Anthony Newley; Actor, Playwright and Singer
STUART, Fla. — British entertainer Anthony Newley, known for co-writing the stage hit “Stop the World, I Want To Get Off†and writing some of the most popular songs of a generation, has died at age 67.
Newley, an actor, playwright, author, composer, lyricist and singer with a baritone voice and an idiosyncratic delivery, died at his southeast Florida home after a lengthy bout with cancer, his former wife, Dareth Newley Dunn, said.
He was first diagnosed in 1985 with renal cell cancer and had one kidney removed. After years of good health, the cancer returned in 1997.
Newley was born Sept. 24, 1931, in Hackney, a working-class section of London. During World War II, he was sent to the countryside along with many other city children to avoid the German bombings. He went with two friends to Brighton, where he stayed with George Pescud, a retired music hall performer. As Newley recalled in an interview: “He [Pescud] opened up a whole life . . . where I could express some of this intensity. Before long, we were singing in the local choir, acting out plays and sketches. We put out a magazine and learned about painting. He inspired us to be ourselves as we were. This had never happened to me before.â€
At the end of the war, Newley found himself out of school and on his own when he stumbled into a London acting school. He lacked money for tuition, so he worked his way as an office boy. He had been there only three weeks when an English film director spotted him and offered him the title role in “The Adventures of Dusty Bates.â€
In the next few years, Newley made several more films, the most successful being David Lean’s production of “Oliver Twist,†in which he played the Artful Dodger opposite Alec Guinness’ Fagin.
That success was followed by a string of undistinguished movies in the ‘50s, including “Above Us the Waves,†“Cockleshell Heroes†and “Fire Down Below.â€
In the mid-1950s, Newley became involved in a play that would have a profound impact on his career. The revue, called “Cranks,†was groundbreaking for its time. It dispensed with sets and relied mainly on clever lyrics and pantomime to celebrate the modern spirit.
Newley later said this experience made him love simplicity and imagination, elements he continued to use throughout his career.
His singing career in films began in 1959, when he played a rock ‘n’ roll singer in “Idle on Parade.†One of his songs from the film made it to the top of the British hit parade. As a result, Newley made more recordings and landed work in British music halls and even performed on his own television show. But there was still nothing that showcased all his talents.
That changed in 1961, when Newley was invited by a British producer to put together his own theatrical show. Newley told a show business acquaintance, Leslie Bricusse, of the offer, and the two worked hard for a month to produce “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.â€
The show, which starred Newley, opened to mixed reviews in London on July 20, 1961. The public, however, ignored the critics and attended the show in large numbers, and the production lasted into a second year. In 1962, it moved to Broadway, again getting poor reviews but wide popular support. It racked up 555 performances. One of the hit songs from the production, “What Kind of Fool Am I?†was eventually recorded in over 100 versions and produced substantial royalties for Newley and Bricusse.
In 1965, the pair produced “The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd,†which closed after several performances outside London despite an impressive score, with such numbers as “Who Can I Turn To?â€, “A Wonderful Day Like Today†and “Look at That Face.â€
The failure in England didn’t deter David Merrick, who said he would produce it in New York if Newley would play the lead role. “Roar of the Greasepaint†played for 232 shows on Broadway.
Newley went to become an international star. In 1967, he appeared with Rex Harrison and Richard Attenborough in “Doctor Dolittle,†a film musical. Despite winning an Oscar for the song “Talk to the Animals,†the film was considered a costly failure.
During his heyday in the 1970s, he and Bricusse wrote the score for “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,†and Newley appeared in a string of films and was a major live performer in Las Vegas. He wrote hit singles, including “The Candy Man†for Sammy Davis Jr. and “Goldfinger†from the James Bond movie, performed by Shirley Bassey.
He was a frequent guest on television series such as “The Merv Griffin Show,†“The Tonight Show,†“Fame,†“Murder She Wrote†and “Magnum P.I.â€
On aging, he once told a Times reporter: “I’ll never believe I’m any older than 18. I get angry when my body can’t do what an 18-year-old’s does. And looking in the mirror is really a tragic sight. There are many consolations to getting older, but physically, it’s quite unkind. I find that I have as much mobility, but it takes longer to get pretty.â€
Newley moved to Florida permanently in December after living for years in Surrey, about 35 miles from London. He married three times, and one of his wives was actress Joan Collins. He is survived by his mother and four children.
During a performance in New York several years ago, he cracked: “I went to Vegas for 22 years, married some absolutely charming women and gave them all my money. Which is the reason I’m here this evening.â€
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