{{Short description|British music hall performer (1893–1983)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney, 1920s.jpg|thumb|Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney, 1920s, (permission of the National Portrait Gallery, London)]] '''Norah Blaney''' (born '''Norah Mignon Cordwell'''; 16 July 1893{{spaced en dash}}7 December 1983) was a pianist, composer, comedienne and music hall performer. She recorded hundreds of songs between 1921 and 1935, many with her performing partner Gwen Farrar.
==Biography== Blaney was born Norah Mignon Cordwell in Shepherd's Bush, London, on 16 July 1893. Her father, Walter Henry Cordwell was a musician and her mother was Mary Jane (Molly), née Thatcher.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|last1=Child |first1=Alison |title=Blaney, Norah [real name Norah Mignon Cordwell; married names Lyne, Durham, Hughes] (1893–1983)|date=9 April 2020|doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380148|freearticle=y}}</ref>
In 1906, she was awarded the Érard pianoforte scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music followed by a scholarship at the Royal College of Music. She began using her stage name in 1910, after her maternal grandmother.<ref name=ODNB/>
On 10 October 1914, she married pianist, Albert Charles Lyne, however, 4 years later he died while serving with the London Scottish regiment in France. In 1922, she married for a second time, to Philip Barron Bruce Durham; they divorced in June 1931. She married for a final time to Basil Hughes on 20 February 1932.<ref name=ODNB/>
Blaney died on 7 December 1983 at the actors' retirement home Denville Hall in Northwood, London.<ref name=ODNB/>
==Act with Farrar== {{Quote box | quote = "Norah Blaney was the charm of the act, she wore frilly frocks, played the piano with roguish charm and sang like a demented nightingale" | source = Description of Norah Blaney's act by Neville Phillips<ref>{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Neville |title=The Stage Struck Me! |date=2008 |publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd |isbn=9781906510435 |page=243}}</ref> | width = 33% | align = right }} Blaney and Farrar were both members of Lena Ashwell's group of entertainers for World War I soldiers in France, initially as classical artists.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marriott |first1=R. B. |title=Obituaries |newspaper=The Stage|date=22 December 1983 |page=22}}</ref> However, the pair started a ragtime duet, which gained popularity. They brought the act back to the UK and performed it in London Hippodrome regularly during 1921.<ref name=ODNB/>
The pair lived together in Chelsea in 1917, remaining there until 1922. They performed in Vaudeville Theatre productions around London. In 1925, they toured USA, including appearing on Broadway and in Palm Beach, Florida. However, in 1926, Farrar broke off their partnership, and Blaney returned to England.<ref name=ODNB/>
Blaney and Farrar began working together again in 1930,<ref>{{cite news |title=Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney Again |newspaper=Daily Herald|location=London|date=29 March 1930 |page=9}}</ref> but after she injured her foot while performing in 1931, Blaney married her surgeon, Basil Hughes. She spent time in a nursing home recuperating from infection before retiring from performing generally, though she did the odd piece of work with Farrar.<ref>{{cite news |title=Norah Blaney Married |newspaper=Derby Daily Telegraph|date=20 February 1932 |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Miss Norah Blaney to Marry Bradford Surgeon |newspaper=Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail|date=17 December 1931 |page=10}}</ref><ref name=ODNB />
==Legacy== Blaney and Farrar are considered "LGBT+ icons".{{citation needed|date=September 2025}} In 2014, Alison Child and Rosie Wakley created a play called ''All the Nice Girls'' based on the relationship between Blaney and Farrar.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney |url=https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/subjects/diversity/lgbt-history/gwen-farrar-norah-blaney/ |website=Exploring Surrey's past |access-date=12 May 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0087452}} *{{cite web |title=The Stars 'Off-Stage' Miss Norah Blaney and Miss Gwen Farrar, the Famous Revue Artistes. 1924 |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-stars-off-stage-miss-norah-blaney-and-miss-gwe |website=British Pathé}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaney, Norah}} Category:1893 births Category:1983 deaths Category:20th-century English women pianists Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music Category:British music hall performers Category:English lesbian musicians Category:LGBTQ people from London Category:Musicians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Category:People from Shepherd's Bush Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people