop Goes the Weasel" hit #12 on the UK charts.

TV work, music stardom The ATV series The Strange World of Gurney Slade (1960) starred Newley, who was also its creator. A comedy series of six half-hour programmes, it develops from a premise established in the opening scene: Newley's character escapes from a television programme which is Gurney Slade itself. Now considered ahead of its time, the series was quickly moved from a peak-time slot.

His career as both a singer and a songwriter quickly went from strength to strength. In 1963, Newley won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for having penned "What Kind of Fool Am I?" That year he also had a hit comedy album called Fool Britannia!, the result of improvisational satires of the British Profumo scandal of the time by a team of Newley, his then wife Joan Collins, and Peter Sellers. It peaked at number 10 in the UK Albums Chart in October 1963.

Stage and screen Throughout the 1960s, Newley enjoyed sustained success on London's West End theatre, on Broadway, in Hollywood films, and on British and American television. He and Bricusse also wrote musicals. Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, in which Newley also performed, earned him nomination for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. A hit in London and on Broadway, and he also played the repressed English businessman opposite Sandy Dennis in the original Sweet November (1968). He hosted Lucille Ball's character on a whirlwind tour of London in Lucy in London (1966). He performed in the autobiographical, Fellini-esque and X-rated Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969), which he also directed and co-wrote with Herman Raucher. The film is "a surrealist sex-drenched disaster that could only ever have been made in the more free-wheeling Sixties", and starred his then-wife, Joan Collins, who said that his self-serving behaviour prompted her to get a divorce.

Newley also directed the 1971 film Summertree, starring Michael Douglas and Brenda Vaccaro. He appeared as Quilp in Mister Quilp (1975) (based on Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop), for which he composed the songs (including 'Love Has the Longest Memory of All'). His last feature role, as Vince Watson in the cast of the long-running British TV soap opera EastEnders, was to have been a regular role, but Newley had to withdraw after a few months when his health began to fail.

Newley's contributions to Christmas music are highlighted by his rendition of the "Coventry Carol" which appears on many anthologies. He also wrote and recorded a novelty Christmas song called "Santa Claus is Elvis", and recorded an album of spoken poetry.

Later life In the early 1970s, Newley became a tax exile and went to live in Florida. He remained active throughout that decade, particularly as a Las Vegas and Catskills Borscht Belt resort performer, game show panelist (such as on Hollywood Squares) and talk show guest. Newley was "among the top five cabaret acts in America for some years", but gradually his career foundered. A planned Broadway opening was canceled after the production lost $4 million.

Personal life Newley was married three times. His first marriage was to Ann Lynn from 1956 to 1963 with whom he had one son, Simon, who died in infancy from a congenital infirmity.

Newley began a relationship with actress Anneke Wills in 1962 when she was 17 and working with him on the TV series The Strange World of Gurney Slade. In an interview, she recalled moving in with Newley, and listening to The Goons together. Unbeknown to Wills, Newley was still legally married to his first wife; Wills fell pregnant and Newley instructed her to have an abortion. Wills became pregnant a second time and gave birth to a daughter, Polly in 1963. By the time of Polly’s birth, Newley and Wills had separated after Wills discovered Newley was having an affair with Joan Collins. Newley did not want anything to do with Polly, and after Newley and Wills separated, Polly was brought up by Wills and her new partner, and later husband, Michael Gough, who legally adopted her. Polly died in a car accident in 1982 at the age of 19, always believing that Gough was her biological father.

Although separated, Newley then divorced Lynn and in 1963, he married Collins. The couple had two children, Tara Newley and Alexander (Sacha) Newley. They separated in 1969 after Collins discovered that Newley had embarked on numerous affairs throughout their marriage, and they divorced in 1971.

With the help of a detective, Newley searched for and found his father, George Kirby. His mother then "began a correspondence with her long lost love." Newley flew him out to Los Angeles and bought them a house, where they lived until George died.

Death and legacy Newley died on 14 April 1999, in Jensen Beach, Florida, from renal cancer at the age of 67. He was said to have died in the arms of his companion, the designer Gina Fratini.

Books, recordings tributes Newley's life is the subject of a biography by Garth Bardsley called Stop the World (London: Oberon, 2003). 2013 saw the publication of Dear Tony, a book about a long-lasting friendship with a young American woman with whom he fell in love.

