He was born and raised in Bloomsbury, London, England,[1] to parents of Irish descent. In his teens, he worked as a call boy in London theatres, and started writing his own words to well-known tunes. The composer Herbert Stothart was impressed, and suggested that he become a songwriter after gaining more experience of the world.[3] Connor then worked for two years as a steward aboard the RMS Empress of France, before returning to England with the intention of earning his living as a songwriter.
After several years of trying to sell his songs in Denmark Street,[3] his first published song was "My Home Town" in 1932, which was recorded by child star Little Mary Hagan.[1] Two years later, his song "Jump on the Wagon" was described as a "number one radio hit". By 1935, he started working with composer Edward Lisbona of Ambrose's orchestra, and they wrote "It's My Mother's Birthday Today", which was a hit for Arthur Tracy, who was known as "The Street Singer".[3]
Connor continued to write successfully over the next twenty years, mostly in Britain but occasionally spending time in the United States, mainly Los Angeles and New York. His most successful songs included "When The Guardsman Started Crooning On Parade" (1935), "The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot" (1937), "The Biggest Aspidistra in the World" (1938), "I'm Sending a Letter to Santa" (1939), "Who's Taking You Home Tonight?" (1940), "Be Like the Kettle and Sing" (1943), "Lili Marlene" (for which he wrote the English words, 1944), "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (1952), and "Never Do a Tango with an Eskimo" (1956).[3] "I'm Sending a Letter to Santa Claus" was published with words and music by Lanny Rogers and Spencer Williams, Rogers being a pseudonym for Connor.[4]
