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.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Noël Coward, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Writing |
---|---|
Most Rating | 5.956 |
Birthday | 1899-12-15 |
Place of Birth | Teddington, Middlesex, England, UK |
Also Known As | Noël Peirce Coward, Sir Noël Peirce Coward, Sir Noël Coward, Noel Coward, Sir Noel Coward, |
1965
Bunny Lake Is Missing
7.21/174
A woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she ever existed.
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Bunny Lake Is Missing
1969
The Italian Job
6.99/704
Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose...
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The Italian Job
1960
Our Man in Havana
6.8/98
Jim Wormold is an expatriate Englishman living in pre-revolutionary Havana with his teenage daughter Milly. He owns a vacuum cleaner shop but isn’t ve...
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Our Man in Havana
1942
In Which We Serve
6.823/82
The story of the HMS Torrin, from its construction to its sinking in the Mediterranean during action in World War II. The ship's first and only comman...
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In Which We Serve
1935
The Scoundrel
6.2/10
A ruthless, cynical, hated publisher is killed in a plane crash, doomed to be a "restless" spirit for being unloved. A heavenly power gives him a mont...
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The Scoundrel
1968
Boom!
6.1/30
Explores the confrontation between the woman who has everything, including emptiness, and a penniless poet who has nothing but the ability to fill a w...
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Boom!
1945
Le Journal de la Résistance
8/2
Shot primarily by twelve French cameramen (led by filmmakers Jean Painlevé and Jean Grémillon), in August 1944, this film captures the final French in...
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Le Journal de la Résistance
1936
Men Are Not Gods
5.7/14
Actor Edmund Davey becomes a star overnight when his wife and co-star teams up with the secretary of a noted stage critic to produce a glowing review...
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Men Are Not Gods
1950
The Astonished Heart
4.5/4
Several years after graduation, best friends Barbara (Celia Johnson) and Leonora (Margaret Leighton) reconnect as if not a day has gone by. But Leonor...
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The Astonished Heart
1960
Surprise Package
5.8/4
Comic crime caper, set on a Greek island, starring Yul Brynner and Mitzi Gaynor.
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Surprise Package
1956
Blithe Spirit
8/2
Television adaptation of Noël Coward's famous play about an unhappily married man plagued by the spirit of his dead previous wife.
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Blithe Spirit
1964
Paris When It Sizzles
6.269/173
Hollywood producer Alexander Meyerheimer has hired drunken writer Richard Benson to write his latest movie. Benson has been holed up in a Paris apartm...
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Paris When It Sizzles
1956
Around the World in Eighty Days
6.638/486
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a ve...
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Around the World in Eighty Days
1945
Blithe Spirit
6.9/131
An English mystery novelist invites a medium to his home, so she may conduct a séance for a small gathering. The writer hopes to gather enough materia...
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Blithe Spirit
1945
Brief Encounter
7.69/587
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuo...
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Brief Encounter
1918
Hearts of the World
6/21
A group of youngsters grow up and love in a peaceful French village. But war intrudes and peace is shattered. The German army invades and occupies vil...
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Hearts of the World
1967
Androcles and the Lion
0/0
The story of Androcles, the simple-hearted Christian tailor whose friendship with a lion saves himself and his friends from martyrdom in the Roman Col...
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Androcles and the Lion
1991
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
7.7/6
This documentary, hosted by actor Burgess Meredith, explores the life and career of movie director Otto Preminger, whose body of work includes such me...
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Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
2023
Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
6/6
The first ever feature documentary about one of the most talented, accomplished and multi-faceted artists of the 20th Century. An exploration of Cowar...
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Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story
1992
The South Bank Show: Noël Coward
0/0
Television documentary on playwright, actor, composer, and film maker Noel Coward.
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The South Bank Show: Noël Coward
1988
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
0/0
An irreverent survey of British Music.
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