Robert Tobias "Bobbie" Andrews born Reginald Frank Andrews, was a British stage and film actor. He is perhaps best known as the long-term companion of Ivor Novello.
Andrews began his stage acting career at age eleven. He made his first stage appearance in the playShore Acres in 1906. His child actor contemporaries included Noël Coward and Philip Tonge. Coward referred to Andrews as Tonge's "only serious rival" among the "boy actors" of the London theater. In 1907, at the age of twelve, Andrews appeared in Horace Annesley's comedy Her Son as "Min, the eight-year-old child of Crystal and Gasgoyne," a role for which he received significant acclaim. Andrews' "finished and sympathetic performance" was described as "the success of première," "a genuine and surprising triumph" that caused "quite a sensation." In 1911, he briefly worked in Chicago, acting in the play The Backsliders, before returning to London theatre. His stage career continued into adulthood with performances as Marcel in the 1920 production of The Children's Carnival, Maurice Avery in the 1920 production of Columbine, and Tyltyl in the 1921 production of The Betrothal. In 1921, he appeared as Charles Deburau in the play Deburau; Deburau also featured Andrews's lover Ivor Novello's debut performance. Andrews starred in a number of Novello's theater productions, beginning with the play Fresh Fields in 1932. Amongst his many character parts was the Prime Minister in Ivor Novello's musical playKing's Rhapsody at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. While he was primarily a stage actor, Andrews also made several film appearances. In 1923, he acted in the silent filmFires of Innocence as Pen Arkwright. His co-star Joan Morgan later claimed that she did not remember anything about her time working on the film, except for Andrews. She described how, during a "love-scene," Andrews would not look at her because he claimed he didn't "feel a bitin the mood to see ."
Personal life
Andrews first met Ivor Novello in 1916, while Novello was attending the opera with his friend Edward Marsh. They eventually became lovers. He was also responsible for introducing Novello to Noël Coward in 1916, at Coward's request. Andrews and Novello both had relations with other men over the course of their long-term relationship, but Andrews remained Novello's primary companion until Novello's death in 1951.
