Sid Millward

Sidney Millward (9 December 1909 – 22 February 1972) was a British musician who led the comedy band Sid Millward and His Nitwits, performing burlesques of classical music from the 1930s until the 1970s.

Biography Millward was born in London, and raised in the East End. He left school in his teens but studied woodwind at the Royal College of Music. By the mid-1930s he was known as a leading saxophone and clarinet player in swing bands, including the Jack Hylton Orchestra.

He formed his own band in 1937, naming them the Nitwits the following year. They made regular appearances on BBC radio, and became the resident band at the Café Anglais in Leicester Square. In 1950 they had their own radio show, Nitwit Serenade, and later in the decade were frequent performers on British television variety shows. Beside Millward, band members included Wally Stewart, Cyril Lagey, Charlie Rossi, Arthur Calkin, Sid Flood, Harry Coles, Ronnie Genarda and Tony Traverci. They played "wild versions of classical hits, interspersed with madcap, visual jokes", and were an influence on the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. He was buried in Puerto Rico after his widow refused to pay for his body to be repatriated.