Background
Noel Coward was born on December 16, 1899, in Teddingham, Middlesex, London.
( Philip Hoare, in his biography of Coward described Semi...)
Philip Hoare, in his biography of Coward described Semi-Monde as his "most daring play to date. In a chic Parisian hotel, a series of sexual pairings take place through rendezvous, arguments, infidelities and reconciliations: sexual deviance is undisguised...set in the bisexual 1920s, the play could easily be populated by characters of Coward's society". Point Valaine is "the drama of a lurid episode of lust in the semi-tropics.. unmistakably the work of a master of the stage" (New York Times); South Sea Bubble which concerns "the Governor's lady in the Isle of Samolo who plays with native fire, nearly gets her wings singed, bashes her native admirer with a bottle and at one of those Coward next-morning-at breakfast scenes slips her way out of the scrape with feline grace." (Manchester Guardian) whilst Nude With Violin is a witty comedy about art fraud.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0413734102/?tag=2022091-20
(Australian pressing. Budget anthology of the recordings o...)
Australian pressing. Budget anthology of the recordings of one of the 20th Century's true great artists. Coward was a master showman, witty songwriter and playwright. Here is the best of his long illustrious career. 29 tracks. Sony Classics. 2003.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000027RK1/?tag=2022091-20
( This first volume in the Coward Collection contains fou...)
This first volume in the Coward Collection contains four plays written within a two year period when Coward and the century were still in their 20s. The volume is introduced by Sheridan Morley, Coward's first biographer. Hay Fever, a comedy of bad manners, concerns a weekend with friends of the Bliss family, who have all been invited independently for a weekend at their country house near Maidenhead. The Vortex was a controversial drama in its time, introducing drug-addiction onto the stage at a time when alcoholism was barely mentioned. Fallen Angels, which is written for two star actresses was described as 'degenerate', 'vile', 'obscene', 'shocking' - the second half of the play is entirely taken up with an alcoholic duologue between the two women. Easy Virtue is an elegant, laconic tribute to a lost world of drawing-room dramas, no other writer went more directly to the jugular of that moralistic, tight-lipped but fundamentally hypocritical 20s society. "He is simply a phenomenon, and one that is unlikely to occur ever again in theatre history" Terence Rattigan
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0413460606/?tag=2022091-20
(Filled with languid aristocrats trading witticisms as the...)
Filled with languid aristocrats trading witticisms as they wait for martinis, this collection of three Noel Coward plays encapsulates the qualities that made him one of the most popular playwrights of the 1930s and '40s and one of the great personalities of the century. In Blithe Spirit, Charles Condomine receives a visit from his first wife, Elvira. Unfortunately, Elvira is now a ghost and Charles has, understandably, moved on and married Ruth. The bohemian protagonists of Hay Fever wreak emotional havoc on a house full of weekend visitors. In Private Lives, a recently divorced couple find themselves in adjoining hotel rooms while on honeymoon with their new spouses.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067978179X/?tag=2022091-20
( First published in 1960, Pomp and Circumstance, Coward'...)
First published in 1960, Pomp and Circumstance, Coward's only novel, was greeted with wide critical acclaim. 'A South Sea Bubble of a book it is, with a Royal Visit expected on the Island of Samolo, and the narrator, a mother of three, dealing with everything from chicken-pox to the amours of a visiting Duchess' (Daily Telegraph); 'If there is anywhere on earth where the old Coward world still credibly lingers on, it is probably a fairly peaceful tropical colony ruled over by a British Governor General . . . Coward's long cast list might have walked out of one of his better comedies' (Evening Standard); 'It is all good, near-clean fun, magnificently readable' (Sunday Times).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0413563707/?tag=2022091-20
Noel Coward was born on December 16, 1899, in Teddingham, Middlesex, London.
He studied intermittently at the Royal Chapel School in London. A restless and extroverted youth, he made his acting debut at the age of 12 and a year later won praise for his portrayal of Slightly in Peter Pan.
Coward's first play, Rat Trap, an exercise in psychological realism, was written in 1917 but not published until 1926. He played the leading role in his next play, The Last Track (1918). His first drama to be noted by the critics was The Vortex (1924), a serious play about narcotics addiction. During this period he was regarded as the spokesman for the younger generation, although his works were often condemned as immoral.
In 1929 Coward starred in the Broadway production of his Bitter Sweet, a romantic musical that was popular in both Great Britain and the United States. This play's popular song, "I'll See You Again, " is one of his notable efforts as a composer; among his other songs are "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" and "I'll Follow My Secret Heart. "
Coward's important plays of the next decade or so included Private Lives (1930), a sophisticated marital comedy; Cavalcade (1931), a patriotic depiction of British Victorian tradition; Design for Living (1937), a stylish comedy; and Blithe Spirit (1941), a fantasy concerning spiritualism. During World War II Coward entertained troops on the major battlefronts and later detailed his experiences in Middle East Diary (1945). In 1942 he wrote, codirected with David Lean, and acted in the motion picture In Which We Serve, which presented life aboard a British naval destroyer. He continued his collaboration with Lean on the filming of Blithe Spirit (1945) and on the scenario for Brief Encounter (1946), one of the screen's most tender love stories.
Although Coward's dramas of succeeding years—Peace in Our Time (1947), Quadrille (1952), Nude with Violin (1956), and Sail Away (1961)—lacked the freshness of his earlier works, he compensated for his eclipse as a writer by embarking on a career as an entertainer and raconteur. In 1960 he gave his finest performance as the secret agent in the Carol Reed-Graham Greene film, Our Man in Havana. Coward also wrote two volumes of autobiographical reminiscences, Present Indicative (1937) and Future Indefinite (1954); two collections of short stories, To Step Aside (1939) and Star Quality (1951); and a novel, Pomp and Circumstance (1960), portraying British life on a South Seas island. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1970. Noel Coward died on March 26, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica.
(Filled with languid aristocrats trading witticisms as the...)
( This first volume in the Coward Collection contains fou...)
( First published in 1960, Pomp and Circumstance, Coward'...)
( Philip Hoare, in his biography of Coward described Semi...)
(Australian pressing. Budget anthology of the recordings o...)
Coward's political views were conservative, but not unswervingly so: he despised the government of Neville Chamberlain for its policy of appeasing Nazi Germany, and he differed sharply with Winston Churchill over the abdication crisis of 1936. Whereas Churchill supported Edward VIII's wish to marry "his cutie", Wallis Simpson, Coward thought the king irresponsible, telling Churchill, "England doesn't wish for a Queen Cutie. "
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.
In his profession, Coward was widely admired and loved for his generosity and kindness to those who fell on hard times. Stories are told of the unobtrusive way in which he relieved the needs or paid the debts of old theatrical acquaintances who had no claim on him.
Quotes from others about the person
The playwright John Osborne said, "Mr Coward is his own invention and contribution to this century. Anyone who cannot see that should keep well away from the theatre. " Tynan wrote in 1964, "Even the youngest of us will know, in fifty years' time, exactly what we mean by 'a very Noel Coward sort of person'. "