Anthony Newley born 24 September 1931

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.

Born to a single mother in the East London working-class neighbourhood of Hackney, Newley was evacuated during the bombing of London and was thereby exposed to the performing arts when he was tutored during this time by George Pescud, a former music-hall entertainer. Though recognized as very bright by his teachers back in London, he was uninterested in school, and by the age of fourteen was working as an office boy when he read an ad for "boy actors." After an audition, he was offered a job including free tuition at the prestigious Italia Conti Stage School. He accepted and his career was launched. 

Petula Clark & Anthony Newley 1947

He first appeared as a child actor in the film serial Dusty Bates (a.k.a. The Adventures of Dusty Bates, 1947) which launched his career. This was followed by The Little Ballerina and Vice Versa; in 1948 he starred as the Artful Dodger in David Lean's acclaimed adaptation of Oliver Twist. In 1955 Newley made his theatrical debut in the revue Cranks, with close to two dozen more onscreen character roles. 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". In 1959 he starred as a rock 'n' roll star in Idle on Parade; the feature's soundtrack EP launched the hit ballad "I've Waited So Long," the first in a string of seven U.K. Top Ten hits between 1959 and 1961 including "Personality," "Pop Goes the Weasel," "If She Should Come to You" and the chart-toppers "Why" and "Do You Mind." In 1960, Newley issued his debut LP Love Is a Now and Then Thing, followed a year later by Tony.

                                   

During  the 1960’S he also added his greatest accomplishments on the London and Broadway stage, in Hollywood films, and British and United States television. With collaborator Leslie Bricusse, Newley wrote the book, music and lyrics for the 1961 stage musical Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!; he also directed and starred as Littlechap. The production was a major success, running in London's West End for over 16 months before appearing on Broadway for some 500 performances; adapted by Hollywood in 1966, it also launched the hits "What Kind of Fool Am I?," "Once in a Lifetime" and "Gonna Build a Mountain." 

After recording the 1963 comedy album Fool Brittania with wife Joan Collins and Peter Sellers, Newley and Bricusse wrote the theme to the James Bond entry Goldfinger before mounting their next musical, 1965's The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd; Newley later starred on Broadway in the lead role, although the production did not equal the success of Stop the World. Upon appearing with Rex Harrison in the 1967 film musical Doctor Doolittle, Newley directed and starred in 1969's Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? 

In the 1970s he remained active, particularly as a Las Vegas and Catskills resort performer, but his career had begun to flounder. He had taken risks that eventually led to his downfall in Hollywood.  After the 1978 LP The Singer and His Songs and the musical film Sammy Stops the World, Newley spent the majority of the 1980s away from music, accepting only small roles in projects like a 1982 PBS production of Alice in Wonderland, the 1983 TV miniseries Malibu and the reviled 1987 feature The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. 

Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley

In 1989 he helmed a short-lived London revival of Stop the World, I Want to Get Off! Newley's vocal style has been recognised as a major influence on that of the early David Bowie. In recognition of his creative skills and body of work, Newley was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989 with his long-time collaborator Leslie Bricusse. In his later years as a mature singer Newley recorded songs from Fiddler on the Roof and Scrooge. He enjoyed his final popular success onstage when he starred in the latter musical in London and Birmingham in the 1990s. He mounted a theatrical anthology of his past material titled Once Upon a Song, and later continued performing the material in a cabaret act. 

Ill health had plagued the star for many years. He was first diagnosed with renal cell cancer in 1985, and had one kidney removed. The cancer returned in 1997, this time attacking his lungs, then spreading to his liver. One of the final television acting appearances for the renowned English actor, singer, and songwriter was in 1998 when he took a small role in BBC soap EastEnders. Speaking once about his illness, he said: "When they told me I had a growth on my left kidney I had  a bet with the surgeon. 'A dollar that it's not malignant', I said. "Before they wheeled me into the operating theatre they pinned a dollar on my gown. It had gone when I finally came round. That's when I knew I'd lost the bet." Cancer finally claimed his life on 14th April, 1999 at his home in Jensen Beach, Florida. He was 67.

Anthony and his mother

Newley married and divorced three times. In 1956, he first married Elizabeth Ann Lynn, and the marriage was dissolved in 1963. The same year he married Joan Collins; and they divorced in 1971. In 1989, he divorced his third wife, air hostess Dareth Dunn. At the time of Newley's demise, he was survived by his mother, Grace, age 96 (with whom he lived in Surrey since 1992 after 22 years living in the U.S.), and four children, a boy (Sasha) and a girl (Tara) with Joan Collins, and another boy (Christopher) and girl (Shelby) with Dareth Dunn. His third wife, Dareth Newley Dunn, described him as "a dear, sweet, loving friend and father, consummate performer and ultimate composer".

(Edited from Wikipedia & Find-a-Grave)