A masterly wit, playwright and composer of songs, Noel Coward was the son of a piano salesman living in genteel poverty. Encouraged by his mother, Coward followed a professional acting career from the age of 12, and his success as a child actor contributed to the family's finances. He was 18 when his first play, a light comedy called I Leave it to You, had a brief run in the West End, with himself in the lead.Unsuccessful with his first 2 comedies, in 1924 Coward wrote, directed and starred in The Vortex, an intensely serious play about drug abuse among the upper classes. This brought him overnight fame. The following year, his comedy Hay Fever was a success both in London and New York. It was quickly followed by the revue On with the Dance, which was also highly successful. However, overwork forced Coward to take a rest, which he did in Hawaii, where he composed the hugely popular song Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
Coward was now a famous figure. In 1929, his operetta, Bitter Sweet, with its ever popular song, I'll see You Again, was one of his greatest successes. The next decade saw Coward's work go from strength to strength, with such brilliant and frequently-revived classics as Private Lives (1930), Design for Living (1933) and Blithe Spirit (1941). In 1932, his revue Words and Music was received with acclaim, and in 1935 he performed with Gertrude Lawrence, who frequently appeared in his plays, in the group of one-acters Tonight at 8.30.
Coward also had a serious, patriotic side, as could be seen in his 1931 pageant, Cavalcade, which delineated the lives of 2 families, one rich, one poor, from the beginning of the century onwards. His patriotism was also evident in his tireless war work, when he entertained the troops all over the globe, and in his film In Which We Serve (1942), describing the heroic activities of a British naval destroyer. His short play, Still Life, rewritten as the film Brief Encounter in 1945 with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, is a masterpiece of repressed emotion.
After the war, Coward's brand of theatre fell out of favour, and he spent an increasing amount of time in the United States. He became a popular figure on American television, appearing with Mary Martin in Together with Music (1955), but his openly-expressed hostility towards the then fashionable "kitchen sink" school of drama in the West End earned him few friends in England. His plays and musicals, such as Sail Away (1960) and The Girl who Came to Supper (1963) had little success. However, a revival of Private Lives in 1963 was enormously successful and led to renewed interest in his work, albeit in a nostalgic form.
His 70th birthday in 1969 was enthusiastically celebrated in England, and he received a knighthood the following year. By the time of his death in his Caribbean home in 1973, Coward was seen as a national treasure, responsible for some of the best-loved songs and plays in the repertory.
