Noël Coward
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.
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Photos
Films (84)
National Theatre Live: Hay Fever
2027 · Writer
Fallen Angels by Noël Coward
2026 · Writer
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
2023 · Self (archive footage)
Blithe Spirit
2023 · Writer, Theatre Play
L'esprit s'amuse
2020 · Theatre Play
Blithe Spirit
2020 · Writer
National Theatre Live: Present Laughter
2019 · Screenplay
Noël Coward's Present Laughter
2017 · Theatre Play
Alice
2017 · Original Story
Private Lives
2013 · Theatre Play
Liz Taylor et Richard Burton
2013 · Theatre Play
Un mariage de rêve
2008 · Theatre Play
The Red Peppers
2001 · Novel
Stars in Love
2000 · Story, Original Story
Twentieth Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward
1998 · Music
I'm a Gigolo
1994 · Songs
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · actor 'Bunny Lake Is Missing' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
1988 · Self (archive)
Final Act
1987 · Writer
Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill
1985 · Original Story
Bon Voyage
1985 · Story
Me and the Girls
1985 · Writer
What Mad Pursuit
1985 · Writer
Mrs Capper's Birthday
1985 · Short Story
Star Quality
1985 · Writer
Hay Fever
1984 · Writer
A Song At Twilight
1982 · Writer
Come Into The Garden Maud
1982 · Writer
Present Laughter
1981 · Writer
The Kindness of Mrs Radcliffe
1981 · Writer
The Marquise
1980 · Writer
Intimitäten
1980 · Writer
Design for Living
1979 · Writer
Private Lives
1976 · Writer
Brief Encounter
1976 · Theatre Play
Fallen Angels
1974 · Original Story
The Vortex
1969 · Writer
The Italian Job
1969 · Mr. Bridger
This Happy Breed
1969 · Writer
Boom!
1968 · The Witch of Capri
Um Breve Encontro
1968 · Story
Mrs. Capper's Birthday
1968 · Story, Songs
Interlude
1968 · Writer
Androcles and the Lion
1967 · Caesar
Pretty Polly
1967 · Story, Original Story
Anglická sobota
1967 · Short Story
Present Laughter
1967 · Writer
Blithe Spirit
1966 · Theatre Play
Oh, diese Geister
1966 · Theatre Play
Al calar del sipario
1965 · Writer
Bunny Lake Is Missing
1965 · Wilson
Geisterkomödie
1965 · Theatre Play
A Choice of Coward: Design for Living
1964 · Writer
A Choice of Coward: The Vortex
1964 · Original Story
A Choice of Coward: Blithe Spirit
1964 · Original Story
A Choice of Coward: Present Laughter
1964 · Original Story
Paris When It Sizzles
1964 · Alexander Meyerheim
The Caretaker
1964 · Associate Producer
Geisterkomödie
1962 · Theatre Play
Surprise Package
1960 · King Pavel II
Our Man in Havana
1960 · Hawthorne
Around the World in 80 Days
1956 · Roland Hesketh-Baggott
Blithe Spirit
1956 · Charles Condomine, Theatre Play, Director
Meet Me Tonight
1952 · Theatre Play, Writer
The Astonished Heart
1950 · Dr. Christian Faber, Original Music Composer, Writer
Brief Encounter
1945 · Train Station Announcer (uncredited), Producer, Theatre Play, Screenplay
Blithe Spirit
1945 · Narrator (uncredited), Theatre Play, Screenplay, Producer
This Happy Breed
1944 · Theatre Play, Producer
In Which We Serve
1942 · Captain E. V. Kinross R.N. / Captain 'D', Director, Writer, Producer, Music
We Were Dancing
1942 · Theatre Play
Bitter Sweet
1940 · Theatre Play, Songs, Lyricist
Private Lives
1940 · Writer
Men Are Not Gods
1936 · Passer-by (uncredited)
The Scoundrel
1935 · Anthony Mallare
Design for Living
1933 · Theatre Play
Bitter Sweet
1933 · Novel
Cavalcade
1933 · Screenplay, Novel, Writer
Tonight Is Ours
1933 · Author
The Little Damozel
1933 · Music
Private Lives
1931 · Theatre Play
Easy Virtue
1928 · Writer
The Vortex
1928 · Author
The Queen Was in the Parlour
1927 · Theatre Play
Hearts of the World
1918 · The Man with the Wheelbarrow / A Villager in the Streets
Séries (21)
Tonight at 8.30
1991 · Writer
The South Bank Show
1978
Playhouse
1974 · Theatre Play, Writer
Play for Today
1970 · Writer
Alta comedia
1970 · Theatre Play
The Jazz Age
1968 · Writer
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · Self - Guest
Omnibus
1967 · Self
ITV Playhouse
1967 · Writer
Before the Fringe
1967 · Writer
Estudio Uno
1965 · Writer
BBC Play of the Month
1965 · Writer
The Wednesday Play
1964 · Writer
A Choice of Coward
1964 · Self, Theatre Play, Creator
Festival
1963 · Writer
Small World
1958 · Self
Armchair Theatre
1956 · Writer
Tony Awards
1956 · Self - Recipient
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · Story
What's My Line?
1950 · Self - Mystery Guest
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self