Cyril Ornadel

Cyril Ornadel
Born	(1924-12-02)2 December 1924 London, England
Died	22 June 2011(2011-06-22) (aged 86) Israel
Alma mater	Royal College of Music
Occupation	Conductor, songwriter and composer

Cyril Ornadel (2 December 1924 – 22 June 2011) was a British conductor, songwriter and composer, chiefly in musical theatre. He worked regularly with David Croft, the television writer, director and producer, as well as Norman Newell and Hal Shaper. He was awarded the Gold Badge of Merit by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for services to British Music and won a total of four Ivor Novello Awards.

Ornadel was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, and studied at the Royal College of Music. During the 1950s he was famous for conducting the orchestra for the hit TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium. This followed as a musical director for a number of major West End shows, including the first London production of My Fair Lady, and at the London Palladium the hit shows The Sound of Music and The King and I starring Yul Brynner. He composed several musicals of his own, including Pickwick (1963, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse), starring Harry Secombe, from which came the hit song "If I Ruled the World", which won an Ivor Novello Award; Great Expectations (1975) starring John Mills, both adapted from Charles Dickens; and Treasure Island (1973) adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson and starring Bernard Miles and Spike Milligan. Great Expectations and Treasure Island (both with lyrics by Hal Shaper) were designated Best British Musical at the Ivor Novello Awards.