Amongst the many compilations of his recordings are Anthony Newley: The Decca Years (1959–1964), Once in a Lifetime: The Anthony Newley Collection (1960–71), and Anthony Newley's Greatest Hits (Deram). In May 2010, Stage Door Records released a compilation of unreleased Newley recordings entitled Newley Discovered. Produced with the Anthony Newley Society and Newley's family, the album contains the concept recordings for Newley's self-penned film musicals Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Mr. Quilp.

Pure Imagination: The World of Anthony Newley and Leslie Briccuse, devised and directed by Bruce Kimmel, opened at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, California, on 7 December 2013.

David Bowie Newley was an early influence on musician David Bowie, who was a fan of his. The producer of Bowie's first album, Mike Vernon, described his first impression of Bowie as "a young Anthony Newley". Rolling Stone noted that Bowie's singing on the album was "delivered in an overenunciating voice that was deeply indebted to popular English actor-singer Anthony Newley." Regarding the influence, Newley himself stated in 1992: "I always made fun of it, in a sense. Most of my records ended in a stupid giggle, trying to tell people that I wasn't being serious. I think Bowie liked that irreverent thing, and his delivery was very similar to mine, that Cockney thing."

Discography

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Albums

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Studio albums + Date !! Title !! Label !! Cat. No. !! UK

+ Date A-Side B-Side Record Label Cat. No. Peak chart positions Album UK US US AC Apr 1959 "I've Waited So Long" "Sat'day Night Rock-a-Boogie" UK: Decca US: London UK: F11127 US: 1871 3 Non-album Single May 1959 "Idle on Parade" "Idle Rock-A-Boogie" Decca F11137 Jun 1959 "Personality" "My Blue Angel" Decca F11142 6 Sep 1959 "Someone to Love" "It's All Over" Decca F11163 Jan 1960 "Why" "Anything You Wanna Do" Decca F11194 1 Mar 1960 "Do You Mind?" "Girls Were Made to Love And Kiss" UK: Decca US: London UK: F11220 US: 1918 1 91 Jul 1960 "If She Should Come to You" "Lifetime of Happiness" UK: Decca US: London UK: F11254 US: 1929 4 67 Nov 1960 "Strawberry Fair" "A Boy Without a Girl" Decca F11295 3 Mar 1961 "And the Heavens Cried" "Lonely Boy and Pretty Girl" Decca F11331 6 Jun 1961 "Pop Goes the Weasel" "Bee Bom" Decca F11362 12 Tony Oct 1961 "Pop Goes the Weasel" "Gone With the Wind" London 9501 85 Jul 1961 "What Kind of Fool Am I?" "Once in a Lifetime" Decca F11376 36 Stop The World - I Want To Get Off Jul 1962 "What Kind of Fool Am I" "Gonna Build A Mountain" London Records 45-LON 9546 85 Jan 1962 "D-Darling" "I'll Walk Beside You" Decca F11419 25 Non-album Single Feb 1962 "Yes! We Have No Bananas" "When Your Lover Has Gone" London Records 45-9512 Apr 1962 "Why" "What Now My Love" London Records 45-LON 9518 Jun 1962 "Deep River" "Letters To My Love" London Records 45-9531 Jul 1962 "That Noise" "The Little Golden Clown" Decca F11486 34 Apr 1963 "There's No Such Thing As Love" "She's Just Another Girl" Decca F11636 Oct 1963 "I Saw Her Standing There" "I Love Everything About You" London Records XAM 5202 Nov 1963 "The Father of Girls" "I Love Everything About You" Decca F11767 Jan 1964 "Tribute" "Lament to a Hero" Decca F11818 Jan 1964 "Young Only Yesterday" "The Father Of Girls" London Records 45-LON XAM 5205-V Non-album Promo Single Apr 1964 "Solitude" "I'll Teach You How to Cry" Decca F11883 In My Solitude Nov 1964 "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" "The Joker" RCA Victor 47-8485 Who Can I Turn To And Other Songs From "The Roar Of The Greasepaint" Mar 1966 "Why Can't You Try to Didgeridoo" "Is There a Way Back to Your Arms" RCA Victor RCA 1518 US: RCA 47-8785 Non-album Single Sep 1967 "Something in Your Smile" "I Think I Like You" RCA Victor RCA1637 Anthony Newley Sings The Songs From Doctor Dolittle Feb 1968 "Sweet November" "Sara's Theme" (Michael Legrand) Warner Bros. Records 7174 Non-album Single Jun 1969 "I'm All I Need" "When You Gotta Go" MCA Records MU 1061 Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness 1969 "Chalk And Cheese" — Duchess Music Corp. UD-101 Non-album Demo Single May 1971 "The Candy Man" "Pure Imagination" MGM Records K-14252 Pure Imagination Jan 1971 "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" MGM Records K14220 Non-album Promo Single Sep 1972 "The Good Old Bad Old Days" "Mister Sniffles" Columbia DB 8933 Ain't It Funny Jun 1974 "Long Live Love" "Long Live Love" MGM Records M 14724 Non-album Promo Single 1976 "Teach the Children" "Shelby" United Artists UA-XW825-Y 12 The Singer And His Songs 1977 "Hollywood Seven" "Lunch With A Friend" United Artists UA-XW1012 Non-album Single

