Noël Coward

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Noël Coward (1963)
Noël Coward (ca.1914)
Noël Coward (1972)

Sir Noël Pierce Coward (born December 16, 1899 in Teddington , Middlesex , England , † March 26, 1973 in Oracabessa , Jamaica ) was a British actor , writer and composer .

Beginnings

Noël Coward was born as the second of three sons of the employee Arthur Sabin Coward (1856-1937) and his wife Violet Agnes (1863-1954). His older brother died in 1898 - before Noël Coward was born - at the age of six.

Noël Coward began performing in London's West End at an early age . As a drama student at the renowned Italia Conti Academy , Coward had his first professional appearance on January 27, 1911 in the children's play The Goldfish . Other children's roles followed, around 1913 as "Lost Boy Slightly" in Peter Pan .

At the age of fourteen, Coward became the lover of the painter Philip Streatfeild, known for his ephebophile tendencies . Through him he was introduced to London's high society , including the bohemian eccentric hostess Mrs. Astley Cooper, who ran a literary salon and invited him to live on her estate in Hambleton - due to his low social background with the servants. The affair with Streatfeild ended when he died of tuberculosis in 1915 .

He appeared in several productions with Charles Hawtrey , a respected actor and comedy writer. Hawtrey became Coward's idol and his teacher of comedic acting technique and drama. During the First World War , Coward was drafted into the army, but after a short time he was declared unfit for duty due to his poor health. He had his first short film role in 1918 in Hearts of the World by DW Griffith . Around this time he also began writing comedies and revues .

Coward became known through his play The Vortex (1924) about drugs and same-sex relationships .

The operetta Bitter Sweet was published in 1929, followed by successful productions such as Kavalkade and This Happy Breed .

During the Second World War

At the height of his career, World War II broke out in 1939 . Coward was a sought-after troop entertainer and for this purpose wrote several songs that were very popular at the time, such as London Pride or Don't Let's Be Beastly To The Germans . The latter deals with British Nazi sympathizers and supporters of the appeasement policy in Coward's typically ironic manner .

It was only later that it became known that Coward was working for the British domestic intelligence service MI5 .

As early as 1942 Coward should at the suggestion of King George VI. be beaten to the Knight Bachelor , but Winston Churchill , who despite his friendly relationship with Coward did not agree with his extravagant lifestyle, put his veto against it. After Churchill's death, he was finally promoted to Knight Bachelor on February 3, 1970 by Queen Elizabeth II .

Also in 1942 was the war drama In Which We Serve , based on the military career of Lord Louis Mountbatten . Coward wrote the script and theme music, co- directed and starred with David Lean . The film became a box office hit and Coward received an honorary Oscar in 1943. He was inducted into the Royal Society of Literature .

Late years

From the 1950s onwards, Coward's popularity as a playwright waned and he played increasingly roles in such films as Around the World in Eighty Days and Our Man in Havana .

In 1955 he was successful with several revues in Las Vegas . He then appeared on October 22, 1955 on the side of Mary Martin on a ninety-minute live television program on CBS . It was to be Cowards' first and only major television appearance.

In the late 1950s, Coward left Great Britain and settled with his partner Graham Payn, first in Bermuda , then in Jamaica . There he died of heart failure on March 26, 1973 .

In the US television series Hollywood from 2020 about homophobia , racism and sexism in the dream factory in the 1940s, which, however, reserves a number of artistic freedoms, Coward is embodied in a supporting role by actor Billy Boyd .

Private life

Noel Coward was homosexual and remained unmarried throughout his life. Although his sexual orientation was well known, he refused to take a public position and distanced himself from the emerging gay movement in his later years .

Singer and actor Graham Payn was his partner from the mid-1940s until his death .

Coward was close friends with Marlene Dietrich , Ivor Novello and Winston Churchill. In addition, included Laurence Olivier , Vivien Leigh , Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon , Ian Fleming and Princess Margaret to his circle of friends. British actress Gertrude Lawrence is often referred to as his muse .

Works

Plays and musicals

  • together with Esmé Wynne : Ida Collaborates , 1917
  • with Wynne: Women and Whiskey , 1918
  • The Rat Trap , 1918
  • I'll Leave It To You , 1919
  • The Young Idea , 1922
  • Sirocco , 1921 (revised 1927)
  • The Better Half , 1922
  • The Queen Was In The Parlor , 1922
  • Mild Oats , 1922
  • Weatherwise , 1923
  • Fallen Angels , 1923 (German: Fallen Angels )
  • The Vortex , 1923
  • Hay Fever , 1924
  • Easy Virtue , 1924, filmed: 1928, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 2008, directed by Stephan Elliott, Canada
  • This Was a Man , 1926
  • The Marquise , 1926 (German sins of youth. Comedy in 3 acts , 1927)
  • Home Chat , 1927
  • Bitter-Sweet , operetta 1928/29
  • Private Lives , 1929
  • Post-mortem , 1930/1931
  • Some Other Private Lives , 1930
  • Cavalcade , 1930-31
  • Design for Living , 1932
  • Conversation Piece , 1933
  • Point Valaine , 1934
  • Tonight at 8.30 (Three parts; contains, among others: The Astonished Heart , Red Peppers , Still Life (Eng. A short encounter. A piece in 5 scenes , 1969), Fumed Oak and Shadow Play )
  • Operetta , musical comedy 1937
  • Present Laughter , 1939
  • This Happy Breed , 1939
  • Blithe Spirit , 1941 (Eng. Happy Spirits. An Unlikely Comedy in 3 Acts , 1966)
  • Pacific 1860 , 1946
  • Peace In Our Time , 1946
  • Island Fling , 1951 (also Home and Colonial , from 1956 South Sea Bubble )
  • Ace of Clubs , 1949
  • Relative Values , 1951 (German exchange rate of love. Comedy in 3 acts , 1952)
  • Quadrille , 1951–52 (Ger. Quadrille. Romantic Comedy , 1952)
  • After the Ball , 1953 (piece of music based on Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermeres fan )
  • Nude With Violin , 1954
  • Volcano , 1956 (first performance 2001)
  • Look After Lulu , 1958 (Farce after Occupe-toi d'Amelie by Georges Feydeau )
  • London Morning , 1959 ( ballet )
  • Waiting In The Wings , 1959
    • The shadows grow longer . Translation by Dorothea Gotfurt . Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1970
  • Sail Away , 1961
  • Suite In Three Keys , 1965 (Three short pieces: A Song at Twilight , Shadows of the Evening and Come Into the Garden Maud )

Novels

  • Pomp and Circumstance , 1960 (German palms, pomp and bang )

Poems

  • Noël Coward: Noël Coward, the complete lyrics. Overlook Press, Woodstock 1998. ISBN 0-87951-896-0

Filmography

Literary templates

Appearances as an actor

Film music

literature

  • Sheridan Robert Morley: Noël Coward. Biography. House, London 2005. ISBN 1-904341-88-8
  • Tamara Hahn: It's all a question of masks, self-presentation and modernity at Noël Coward. Studies in English literature. Vol. 18. Diss. Lit. Münster 2004. ISBN 3-8258-6750-1
  • Richard C. Norton: "Mad About the Boys: The British Operettas by Noel Coward and Ivor Novello", in: Kevin Clarke (ed.): Glitter and be Gay: The authentic operetta and its gay admirers , Swarm of Men, Hamburg 2007, p 170-203, ISBN 978-3-939542-13-1

Web links

Commons : Noël Coward  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Knights and Dames: COM-DON at Leigh Rayment's Peerage