Portal:London/Showcase biography/05 2009

Noël Coward (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973) born in Teddington, now in the west of London; 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".

Coward made his début at the Garrick Theatre, as a child actor; and wrote his own plays and musicals from 1920. Coward enjoyed enduring success on the London stage and on Broadway. At the outbreak of World War II he volunteered for war work, running the British propaganda office in Paris, where he concluded that "if the policy of His Majesty's Government is to bore the Germans to death I don't think we have time". He also worked with the Secret Service &mdash; seeking to use his influence to persuade the American public and government to help Britain.

He continued to entertain with shows opening on both sides of the Atlantic. Notably, his songs "London Pride" and "Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans" were a part of his cabaret act; and he wrote and starred in In Which We Serve &mdash; for which he received an award at the 1943 Academy Awards. His last film was The Italian Job in 1969. The Noël Coward Theatre in St Martin's Lane was renamed in his honour in 2006.


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