1966 "Moogies Bloogies" (recorded with Delia Derbyshire) [unreleased demo]

EPs

+ Date Title A-side B-side Record label Cat. No. UK Album Mar 1959 Idle on Parade 1 – "I've Waited So Long" 2 – "Idle Rock-a-boogie" 1 – "Idle on Parade" 2 – "Sat'day Night Rock-a-Boogie" Decca DFE6566 13 Non-album EPs Feb 1960 Tony's Hits 1 – "Why" 2 – "Anything You Wanna Do" 1 – "Personality" 2 – "My Blue Angel" Decca DFE6629 Aug 1960 More Hits from Tony 1 – "If She Should Come to You" 2 – "Girls Were Made to Love and Kiss" 1 – "Do You Mind" 2 – "Lifetime of Happiness" Decca DFE6655 1960 1 – "C'es Pour Toi" 2 – "Basin Street Blues" 1 – "La Montagne" 2 – "Petite Reine" Decca 450 976 Oct 1961 This Time the Dream's on Me 1 – "Gone with the Wind" 2 – "This Time the Dream's on Me" 1 – "It's the Talk of the Town" 2 – "What's the Good About Goodbye?" Decca DFE6687 Love Is A Now And Then Thing Sep 1963 Fool Britannia – Volume One 1 – "Whatever Happened To John & Martia" (Joan Collins, Peter Sellers, + Tony Newley) 2 – "Vice - Italian Style" (Peter Sellers + Dan Massey) 3 – "We Are Not Amused" (Peter Sellers + Dan Massey) 1 – "There's No Business Like No Business" (Tony Newley, Peter Sellers, Joan Collins, + Mike Lipton) 2 – "Two Old Ladies Locked In Conversation" (Peter Sellers + Tony Newley) Ember Records EMB E.P 4530 Fool Britannia Sep 1963 More Fool Britannia 1 – "There Goes That Song Again" (Leslie Bricusse + Tony Newley) 2 – "The Secret Service" (Peter Sellers + Tony Newley) 1 – "Countess Interruptus" (Joan Collins + Peter Sellers) 2 – "The House That Mac Built" (Peter Sellers, Tony Newley + Leslie Bricusse) Ember Records EMB E.P. 4531 Dec 1970 1 – "You And Me-Inevitable" 2 – "I Am A Fool" 1 – "Will The Windows Continue To Mock Me" 2 – "Memoria" Bell Records 957-EP For You

Recordings of musicals

+ Date Title Type Role Label Cat. No. Format Sep 1955 Cranks Original London Cast Album performer HMV CLP1082 LP Aug 1961 Stop the World I Want to Get Off! Original Broadway Cast Album writer and performer London 8001 LP, Reel Mar 1965 The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd Original Broadway Cast Album writer and performer RCA Victor 1109 LP, Reel 1966 Stop the World I Want to Get Off! Film Musical Soundtrack writer Warner Bros 1643 LP, Reel Dec 1967 Doctor Dolittle Original Film Musical Soundtrack performer Stateside 10214 LP, 8T, Reel May 1969 Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness Original Film Musical Soundtrack writer and performer Kapp KRS-5509 LP, 8T, Reel Jul 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Original Film Musical Soundtrack writer Paramount 6012 LP, 8T 1972 The Good Old Bad Old Days Original London Cast Album writer and performer EMI EMA 751, 1E 064 ◦ 05258 LP, 8T 1974 Mr. Quilp Original Film Musical Soundtrack writer and performer CHAP-12574 LP 1978 The Travelling Music Show Original London Cast Album writer and performer CBS CBS70156 LP, CC 1994 Scrooge Original London Cast Recording performer TER MUS C N26 CD, CC 1995 Music And Songs From Fiddler On The Roof performer Castle Pulse PLS CD 569 CD

