Who Was Noel Coward?

One of the best known and most talented English playwrights, actors and composers of the 20th century.

He was born in 1899 and started acting on the West End stage as a child. By 1920 he was writing his own plays, and made his first big sensation on both sides of the Atlantic in 1924 with a play called The Vortex which has veiled allusions to drug use and homsexuality.

Coward himself was indeed gay, and had a partner of 30 years, actor Graham Payn.

Coward was renowned for his sharp and honest wit, but his works have not, perhaps, retained as much popularity as those of other composers of the same era (such as the Gershwin brothers).

Coward's film credits as actor are extensive. Modern audiences are most likely to spot him as criminal mastermind, Mr. Bridger, who sets Michael Caine on his adventures in The Italian Job.