Dudley Savage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Dudley Savage MBE (20 March 1920 – 25 November 2008) was a British organist and broadcaster who for many years broadcast a hospital request programme from the Royal (ABC) cinema in Plymouth. He both introduced and played requests on the Royal organ. When it was axed, the resultant petition was said at the time to be the largest the BBC had ever encountered.
Savage was born on 20 March 1920 near Penzance, in the village of Gulval.[1] His mother played the organ there in the village church and taught him in their home how to play the piano. He moved on to study the organ under the instruction of organists at Truro Cathedral and with other instructors in Cornwall and Plymouth.[2]
Theatre organist and soldier
In 1938, as an 18-year-old, he was chosen as the organist for the ABC Royal Cinema in Plymouth which had been constructed that year and included a Compton theatre organ with eight ranks of pipes plus a Compton Melotone unit. With a break for military service, he remained at the ABC organ until the cinema was converted into a bingo hall in 1976.[3]
During World War II, Savage was called up for military service in 1940, serving in India.[2] He was a lance bombardier prior to being commissioned as a second lieutenant on 12 August 1943,[4] later rising to the rank of captain.[1] After his discharge from military service in 1946, he returned to his position at Royal Cinema.[2]
