David Heneker
Encyclopedia
David Heneker was a writer and composer of British popular music and musicals, best known for creating the music and lyrics
for Half a Sixpence
.
, England
in March 1906, the eldest son of the Canadian
-born Lieutenant Colonel
William Heneker
, a notable military strategist and tactician, who would later serve with distinction in World War I
, rising to the rank of General
.
Educated at Wellington
and Sandhurst
, Heneker followed his father into a military career. He served as a cavalry officer in the British Army
from 1925 to 1937, and again in the War Office
from 1939 to 1948, attaining the rank of Brigadier
. He became drawn to a second career in music after becoming familiar with the score of Noel Coward
's Bitter Sweet
while recuperating from a riding accident in 1934. His first published song was performed by Merle Oberon
in the film The Broken Melody
. Among his compositions was the Gracie Fields
wartime hit The Thing-Ummy Bob
. After resigning his commission in 1948, he became a lounge singer at the Embassy Club, while continuing his songwriting. In 1958, the writer Wolf Mankowitz
invited Heneker to work with him and Monty Norman
on the score of Expresso Bongo
, and from that point on, Heneker turned his talents to the musical theatre
, producing a series of West End
hit shows. The same year, he contributed the English lyrics to the 1956 Marguerite Monnot
French musical Irma La Douce
. The show transferred to Broadway two years later and was nominated for a Tony Award
. After collaborating again with Norman on Make Me An Offer in 1959, Heneker saw his greatest West End triumphs with the full score to the Tommy Steele
vehicle Half a Sixpence
(1963) and a collaboration with John Taylor on Charlie Girl
(1965). Half a Sixpence gave him his second Broadway success, this time earning two Tony Award nominations, for Best Musical
and Best Original Score
, while Charlie Girl enjoyed a five-year West End run. He was the first British writer to have two shows on Broadway which ran for more than 500 performances. Jorrocks (1966) and Popkiss (1972) were less successful, but he returned to form in his mid-70s with the charming The Biograph Girl
in 1980, collaborating again with his Charlie Girl partner Taylor. His final musical, 1984's Peg, a musical version of the 1913 comedy Peg O' My Heart was less successful.
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
for Half a Sixpence
Half a Sixpence
Half a Sixpence is a musical comedy written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele.It is based on H.G. Wells's novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul...
.
Life and career
Heneker was born in SouthseaSouthsea
Southsea is a seaside resort located in Portsmouth at the southern end of Portsea Island in the county of Hampshire in England. Southsea is within a mile of Portsmouth's city centre....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in March 1906, the eldest son of the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-born Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
William Heneker
William Heneker
General Sir William Charles Giffard Heneker KCB KCMG DSO was a Canadian born and educated soldier who served with the British Army in West Africa, India, and then later on the western front during the First World War...
, a notable military strategist and tactician, who would later serve with distinction in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, rising to the rank of General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
.
Educated at Wellington
Wellington School, Somerset
Wellington School is a British co-educational independent school in Wellington, Somerset, England catering for both day pupils and boarders. There are currently 750 pupils on roll including 200 students in the sixth form. The Headmaster is Martin Reader....
and Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
, Heneker followed his father into a military career. He served as a cavalry officer in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
from 1925 to 1937, and again in the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
from 1939 to 1948, attaining the rank of Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
. He became drawn to a second career in music after becoming familiar with the score of Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Bitter Sweet
Bitter Sweet
Bitter Sweet is an operetta in three acts written by Noël Coward and first produced in 1929 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. It ran for a very successful 967 performances....
while recuperating from a riding accident in 1934. His first published song was performed by Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
in the film The Broken Melody
The Broken Melody (1934 film)
The Broken Melody is a 1934 British musical drama film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring John Garrick, Margot Grahame, Merle Oberon and Austin Trevor. A composer kills his wife's lover and, having escaped from the prison on Devil's Island, returns to France and writes an opera about the...
. Among his compositions was the Gracie Fields
Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
wartime hit The Thing-Ummy Bob
The Thing-Ummy Bob
The Thing-Ummy Bob is a 1942 song which was written by Gordon Thompson and David Heneker which celebrates the production line worker of World War II making components for complex weapons to win the war...
. After resigning his commission in 1948, he became a lounge singer at the Embassy Club, while continuing his songwriting. In 1958, the writer Wolf Mankowitz
Wolf Mankowitz
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter of Russian Jewish descent.-Early life:...
invited Heneker to work with him and Monty Norman
Monty Norman
Monty Norman is a singer and film composer best known for being credited with composing the "James Bond Theme".-Biography:...
on the score of Expresso Bongo
Expresso Bongo
Expresso Bongo, a 1958 West End musical and a 1959 film, was a satire of the music industry. It was first produced on the stage at the Saville Theatre, London on 23 April 1958. Its book was written by Wolf Mankowitz and Julian More, with music by David Heneker and Monty Norman, also the...
