Noël Coward

Noël Coward

  • Birthday: 1899-12-15
  • Deathday: 1973-03-26
  • Place of birth: Teddington, Middlesex, England, UK
  • Also know as: Noël Peirce Coward

Biography

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.

Filmography

In Which We Serve

1942

As Captain E. V. Kinross R.N. / Captain 'D'

The Scoundrel

1935

As Anthony Mallare

Blithe Spirit

1956

As Charles Condomine

Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story

2023

As Self (archive footage)

The South Bank Show: Noël Coward

1992

As Self (archival footage)

The Italian Job

1969

As Mr. Bridger

Le Journal de la Résistance

1945

As Himself - Narrator (English version)

The Astonished Heart

1950

As Dr. Christian Faber

Androcles and the Lion

1967

As Caesar

Boom!

1968

As The Witch of Capri

Surprise Package

1960

As King Pavel II

Our Man in Havana

1960

As Hawthorne

Ken Russell's ABC of British Music

1988

As Self (archive)

Bunny Lake Is Missing

1965

As Horatio Wilson

Paris When It Sizzles

1964

As Alexander Meyerheim

Blithe Spirit

1945

As Narrator (uncredited)

Men Are Not Gods

1936

As Passer-by (uncredited)

Brief Encounter

1945

As Train Station Announcer (uncredited)

Around the World in Eighty Days

1956

As Roland Hesketh-Baggott

Hearts of the World

1918

As The Man with the Wheelbarrow / A Villager in the Streets

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

1991

As actor 'Bunny Lake Is Missing' (archive footage) (uncredited)

Production

In Which We Serve

1942

As Director

Blithe Spirit

1956

As Director

Brief Encounter

1945

As Producer

In Which We Serve

1942

As Producer

This Happy Breed

1944

As Producer

Blithe Spirit

1945

As Producer

The Caretaker

1964

As Associate Producer

In Which We Serve

1942

As Music

The Little Damozel

1933

As Music

The Astonished Heart

1950

As Original Music Composer

In Which We Serve

1942

As Writer

Blithe Spirit

1945

As Theatre Play

This Happy Breed

1944

As Theatre Play

Cavalcade

1933

As Screenplay

Cavalcade

1933

As Novel

The Vortex

1969

As Writer

Hay Fever

1984

As Writer

Private Lives

1976

As Writer

Design for Living

1979

As Writer

What Mad Persuit

1985

As Writer

Present Laughter

1981

As Writer

Star Quality

1985

As Writer

Me and the Girls

1985

As Writer

Bon Voyage

1985

As Story

The Astonished Heart

1950

As Writer

Private Lives

1931

As Theatre Play

We Were Dancing

1942

As Theatre Play

Interlude

1968

As Writer

The Vortex

1928

As Author

Easy Virtue

2008

As Theatre Play

Tonight Is Ours

1933

As Author

Sidste akt

1987

As Writer

What Mad Pursuit

1985

As Writer

Bitter Sweet

1933

As Novel

Pretty Polly

1967

As Story

Blithe Spirit

1945

As Screenplay

A Song At Twilight

1982

As Writer

Relative Values

2000

As Story

Meet Me Tonight

1952

As Writer

Cavalcade

1933

As Writer

Bitter Sweet

1940

As Theatre Play

Design for Living

1933

As Theatre Play

Brief Encounter

1974

As Author

The Queen Was in the Parlour

1927

As Theatre Play

Blithe Spirit

2020

As Writer

Geisterkomödie

1965

As Theatre Play

Blithe Spirit

2020

As Writer

Blithe Spirit

1966

As Theatre Play

Private Lives

2013

As Theatre Play

Oh, diese Geister

1966

As Theatre Play

Um Breve Encontro

1968

As Story

Noël Coward's Present Laughter

2017

As Theatre Play

Blithe Spirit

1956

As Theatre Play

Anglická sobota

1967

As Short Story

Easy Virtue

1928

As Writer

Brief Encounter

1945

As Theatre Play

Brief Encounter

1945

As Screenplay

Geisterkomödie

1962

As Theatre Play

Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill

1985

As Original Story

Mrs. Capper's Birthday

1985

As Short Story

Al calar del sipario

1965

As Writer

The Red Peppers

2001

As Novel

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