Dennis Noble

Dennis Noble (25 September 1898 – 14 March 1966) was a noted British baritone and teacher. He appeared in opera, oratorio, musical comedy and song, from the First World War through to the late 1950s. He was renowned for his enunciation and diction. He became the most prolific radio broadcaster of his time.

He was born William Ewart Noble on 25 September 1898, in Bristol. His father's name was also William, so the younger William was known as Ewart Noble. He was trained at Bristol Cathedral's Choir School under its teacher, Dr. Hubert Hunt. He was invalided after war service in France with the Royal Bucks Hussars, but returned to the front to sing with the Fifth Army's entertainment unit, "The Gaieties". This provided him with his first stage appearance, in the opera house of Lille, in the musical Aladdin. It was around this time that he chose the professional name Dennis Noble, after seeing a Dennis lorry drive past.

In 1923 he married Marjorie Booth, a contralto. He studied singing with Dinh Gilly and Mattia Battistini. He was invited to join the choir of Westminster Abbey, and sang at the wedding of H.R.H. the Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in April 1923.

His voice was noticed by Percy Pitt while he was singing at a cinema, and he was invited to sing at Covent Garden, as Silvio in Pagliacci, after some very hurried lessons in stage craft from Aylmer Buesst. He then determined to one day sing Rigoletto at Covent Garden. In the meantime, he continued singing in musical comedy. In 1924 he joined Amelita Galli-Curci's tour of Britain. He added Rigoletto to his repertoire, as well as Papageno (The Magic Flute) and Prince Aphron (The Golden Cockerel).

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