, and from that point on, Heneker turned his talents to the 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...
, producing a series of 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...
hit shows. The same year, he contributed the English lyrics to the 1956 Marguerite Monnot
Marguerite Monnot
Marguerite Monnot was a French songwriter and composer best known for having written many of the songs performed by Édith Piaf and for the music in the stage musical Irma La Douce....
French musical Irma La Douce
Irma La Douce (musical)
Irma La Douce is a musical with music by Marguerite Monnot and French lyrics and book by Alexandre Breffort. The English lyrics and book are by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman. It was first produced in Paris in 1956.-Productions:...
. The show transferred to Broadway two years later and was nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award for Best Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
. After collaborating again with Norman on Make Me An Offer in 1959, Heneker saw his greatest West End triumphs with the full score to the Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele OBE , is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.-Singer:...
vehicle Half a Sixpence
Half a Sixpence
Half a Sixpence is a musical comedy written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele.It is based on H.G. Wells's novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul...
(1963) and a collaboration with John Taylor on Charlie Girl
Charlie Girl
Charlie Girl is a musical comedy which premiered in the West End of London at the Adelphi Theatre on December 15, 1965 and played for 2,202 performances, closing on March 27, 1971...
(1965). Half a Sixpence gave him his second Broadway success, this time earning two Tony Award nominations, for Best Musical
Tony Award for Best Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
and Best Original Score
Tony Award for Best Original Score
The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
, while Charlie Girl enjoyed a five-year West End run. He was the first British writer to have two shows on Broadway which ran for more than 500 performances. Jorrocks (1966) and Popkiss (1972) were less successful, but he returned to form in his mid-70s with the charming The Biograph Girl
The Biograph Girl
The Biograph Girl is a musical with a book by Warner Brown, lyrics by Brown and David Heneker, and music by Heneker. Its plot focuses on the silent film era and five pioneers of American cinema - actresses Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, directors D.W...
in 1980, collaborating again with his Charlie Girl partner Taylor. His final musical, 1984's Peg, a musical version of the 1913 comedy Peg O' My Heart was less successful.
West End theatrical credits
- Expresso BongoExpresso BongoExpresso Bongo, a 1958 West End musical and a 1959 film, was a satire of the music industry. It was first produced on the stage at the Saville Theatre, London on 23 April 1958. Its book was written by Wolf Mankowitz and Julian More, with music by David Heneker and Monty Norman, also the...
(1958) – composer, lyricist (jointly with Monty NormanMonty NormanMonty Norman is a singer and film composer best known for being credited with composing the "James Bond Theme".-Biography:...
) - Irma La DouceIrma La Douce (musical)Irma La Douce is a musical with music by Marguerite Monnot and French lyrics and book by Alexandre Breffort. The English lyrics and book are by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman. It was first produced in Paris in 1956.-Productions:...
(1958) – lyricist - Make Me an Offer (1959) – composer, lyricist (jointly with Monty NormanMonty NormanMonty Norman is a singer and film composer best known for being credited with composing the "James Bond Theme".-Biography:...
) - The Art of Living (1960) – composer, lyricist (jointly with Monty NormanMonty NormanMonty Norman is a singer and film composer best known for being credited with composing the "James Bond Theme".-Biography:...
) - Half a SixpenceHalf a SixpenceHalf a Sixpence is a musical comedy written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele.It is based on H.G. Wells's novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul...
(1963) – composer, lyricist - Charlie GirlCharlie GirlCharlie Girl is a musical comedy which premiered in the West End of London at the Adelphi Theatre on December 15, 1965 and played for 2,202 performances, closing on March 27, 1971...
(1965) – composer, lyricist (jointly with John Taylor) - Jorrocks (1966) – composer, lyricist
- Phil the Fluter (1969) – composer, lyricist
- Popkiss (1972) – composer, lyricist
- The Biograph GirlThe Biograph GirlThe Biograph Girl is a musical with a book by Warner Brown, lyrics by Brown and David Heneker, and music by Heneker. Its plot focuses on the silent film era and five pioneers of American cinema - actresses Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, directors D.W...
(1980) – composer, lyricist (jointly with John Taylor) - Peg (1984) – composer, lyricist
Work on Broadway
- Irma La DouceIrma la DouceIrma la Douce/Irma la Dolce is a 1963 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder.It is based on the 1956 French musical Irma La Douce by Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort.-Plot:...
(1960) – TonyTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for Best MusicalTony Award for Best MusicalThis is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
1961 - Half a SixpenceHalf a SixpenceHalf a Sixpence is a musical comedy written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele.It is based on H.G. Wells's novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul...
(1965) – TonyTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations for Best MusicalTony Award for Best MusicalThis is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
and Best Original ScoreTony Award for Best Original ScoreThe Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
1965