Ernest Leroy Nocho (January 14, 1919 – September 4, 1997), better known by his stage name Lobo Nocho, was an emigré jazz singer and painter in Europe. A former United States citizen, he settled in Europe after serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and renounced his citizenship in 1950 to become a

French citizen French nationality law is historically based on the principles of '' jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and '' jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ...

. He was later widely noted for his romantic links to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's daughter Sarah Churchill.

Early life

Nocho was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

in 1919. He was one of six children of African Americans Samuel Nocho and Mary Jackson. He spent his youth in the city, graduating from

Simon Gratz High School Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter, formerly Simon Gratz High School is a secondary school in Philadelphia, named after Simon Gratz (1840-1925), a member of the Philadelphia Board of Education. Originally a public high school operated by the ...

. His talent for painting and drawing manifested itself early in his youth; he was a shy boy who spent much of his time alone doing crayon sketches of adults. His teachers at Gratz High remembered him as an outstanding art student whose paintings won municipal awards and were exhibited in major department stores such as

Wanamaker's John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...

and Gimbels. However, Nocho disliked life in Philadelphia, particularly due to issues of race relations; as his elder brother Edward Nocho put it, "he just couldn't adjust to Philadelphia life anymore and once told me that everyone who looked at him on the street regarded him not as a painter, not even as a human being, but as a black man." Some time after graduating high school, he moved to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and enlisted in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also res ...

there. This allowed him to put his artistic talents to practical use as a draughtsman, preparing

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

s for military architecture. In Canada, he also began courting Phyllis La France, a black Canadian woman living in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, whom he had met earlier when she was in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.

Career in Europe

After serving in the Canadian Army for some time, Nocho transferred to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

just in time to see service during the 1944

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. He eventually attained the rank of

Technical Sergeant Technical sergeant is the name of two current and two former enlisted ranks in the United States Armed Forces, as well as in the U.S. Civil Air Patrol. Outside the United States, it is used only by the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force and the ...

. His wife, who had remained behind in Montreal, obtained United States permanent residence through her marriage to him, and moved to New York, settling in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

. However, the two remained separated and fell out of contact. Nocho chose to settle in Europe after World War II ended, and in 1950 renounced his U.S. citizenship to become a French citizen. Nocho enjoyed various professional successes in Europe, working as a jazz singer for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

nightclubs to earn a living while also continuing to paint, making him one of a number of

African Americans in France African Americans (also referred to as Afro-Americans or Black Americans) in France are people of African American heritage or black people from the United States who are or have become residents or citizens of France. This includes students an ...

pursuing careers in the arts in those years. By a year after the war ended he had found a regular gig at Schubert's club in

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

, singing in both English and French. In 1952 he appeared at Jean's Intrigue in Paris, performing alongside fellow African-American émigré

Aaron Bridgers Aaron Bridgers (January 10, 1918 – November 3, 2003) was an American jazz pianist who moved to Paris, in 1947. Bridgers was jazz composer Billy Strayhorn's lover from 1939 until Bridgers's move to France. Bridgers is featured in the Paul Newman ...

. In September 1962, a Paris court found him guilty of smoking marijuana, and fined him NF500. In 1971, Nocho visited

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to watch

Hazel Scott Hazel Dorothy Scott (June 11, 1920 – October 2, 1981) was a Trinidad-born American jazz and classical pianist and singer. She was an outspoken critic of racial discrimination and segregation. She used her influence to improve the representat ...

play piano in a fashion show, in which singer

Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...

also appeared, and reminisced with them about African Americans in the Paris music scene in the 1950s.

David Amram David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings.

would later praise him as "one of the finest jazz singers I had heard in Paris", also noting his skills on the drums and in dance and his encyclopedic knowledge of jazz music. A book of Nocho's poetry was published by

Vantage Press Vantage Press was a self-publishing company based in the United States. The company was founded in 1949 and ceased operations in late 2012. Vantage was the largest vanity press in the United States. By 1956, they were publishing hundreds of title ...

at the beginning of September 1997. He died just days later and was buried at the Calverton National Cemetery in Suffolk County, New York.

Relationship with Sarah Churchill

In mid-1964, Nocho became acquainted with British actress Sarah Churchill, the daughter of former Prime Minister

, and by early 1965 the two had struck up a romance, a fact which became widely noted in world news reports after he was photographed escorting her back to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

when her father was on his deathbed. Nocho moved into a

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

villa which she rented for him, and there were reports in Italian newspapers that the two would marry, though Nocho refused to answer media enquiries to this end. The two were still together in July 1966, when Churchill organised a

exhibition of Nocho's paintings at the home of Edwina Dixon, the daughter-in-law of British ambassador to France

Pierson Dixon Sir Pierson John Dixon (13 November 190422 April 1965) was a British diplomat and writer. He was known to be a firm believer in the value of diplomacy to solve international issues. Career Dixon was the Principal Private Secretary to the For ...

. Nocho gave a number of his paintings to Churchill's friend Pete Ballard, which the latter donated to

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from ...

in 2013. However, in the end Churchill and Nocho never married. In her 1981 autobiography, she described him as a "vision in Levis, a jet-age troubadour and a one-man debating society". She hinted in her published poetry that her late father had strongly disapproved of her relationship with Nocho, writing: :Forgive me if I do not cry :The day you die :The simplest reason that I know :You said you'd rather have it so And: :This is what I have chosen :This moment bitter and free :This is what I have chosen :From so much that was offered to me :Life showered her costliest gifts :And a safe passage home, if need be :But this is what I have chosen :This moment so bitter ... and so free.

References

External links

Photograph of Nocho and Sarah Churchill in Rome
from the July 1, 1965 issue of ''Jet Magazine'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nocho, Lobo 1919 births 1997 deaths American emigrants to France United States Army personnel of World War II Artists from Philadelphia Burials at Calverton National Cemetery Canadian military personnel of World War II French jazz singers 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters French people of African-American descent Naturalized citizens of France Musicians from Philadelphia Former United States citizens African Americans in World War II 20th-century French male singers United States Army soldiers 20th-century African-American male singers African-American United States Army personnel