Noël Coward

Known for WritingBorn 1899-12-15Died 1973-03-26Teddington, Middlesex, England, UK

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise". Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy in London as a child, making his professional stage début at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was introduced into the high society in which most of his plays would be set. Coward achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his works, such as Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit, have remained in the regular theatre repertoire. He composed hundreds of songs, in addition to well over a dozen musical theatre works (including the operetta Bitter Sweet and comic revues), poetry, several volumes of short stories, the novel Pomp and Circumstance, and a three-volume autobiography. Coward's stage and film acting and directing career spanned six decades, during which he starred in many of his own works. At the outbreak of World War II, Coward volunteered for war work, running the British propaganda office in Paris. He also worked with the Secret Service, seeking to use his influence to persuade the American public and government to help Britain. Coward won an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 for his naval film drama, In Which We Serve, and was knighted in 1969. In the 1950s he achieved fresh success as a cabaret performer, performing his own songs, such as "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", "London Pride" and "I Went to a Marvellous Party". His plays and songs achieved new popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, and his work and style continue to influence popular culture. Coward did not publicly acknowledge his homosexuality, but it was discussed candidly after his death by biographers including Graham Payn, his long-time partner, and in Coward's diaries and letters, published posthumously. The former Albery Theatre (originally the New Theatre) in London was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre in his honour in 2006. Description above from the Wikipedia article Noël Coward, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.Read more

Movies & web series

Blithe Spirit

Private Lives

Twentieth Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward

Ken Russell's ABC of British Music

What Mad Pursuit

Tonight Is Ours

The Marquise

National Theatre Live: Present Laughter

Androcles and the Lion

Geisterkomödie

A Choice of Coward: The Vortex

Alice

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

Present Laughter

Oh, diese Geister

A Choice of Coward: Present Laughter

A Choice of Coward: Blithe Spirit

Festival

Blithe Spirit

Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill

Brief Encounter

The Caretaker

Tonight at 8.30

Bunny Lake Is Missing

Small World

Omnibus

Bon Voyage

A Song At Twilight

Playhouse

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

The Vortex

ITV Playhouse

Meet Me Tonight

A Choice of Coward

Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story

The Italian Job

Noël Coward's Present Laughter

Private Lives

This Happy Breed

Easy Virtue

What's My Line?

Star Quality

The Dick Cavett Show

Design for Living

Blithe Spirit

Bitter Sweet

The Little Damozel

Burton and Taylor