Theatre Cranks (26 November 1956 – 29 December 1956) – Bijou Theatre (performer) Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (3 October 1962 – 7 September 1963) – Shubert Theatre / (9 September 1963 – 1 February 1964) Ambassador Theatre (music & lyrics, book, director, performer) The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd (16 May 1965 – 4 December 1965) – Shubert Theatre (music & lyrics, book, director, performer) Anthony Newley / Henry Mancini (31 October 1974 – 10 November 1974) – Uris Theatre (performer) Chaplin (12 August 1983 – 24 September 1983) – Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles (performer) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (23 April 2017 – 14 January 2018) – Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (music & lyrics songs from the motion picture)

Filmography

Henry V (1944) as Boy in English Camp (uncredited) Dusty Bates (1947) as Dusty Bates The Little Ballerina (1948) as Johnny Vice Versa (1948) as Dick Bultitude/Paul Bultitude Oliver Twist (1948) as the Artful Dodger The Guinea Pig (1948) as Miles Minor Vote for Huggett (1949) as Dudley A Boy, a Girl and a Bike (1949) as Charlie Ritchie Don't Ever Leave Me (1949) as Jimmy Knowles Madeleine (1950) as Chemist's Assistant (uncredited) Highly Dangerous (1950) as Operator (uncredited) Top of the Form (1953) as Percy Those People Next Door (1953) as Bob Twigg Up to His Neck (1954) as Tommy Above Us the Waves (1955) as Engineer, X2 The Blue Peter (1955) as Fred Starling The Cockleshell Heroes (1955) as Marine Clarke Port Afrique (1956) as Pedro The Last Man to Hang (1956) as Cyril Gaskin The Battle of the River Plate (1956) as Radio Operator, Tairoa, Prisoner on Graf Spee (uncredited) X the Unknown (1956) as LCpl. 'Spider' Webb The Good Companions (1957) as Mulbrau Fire Down Below (1957) as Miguel How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957) as Edward High Flight (1957) as Roger Endicott No Time to Die (1958) as Noakes The Man Inside (1958) as Ernesto The Lady Is a Square (1959) as Freddy Idol on Parade (1959) as Jeep Jackson The Bandit of Zhobe (1959) as Cpl. Stokes The Heart of a Man (1959) as Johnnie Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) as Hooky Hook Jazz Boat (1960) as Bert Harris Let's Get Married (1960) as Dickie Bird In the Nick (1960) as Dr. Newcombe The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963) as Sammy 'Lee' Leeman Doctor Dolittle (1967) as Matthew Mugg Sweet November (1968) as Charlie Blake Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969) as Hieronymus Merkin Summertree (director, 1971) It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975) as Sweeney The Old Curiosity Shop (1975) as Daniel Quilp Alice in Wonderland (1985) as The Mad Hatter Stagecoach (1986) as Trevor Peacock The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987) as Captain Manzini Coins in the Fountain (1990) as Alfred Polly Comin' Home (Made for TV, 1990) as Dabney Mayhew Boris and Natasha: The Movie (1992) as Sal Manelli Gone to Seed (1992) as DI Keet

Awards and nominations YearAward CategoryWorkResult 1963 Grammy Awards Song of the Year "What Kind of Fool Am I?" Best Solo Vocal Performance, Male Best Original Cast Show Album Stop the World – I Want to Get Off Tony Awards Best Author (Musical) Best Original Score Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 1965 Best Original Score The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd Best Direction of a Musical Theatre World Award Best Original Score Grammy Awards Song of the Year "Who Can I Turn To?" 1970 Writers' Guild of Great Britain Best British Original Screenplay Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? 1972 Academy Awards Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory