144-547: Winifred Ashton CBE , better known by the pseudonym Clemence Dane (21 February 1888 – 28 March 1965), was an English novelist and playwright . After completing her education, Dane went to Switzerland to work as a French tutor, but returned home after a year. She studied art in London and Germany. After the First World War , she taught at a girls' school and began writing. She took the pseudonym "Clemence Dane" from
288-425: A baritone dove, he gave us "I'll See You Again" and the other bat's-wing melodies of his youth. Nothing he does on these occasions sounds strained or arid; his tanned, leathery face is still an enthusiast's.... If it is possible to romp fastidiously, that is what Coward does. He owes little to earlier wits, such as Wilde or Labouchere . Their best things need to be delivered slowly, even lazily. Coward's emerge with
432-528: A 1968 Off-Broadway production of Private Lives at the Theatre de Lys starring Elaine Stritch , Lee Bowman and Betsy von Furstenberg , and directed by Charles Nelson Reilly . Despite this impressive cast, Coward's popularity had risen so high that the theatre poster for the production used an Al Hirschfeld caricature of Coward ( pictured above ) instead of an image of the production or its stars. The illustration captures how Coward's image had changed by
576-506: A German- language version as Mary . Dane contributed to the Club's serials The Scoop and The Floating Admiral . Dane's The Arrogant History of White Ben (1939) is a dystopian novel set in a politically unstable near future. Dane's last play, Eighty in the Shade (1959) was written for and starred her friend, Dame Sybil Thorndike . Early in her career, Dane had been on stage under
720-404: A broad riband or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip. Knights Commander and male Commanders wear the badge from a ribbon around the neck; male Officers and Members wear the badge from a ribbon on the left chest; female recipients other than Dames Grand Cross (unless in military uniform) normally wear it from a bow on the left shoulder. An oval eight-pointed star is worn, pinned to
864-852: A bust of him in the library in Teddington, near where he was born. In 2008 an exhibition devoted to Coward was mounted at the National Theatre in London. The exhibition was later hosted by the Museum of Performance & Design in San Francisco and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills , California. In June 2021 an exhibition celebrating Coward opened at the Guildhall Art Gallery in
1008-482: A carefully crafted image. As a suburban boy who had been taken up by the upper classes he rapidly acquired the taste for high life: "I am determined to travel through life first class." He first wore a dressing gown onstage in The Vortex and used the fashion in several of his other famous plays, including Private Lives and Present Laughter . George Walden identifies him as a modern dandy . In connection with
1152-459: A cigarette holder: "I looked like an advanced Chinese decadent in the last phases of dope." Soon after that, Coward wrote: He soon became more cautious about overdoing the flamboyance, advising Cecil Beaton to tone down his outfits: "It is important not to let the public have a loophole to lampoon you." However, Coward was happy to generate publicity from his lifestyle. In 1969 he told Time magazine, "I acted up like crazy. I did everything that
1296-453: A circlet bearing the motto of the Order; the reverse bears George V's Royal and Imperial Cypher. (Prior to 1937 Britannia was shown within the circlet.) The size of the badges varies according to rank: the higher classes have slightly larger badges. The badges of Knights and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames Commander, and Commanders are enamelled, with pale blue crosses, crimson circlets and
1440-466: A citizen of a Commonwealth realm can convert their appointment from honorary to substantive, and they then enjoy all privileges of membership of the order, including use of the title of Sir and Dame for the senior two ranks of the Order. (An example of the latter is Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan , who was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order in 2005, and on successful application for British citizenship, held alongside his Irish citizenship,
1584-558: A complex hydraulic stage. Its 1933 film adaptation won the Academy Award for best picture. Coward's intimate-scale hits of the period included Private Lives (1930) and Design for Living (1932). In Private Lives , Coward starred alongside his most famous stage partner, Gertrude Lawrence, together with the young Laurence Olivier . It was a highlight of both Coward's and Lawrence's career, selling out in both London and New York. Coward disliked long runs, and after this he made
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#17327830109911728-489: A cycle of ten short plays, presented in various permutations across three evenings. One of these plays, Still Life , was expanded into the 1945 David Lean film Brief Encounter . Tonight at 8.30 was followed by a musical, Operette (1938), from which the most famous number is "The Stately Homes of England", and a revue entitled Set to Music (1938, a Broadway version of his 1932 London revue, Words and Music ). Coward's last pre-war plays were This Happy Breed ,
1872-1184: A dancer in the ballet) and at the London Coliseum in A Little Fowl Play , by Harold Owen, in which Hawtrey starred. Italia Conti engaged Coward to appear at the Liverpool Repertory Theatre in 1913, and in the same year he was cast as the Lost Boy Slightly in Peter Pan . He reappeared in Peter Pan the following year, and in 1915 he was again in Where the Rainbow Ends . He worked with other child actors in this period, including Hermione Gingold (whose mother threatened to turn "that naughty boy" out); Fabia Drake ; Esmé Wynne , with whom he collaborated on his earliest plays; Alfred Willmore, later known as Micheál Mac Liammóir ; and Gertrude Lawrence who, Coward wrote in his memoirs, "gave me an orange and told me
2016-403: A drama about a working-class family, and Present Laughter , a comic self-caricature with an egomaniac actor as the central character. These were first performed in 1942, although they were both written in 1939. Between 1929 and 1936 Coward recorded many of his best-known songs for His Master's Voice (HMV), now reissued on CD, including the romantic " I'll See You Again " from Bitter Sweet ,
2160-462: A farce, Look After Lulu! (1959), and a tragi-comic study of old age, Waiting in the Wings (1960), both of which were successful despite "critical disdain". Coward argued that the primary purpose of a play was to entertain, and he made no attempt at modernism, which he felt was boring to the audience although fascinating to the critics. His comic novel, Pomp and Circumstance (1960), about life in
2304-403: A few mildly dirty stories, and I loved her from then onwards." In 1914, when Coward was fourteen, he became the protégé and probably the lover of Philip Streatfeild , a society painter. Streatfeild introduced him to Mrs Astley Cooper and her high society friends. Streatfeild died from tuberculosis in 1915, but Mrs Astley Cooper continued to encourage her late friend's protégé, who remained
2448-610: A fool indeed to miss such a magnificent opportunity. The leading actor-manager Charles Hawtrey , whom the young Coward idolised and from whom he learned a great deal about the theatre, cast him in the children's play Where the Rainbow Ends . Coward played in the piece in 1911 and 1912 at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End . In 1912 Coward also appeared at the Savoy Theatre in An Autumn Idyll (as
2592-463: A frank biography once Coward was safely dead. Coward's most important relationship, which began in the mid-1940s and lasted until his death, was with the South African stage and film actor Graham Payn. Coward featured Payn in several of his London productions. Payn later co-edited with Sheridan Morley a collection of Coward's diaries, published in 1982. Coward's other relationships included
2736-771: A frequent guest at her estate, Hambleton Hall in Rutland. Coward continued to perform during most of the First World War, appearing at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1916 in The Happy Family and on tour with Amy Brandon Thomas 's company in Charley's Aunt . In 1917, he appeared in The Saving Grace , a comedy produced by Hawtrey. Coward recalled in his memoirs, "My part was reasonably large and I
2880-443: A gold central medallion. Officers' badges are plain silver-gilt, while those of Members are plain silver. From 1917 until 1937, the badge of the order was suspended on a purple ribbon, with a red central stripe being added for the military division in 1918. Since 1937, the ribbon has been rose-pink with pearl-grey edges (with the addition of a pearl-grey central stripe for the military division). Knights and Dames Grand Cross wear it on
3024-506: A great demand for new Coward plays. In 1925 he premiered Fallen Angels , a three-act comedy that amused and shocked audiences with the spectacle of two middle-aged women slowly getting drunk while awaiting the arrival of their mutual lover. Hay Fever , the first of Coward's plays to gain an enduring place in the mainstream theatrical repertoire, also appeared in 1925. It is a comedy about four egocentric members of an artistic family who casually invite acquaintances to their country house for
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#17327830109913168-575: A hit 1963 revival of Private Lives in London and then New York. Invited to direct Hay Fever with Edith Evans at the National Theatre , he wrote in 1964, "I am thrilled and flattered and frankly a little flabbergasted that the National Theatre should have had the curious perceptiveness to choose a very early play of mine and to give it a cast that could play the Albanian telephone directory." Other examples of "Dad's Renaissance" included
3312-537: A little advertisement appeared in the Daily Mirror .... It stated that a talented boy of attractive appearance was required by a Miss Lila Field to appear in her production of an all-children fairy play: The Goldfish. This seemed to dispose of all argument. I was a talented boy, God knows, and, when washed and smarmed down a bit, passably attractive. There appeared to be no earthly reason why Miss Lila Field shouldn't jump at me, and we both believed that she would be
3456-739: A married couple transformed by their experiences in the Second World War. Dane, at the age of 30, was one of the women eligible to vote for the first time under the Representation of the People Act 1918 . Her opinions on The Women's Side were published in 1926 and she argued that women should do more with their freedom. She compared the modern girl's choices with the popular gambling card game Speculation in Jane Austen 's Mansfield Park . She wrote for Time and Tide and
3600-585: A night club, were financial failures. Further blows in this period were the deaths of Coward's friends Charles Cochran and Gertrude Lawrence, in 1951 and 1952 respectively. Despite his disappointments, Coward maintained a high public profile; his performance as King Magnus in Shaw's The Apple Cart for the Coronation season of 1953, co-starring Margaret Leighton , received much coverage in the press, and his cabaret act, honed during his wartime tours entertaining
3744-402: A one-act satire, The Better Half , about a man's relationship with two women. It had a short run at The Little Theatre, London, in 1922. The critic St John Ervine wrote of the piece, "When Mr Coward has learned that tea-table chitter-chatter had better remain the prerogative of women he will write more interesting plays than he now seems likely to write." The play was thought to be lost until
3888-419: A playwright with The Vortex . The story is about a nymphomaniac socialite and her cocaine-addicted son (played by Coward). Some saw the drugs as a mask for homosexuality; Kenneth Tynan later described it as "a jeremiad against narcotics with dialogue that sounds today not so much stilted as high-heeled". The Vortex was considered shocking in its day for its depiction of sexual vanity and drug abuse among
4032-481: A playwright with The Young Idea . The play opened in London in 1923, after a provincial tour, with Coward in one of the leading roles. The reviews were good: "Mr Noël Coward calls his brilliant little farce a 'comedy of youth', and so it is. And youth pervaded the Savoy last night, applauding everything so boisterously that you felt, not without exhilaration, that you were in the midst of a 'rag'." One critic, who noted
4176-501: 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 ), screenplays, poetry, several volumes of short stories,
4320-729: A rule of starring in a play for no more than three months at any venue. Design for Living , written for Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne , was so risqué, with its theme of bisexuality and a ménage à trois , that Coward premiered it in New York, knowing that it would not survive the censor in London. In 1933 Coward wrote, directed and co-starred with the French singer Yvonne Printemps in both London and New York productions of an operetta, Conversation Piece (1933). He next wrote, directed and co-starred with Lawrence in Tonight at 8.30 (1936),
4464-563: A sense of comedy, and if he can overcome a tendency to smartness, he will probably produce a good play one of these days." The Times , on the other hand, was enthusiastic: "It is a remarkable piece of work from so young a head – spontaneous, light, and always 'brainy'." The play ran for a month (and was Coward's first play seen in America), after which Coward returned to acting in works by other writers, starring as Ralph in The Knight of
Clemence Dane - Misplaced Pages Continue
4608-572: A tropical British colony, met with more critical success. Coward's final stage success came with Suite in Three Keys (1966), a trilogy set in a hotel penthouse suite. He wrote it as his swan song as a stage actor: "I would like to act once more before I fold my bedraggled wings." The trilogy gained glowing reviews and did good box office business in the UK. In one of the three plays, A Song at Twilight , Coward abandoned his customary reticence on
4752-532: A typescript was found in 2007 in the archive of the Lord Chamberlain's Office , the official censor of stage plays in the UK until 1968. In 1921, Coward made his first trip to America, hoping to interest producers there in his plays. Although he had little luck, he found the Broadway theatre stimulating. He absorbed its smartness and pace into his own work, which brought him his first real success as
4896-481: Is a political comedy set in a British colony; Quadrille (1952) is a drama about Victorian love and elopement; and Nude with Violin (1956, starring John Gielgud in London and Coward in New York) is a satire on modern art and critical pretension. A revue, Sigh No More (1945), was a moderate success, but two musicals, Pacific 1860 (1946), a lavish South Seas romance, and Ace of Clubs (1950), set in
5040-516: Is an image of Britannia surrounded by the motto, with the words "For Meritorious Service" at the bottom; on the reverse is George V's Imperial and Royal Cypher, with the words "Instituted by King George V" at the bottom. The name of the recipient is engraved on the rim. This medal is nicknamed "the Gong", and comes in both full-sized and miniature versions – the latter for formal white-tie and semi-formal black-tie occasions. A lapel pin for everyday wear
5184-906: Is not a member of the College of Arms , as are many other heraldic officers; and the Lady Usher of the Purple Rod does not – unlike the Order of the Garter equivalent, the Lady Usher of the Black Rod – perform any duties related to the House of Lords . Since the Second World War, several Commonwealth realms have established their own national system of honours and awards and have created their own unique orders, decorations and medals. A number, though, continue to make recommendations for appointments to
5328-400: The 1943 Academy Awards ceremony. Coward played a naval captain, basing the character on his friend Lord Louis Mountbatten . Lean went on to direct and adapt film versions of three Coward plays. Coward's most enduring work from the war years was the hugely successful black comedy Blithe Spirit (1941), about a novelist who researches the occult and hires a medium. A séance brings back
5472-600: The British Empire Medal , and the following year its recipients were granted the right to use the postnominal letters BEM. During the war, the BEM came to be used to recognise acts of bravery which did not merit the award of a George Cross or George Medal , a use which continued until the introduction of the Queen's Gallantry Medal in 1974. The designs of insignia of the order and medal were altered in 1937, prior to
5616-450: The City of London . Coward was homosexual but, following the convention of his times, this was never publicly mentioned. The critic Kenneth Tynan's description in 1953 was close to an acknowledgment of Coward's sexuality: "Forty years ago he was Slightly in Peter Pan , and you might say that he has been wholly in Peter Pan ever since. No private considerations have been allowed to deflect
5760-706: The D. W. Griffith film Hearts of the World in an uncredited role. He began writing plays, collaborating on the first two ( Ida Collaborates (1917) and Women and Whisky (1918)) with his friend Esmé Wynne. His first solo effort as a playwright was The Rat Trap (1918) which was eventually produced at the Everyman Theatre , Hampstead , in October 1926. During these years, he met Lorn McNaughtan, who became his private secretary and served in that capacity for more than forty years, until her death. In 1920, at
5904-592: The Empire Gallantry Medal , were given permission to use the postnominal letters EGM (and at the same time to add a laurel branch emblem to the ribbon of the medal); however, in 1940, awards of the EGM ceased and all holders of the medal were instructed to exchange it for a new and more prestigious gallantry award: the George Cross . In 1941, the medal of the order 'for meritorious service' was renamed
Clemence Dane - Misplaced Pages Continue
6048-477: The Great Depression , writing a succession of popular hits. They ranged from large-scale spectaculars to intimate comedies. Examples of the former were the operetta Bitter Sweet (1929), about a woman who elopes with her music teacher, and the historical extravaganza Cavalcade (1931) at Drury Lane , about thirty years in the lives of two families, which required a huge cast, gargantuan sets and
6192-637: The Novels of Tomorrow series for publisher Michael Joseph . This was a series of science fiction novels featuring such authors as John Wyndham , Robert Sheckley , and Cyril M. Kornbluth . Dane also wrote a book on the history of Covent Garden (where she lived for a number of years) titled London has a Garden and published in 1964. She was awarded the CBE in 1953. By the time of her death in London, on 28 March 1965, Dane had written more than 30 plays and 16 novels. CBE The Most Excellent Order of
6336-580: The OMs , demonstrably the greatest living English playwright." Time wrote that "in the 60s... his best work, with its inspired inconsequentiality, seemed to exert not only a period charm but charm, period." By the end of the 1960s, Coward developed arteriosclerosis and, during the run of Suite in Three Keys , struggled with bouts of memory loss. This also affected his work in The Italian Job , and he retired from acting immediately afterwards. Coward
6480-559: The Order of Canada . On the other hand, the Australian Honours System unilaterally created in 1975 did not achieve bi-partisan support until 1992, which was when Australian federal and state governments agreed to cease Australian recommendations for British honours; the last Australian recommended Order of the British Empire appointments were in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours . New Zealand continued to use
6624-563: The Savoy Hotel . During one air raid on the area around the Savoy he joined Carroll Gibbons and Judy Campbell in impromptu cabaret to distract the captive guests from their fears. Another of Coward's wartime projects, as writer, star, composer and co-director (alongside David Lean), was the naval film drama In Which We Serve . The film was popular on both sides of the Atlantic, and he was awarded an honorary certificate of merit at
6768-444: The coronation of King George VI , 'in commemoration of the reign of King George V and Queen Mary, during which the Order was founded'. The figure of Britannia at the centre of the badge of the order was replaced with an image of the crowned heads of the late King and Queen Mary, and the words 'Instituted by King George V' were added to the reverse of the medal. The colour of the riband was also changed: twenty years earlier, prior to
6912-642: The diæresis (" I didn't put the dots over the 'e' in Noël. The language did. Otherwise it's not Noël but Nool!"). The press and many book publishers failed to follow suit, and his name was printed as 'Noel' in The Times , The Observer and other contemporary newspapers and books. "Why", asked Coward, "am I always expected to wear a dressing-gown, smoke cigarettes in a long holder and say 'Darling, how wonderful'?" The answer lay in Coward's assiduous cultivation of
7056-568: The 1960s and 1970s, and his work and style continue to influence popular culture. He 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. Coward
7200-488: The 1960s: he was no longer seen as the smooth 1930s sophisticate, but as the doyen of the theatre. As The New Statesman wrote in 1964, "Who would have thought the landmarks of the Sixties would include the emergence of Noël Coward as the grand old man of British drama? There he was one morning, flipping verbal tiddlywinks with reporters about "Dad's Renaissance"; the next he was ... beside Forster , T. S. Eliot and
7344-473: The 21st century quotas were introduced to ensure consistent representation among recipients across nine categories of eligibility: with the largest proportion of awards being reserved for community, voluntary and local service. Non-military awards of the British Empire Medal resumed in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee . In 2017 the centenary of
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#17327830109917488-465: 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 1970. 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 ". Coward's plays and songs achieved new popularity in
7632-484: The British Empire is a British order of chivalry , rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service . It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or a dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal , whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of,
7776-792: The British Empire . Rather than using this chapel, the Order now holds its great services upstairs in the nave of the cathedral. In addition to the Chapel of the Order of the British Empire, St Paul's Cathedral also houses the Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George . Religious services for the whole Order are held every four years; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services. Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander prefix Sir , and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commander prefix Dame , to their forenames. Wives of Knights may prefix Lady to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Knights or spouses of Dames. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when
7920-443: The British Empire for Gallantry. Any individual made a member of the order for gallantry after 14 January 1958 wears an emblem of two crossed silver oak leaves on the same ribbon as the badge, with a miniature version on the ribbon bar when worn alone. When the ribbon only is worn the emblem is worn in miniature. It could not be awarded posthumously , and was replaced in 1974 with the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM). If recipients of
8064-575: The Burning Pestle in Birmingham and then London. He did not enjoy the role, finding Francis Beaumont and his sometime collaborator John Fletcher "two of the dullest Elizabethan writers ever known ... I had a very, very long part, but I was very, very bad at it". Nevertheless, The Manchester Guardian thought that Coward got the best out of the role, and The Times called the play "the jolliest thing in London". Coward completed
8208-844: The Military Division of the order from the UK and across the Empire. Recommendations for all appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the King's United Kingdom ministers (recommendations for overseas awards were made by the Foreign Office , the Colonial Office , the India Office and the Dominions Office ); but in the early 1940s the system was changed to enable
8352-407: The National Theatre's 2008 exhibition, The Independent commented, "His famous silk, polka-dot dressing gown and elegant cigarette holder both seem to belong to another era. But 2008 is proving to be the year that Britain falls in love with Noël Coward all over again." As soon as he achieved success he began polishing the Coward image: an early press photograph showed him sitting up in bed holding
8496-436: The Order of the British Empire for Gallantry received promotion within the order, whether for gallantry or otherwise, they continued to wear also the insignia of the lower grade with the oak leaves; however, they used only the post-nominal letters of the higher grade. When the order was founded in 1917, badges, ribands and stars were appointed for wear by recipients. In 1929 mantles, hats and collars were added for recipients of
8640-520: The Order of the British Empire. In 2024 appointments to the order were made by the governments of: Most members of the order are citizens of the United Kingdom or Commonwealth realms that use the UK system of honours and awards. In addition, honorary awards may be made to citizens of nations where the monarch is not head of state ; these permit use of post-nominal letters, but not the title of Sir or Dame . Honorary appointees who later become
8784-404: The Order, however, are not assigned any special precedence. As a general rule, only wives and children of male recipients are afforded privileges. Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to be granted heraldic supporters . They may, furthermore, encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of
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#17327830109918928-472: The Queen Mother replied, "I came because he was my friend." The Noël Coward Theatre in St Martin's Lane , originally opened in 1903 as the New Theatre and later called the Albery, was renamed in his honour after extensive refurbishment, re-opening on 1 June 2006. A statue of Coward by Angela Conner was unveiled by the Queen Mother in the foyer of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1998. There are also sculptures of Coward displayed in New York and Jamaica, and
9072-583: The Second World War. It is a Grade II listed building . In the 1950s, Coward left the UK for tax reasons, receiving harsh criticism in the press. He first settled in Bermuda but later bought houses in Jamaica and Switzerland ( Chalet Covar in the village of Les Avants , near Montreux ), which remained his homes for the rest of his life. His expatriate neighbours and friends included Joan Sutherland , David Niven , Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor , and Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards in Switzerland and Ian Fleming and his wife Ann in Jamaica. Coward
9216-486: The UK continue to make appointments to the order. Honorary awards may be made to citizens of other nations of which the order's sovereign is not the head of state. The five classes of appointment to the Order are, from highest grade to lowest grade: The senior two ranks of Knight or Dame Grand Cross and Knight or Dame Commander entitle their members to use the titles Sir for men and Dame for women before their forenames, except with honorary awards. King George V founded
9360-414: The United Kingdom; those who would formerly have met the criteria for the medal were instead made eligible for the MBE. In 2004, a report entitled A Matter of Honour: Reforming Our Honours System by a Commons select committee recommended phasing out the Order of the British Empire, as its title was "now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of
9504-519: The West End: The Vortex , Fallen Angels , Hay Fever and On with the Dance . Coward was turning out numerous plays and acting in his own works and others'. Soon his frantic pace caught up with him while starring in The Constant Nymph . He collapsed and was ordered to rest for a month; he ignored the doctors and sailed for the US to start rehearsals for his play This Was a Man . In New York he collapsed again, and had to take an extended rest, recuperating in Hawaii. Other Coward works produced in
9648-436: The World in 80 Days (1956), Our Man in Havana (1959), Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), Boom! (1968) and The Italian Job (1969). Stage and film opportunities he turned down in the 1950s included an invitation to compose a musical version of Pygmalion (two years before My Fair Lady was written), and offers of the roles of the king in the original stage production of The King and I , and Colonel Nicholson in
9792-439: The age of 20, Coward starred in his own play, the light comedy I'll Leave It to You . After a three-week run in Manchester it opened in London at the New Theatre (renamed the Noël Coward Theatre in 2006), his first full-length play in the West End. Neville Cardus 's praise in The Manchester Guardian was grudging. Notices for the London production were mixed, but encouraging. The Observer commented, "Mr Coward... has
9936-402: The award of medal of the order to Lizzie Robinson, a munitions worker. The order had been established primarily as a civilian award; in August 1918, however, not long after its foundation, a number of awards were made to serving naval and military personnel. Four months later, a 'Military Division' was added to the order, to which serving personnel would in future be appointed. The classes were
10080-413: The cathedral. That year, Commonwealth awards made up 40% of all OBEs and MBEs awarded (and 35% of all living recipients of the higher awards). Gradually that proportion reduced as independent states within the Commonwealth established their own systems of honours . The last Canadian recommendation for the Order of the British Empire was an MBE for gallantry gazetted in 1966, a year before the creation of
10224-402: The centre for awards in the military division). From time to time the order was expanded: there was an increase in the maximum permitted number of recipients in 1933, and a further increase in 1937. During the Second World War, as had been the case during and after World War I, the number of military awards was greatly increased; between 1939 and 1946 there were more than 33,000 appointments to
10368-521: The church, St Clement Danes on the Strand, London . Her first novel, Regiment of Women , written in 1914, was a study of life in a girls' school. In 1919 she wrote Legend , the story of a group of acquaintances who debate the meaning of a dead friend's life and work. Dane's 1921 play, A Bill of Divorcement , tells the story of a daughter who cares for her deranged father and faces the fact that his mental illness may be hereditary. The smash hit play
10512-418: The circlet. In 1929, to bring the order into line with the other orders of chivalry, members of the first class of the order (GBE) were provided with mantles, hats and collars. Only Knights/Dames Grand Cross wear these elaborate vestments; the hat is now rarely, if ever, worn. Use of the mantle is limited to important occasions (such as quadrennial services and coronations ). The mantle is always worn with
10656-492: The civil division were to be divided equally between UK and overseas awards. With regard to the Medal of the Order (but not the order itself), a distinction was made in 1922 between awards 'for gallantry' and awards 'for meritorious service' (each being appropriately inscribed, and the former having laurel leaves decorating the clasp, the latter oak leaves). In 1933 holders of the medal 'for gallantry', which had come to be known as
10800-444: The collar. Although the mantle was introduced in 1929, very few mantles would have been produced prior to the 1937 design changes, as there were few occasions for wearing them in the intervening years. On certain days designated by the sovereign, known as " collar days ", members attending formal events may wear the order's collar over their military uniform, formal day dress, evening wear or robes of office. Collars are returned upon
10944-664: The comic " Mad Dogs and Englishmen " from Words and Music , and "Mrs Worthington". With the outbreak of the Second World War Coward abandoned the theatre and sought official war work. After 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 worked on behalf of British intelligence. His task
11088-479: The country's population". The committee further suggested changing the name of the award to the Order of British Excellence, and changing the rank of Commander to Companion (as the former was said to have a "militaristic ring"), as well as advocating for the abolition of knighthoods and damehoods; the government, however, was not of the opinion that a case for change had been made, and the aforementioned suggestions and recommendations were not, therefore, pursued. In
11232-569: The curtain calls and spitting at Coward as he left the theatre. Coward later said of this flop, "My first instinct was to leave England immediately, but this seemed too craven a move, and also too gratifying to my enemies, whose numbers had by then swollen in our minds to practically the entire population of the British Isles." By 1929 Coward was one of the world's highest-earning writers, with an annual income of £50,000, more than £3 million in terms of 2020 values. Coward thrived during
11376-403: The death of their owners, but other insignia may be retained. The six office-holders of the order wear pearl-grey mantles lined with rose-pink, having on the right side a purple shield charged with the roundel from the badge. Each of these office-holders wears a unique badge of office, suspended from a gold chain worn around the neck. The British Empire Medal is made of silver. On the obverse
11520-626: The distinction between ranks in military operational gallantry awards will cease'. The reforms affected the order at various levels: for example the automatic award each year of a GBE to the Lord Mayor of London ceased; the OBE replaced the Imperial Service Order as an award for civil servants and the number of MBEs awarded each year was significantly increased. As part of these reforms the British Empire Medal stopped being awarded by
11664-557: The drive of his career; like Gielgud and Rattigan , like the late Ivor Novello, he is a congenital bachelor." Coward firmly believed his private business was not for public discussion, considering " any sexual activities when over-advertised" to be tasteless. Even in the 1960s, Coward refused to acknowledge his sexual orientation publicly, wryly observing, "There are still a few old ladies in Worthing who don't know." Despite this reticence, he encouraged his secretary Cole Lesley to write
11808-517: The duke's death, "I suddenly find that I loved him more than I knew." Coward maintained close friendships with many women, including the actress and author Esmé Wynne-Tyson, his first collaborator and constant correspondent; Gladys Calthrop , who designed sets and costumes for many of his works; his secretary and close confidante Lorn Loraine; the actresses Gertrude Lawrence, Joyce Carey and Judy Campbell; and "his loyal and lifelong amitié amoureuse ", Marlene Dietrich . In his profession, Coward
11952-768: The film The Bridge on the River Kwai . Invited to play the title role in the 1962 film Dr. No , he replied, "No, no, no, a thousand times, no." In the same year, he turned down the role of Humbert Humbert in Lolita , saying, "At my time of life the film story would be logical if the 12-year-old heroine was a sweet little old lady." In the mid-1960s and early 1970s successful productions of his 1920s and 1930s plays, and new revues celebrating his music, including Oh, Coward! on Broadway and Cowardy Custard in London, revived Coward's popularity and critical reputation. He dubbed this comeback "Dad's Renaissance". It began with
12096-529: The former was to be responsible for recording all proceedings connected with the order, issuing warrants under the seal of the order and making arrangements for investitures, while the latter (at that time the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury ) was responsible for collecting and tabulating the names of those who were to receive an award. The office of Dean was added in 1957. The King of Arms
12240-649: The ghost of his first wife, causing havoc for the novelist and his second wife. With 1,997 consecutive performances, it broke box-office records for the run of a West End comedy, and was also produced on Broadway, where its original run was 650 performances. The play was adapted into a 1945 film , directed by Lean. Coward toured during 1942 in Blithe Spirit , in rotation with his comedy Present Laughter and his working-class drama This Happy Breed . In his Middle East Diary Coward made several statements that offended many Americans. In particular, he commented that he
12384-401: The governments of overseas dominions to make their own nominations; Canada and South Africa began doing so in 1942, followed by Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms. In May 1957, forty years after the foundation of the order, it was announced that St Paul's Cathedral was to serve as the church of the order, and in 1960 a chapel was dedicated for its use within the crypt of
12528-450: The highest class of the order (GBE). The designs of all these items underwent major changes in 1937. The badge is worn by all members of the order; the size, colour and design depends on the class of award. The badge for all classes is in the form of a cross patonce (having the arms growing broader and floriated toward the end) with a medallion in the centre, the obverse of which bears a crowned image of George V and Queen Mary within
12672-503: The home front than by intelligence work: "Go and sing to them when the guns are firing – that's your job!" Coward, though disappointed, followed this advice. He toured, acted and sang indefatigably in Europe, Africa, Asia and America. He wrote and recorded war-themed popular songs, including " London Pride " and " Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans ". His London home was wrecked by German bombs in 1941, and he took up temporary residence at
12816-647: The honours system, calling it "a preposterous charade". The order has attracted some criticism for its naming having connection with the idea of the now-extinct British Empire . Benjamin Zephaniah , a British poet of Jamaican and Barbadian descent, publicly rejected appointment as an Officer in 2003 because, he asserted, it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality". He also said that "it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised". No%C3%ABl Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973)
12960-564: The influence of Bernard Shaw on Coward's writing, thought more highly of the play than of Coward's newly found fans: "I was unfortunately wedged in the centre of a group of his more exuberant friends who greeted each of his sallies with 'That's a Noëlism!'" The play ran in London from 1 February to 24 March 1923, after which Coward turned to revue , co-writing and performing in André Charlot 's London Calling! In 1924, Coward achieved his first great critical and financial success as
13104-446: The insignia to Buckingham Palace and by ceasing to make reference to their honour, but they still hold the honour unless and until annulled by the monarch. In 2003, The Sunday Times published a list of the people who had rejected the Order of the British Empire, including David Bowie , John Cleese , Nigella Lawson , Elgar Howarth , L. S. Lowry , George Melly , and J. G. Ballard . In addition, Ballard voiced his opposition to
13248-640: The junior post-nominal letters. The British sovereign is the sovereign of the order and appoints all other officers of the order (by convention, on the advice of the governments of the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth realms ). The second-most senior officer is the Grand Master (a 'Prince of the Blood Royal, or other exalted personage' appointed by the sovereign, who, by virtue of their appointment, becomes 'the First or Principal Knight Grand Cross of
13392-644: The king irresponsible, telling Churchill, "England doesn't wish for a Queen Cutie." Coward disliked propaganda in plays: Nevertheless, his own views sometimes surfaced in his plays: both Cavalcade and This Happy Breed are, in the words of the playwright David Edgar , "overtly Conservative political plays written in the Brechtian epic manner." In religion, Coward was agnostic. He wrote of his views, "Do I believe in God? I can't say No and I can't say Yes, To me it's anybody's guess." Coward spelled his first name with
13536-528: The latter. Knights and Dames Commander and Commanders may display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet. See List of current honorary knights and dames of the Order of the British Empire Only the monarch can annul an honour. The Honours Forfeiture Committee considers cases and makes recommendations for forfeiture. An individual can renounce their honour by returning
13680-463: The left breast, by Knights and Dames Grand Cross; Knights and Dames Commander wear a smaller star composed of 'four equal points and four lesser'. The star is not worn by the more junior classes. Prior to 1937 each star had in the centre a gold medallion with a figure of Britannia, surrounded by a crimson circlet inscribed with the motto of the order ('For God and the Empire'); since 1937 the effigies of King George V and Queen Mary have been shown within
13824-589: The mid-to-late 1920s included the plays Easy Virtue (1926), a drama about a divorcée's clash with her snobbish in-laws; The Queen Was in the Parlour , a Ruritanian romance ; This Was a Man (1926), a comedy about adulterous aristocrats; The Marquise (1927), an eighteenth-century costume drama; Home Chat (1927), a comedy about a married woman's fidelity; and the revues On with the Dance (1925) and This Year of Grace (1928). None of these shows has entered
13968-473: The names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Male clergy of the Church of England or the Church of Scotland do not use the title Sir (unless they were knighted before being ordained) as they do not receive the accolade (they are not dubbed "knight" with a sword), although they do append the post-nominal letters ; dames do not receive the accolade, and therefore female clergy are free to use
14112-709: The north coast of the island. A memorial service was held in St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on 29 May 1973, for which the Poet Laureate , John Betjeman , wrote and delivered a poem in Coward's honour, John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier read verse, and Yehudi Menuhin played Bach . On 28 March 1984 a memorial stone was unveiled by the Queen Mother in Poets' Corner , Westminster Abbey . Thanked by Coward's partner, Graham Payn , for attending,
14256-490: 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, as well as those of others. At the outbreak of the Second World War, 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
14400-497: The numbers from his Las Vegas act. It was followed by productions of Blithe Spirit in which he starred with Claudette Colbert , Lauren Bacall and Mildred Natwick and This Happy Breed with Edna Best and Roger Moore . Despite excellent reviews, the audience viewing figures were moderate. During the 1950s and 1960s Coward continued to write musicals and plays. After the Ball , his 1953 adaptation of Lady Windermere's Fan ,
14544-399: The numbers restricted to the order as full members do. Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British orders of chivalry, with more than 100,000 living members worldwide, there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders. From time to time, individuals may be promoted to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of
14688-620: The order alongside its own honours until the establishment of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1996. Other Commonwealth realms have continued to use the Order of the British Empire alongside their own honours. In 1993 the Prime Minister, John Major , instituted a reform of the honours system with the aim 'that exceptional service or achievement will be more widely recognised; that greater importance will be given to voluntary service; that automatic honours will end; that
14832-517: The order to fill gaps in the British honours system : In particular, George V wished to create an order to honour the many thousands of individuals from across the Empire who had served in a variety of non-combat roles during the First World War . From its foundation the order consisted of five classes (GBE, KBE/DBE, CBE, OBE and MBE) and was open to both women and men; provision was also made for conferring honorary awards on foreign recipients. At
14976-409: The order was celebrated with a service at St Paul's Cathedral. The order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 858 officers and 1,464 members may be appointed per year. Foreign appointees, as honorary members, do not contribute to
15120-410: The order's establishment, Queen Mary had made it known that pink would be her preferred colour for the riband of the proposed new order, but, in the event, purple was chosen. Following her appointment as Grand Master of the order in 1936 a change was duly made and since 9 March 1937 the riband of the order has been 'rose pink edged with pearl grey’ (with the addition of a vertical pearl grey stripe in
15264-402: The order. The order was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V , who created the order to recognise 'such persons, male or female, as may have rendered or shall hereafter render important services to Our Empire'. Equal recognition was to be given for services rendered in the UK and overseas. Today the majority of recipients are UK citizens, though a number of Commonwealth realms outside
15408-405: The other is a bronze bust. The gallery also contains a portrait of Dane by Frederic Yates . According to Arthur Marshall , she was famous for her indecent, though entirely innocent, remarks. "The physical side of life had passed her by, together with the words, slang and otherwise, that accompany it. Time and again she settled for an unfortunate word or phrase. Inviting Noël Coward to lunch during
15552-459: The playwright Keith Winter, actors Louis Hayward and Alan Webb , his manager Jack Wilson and the composer Ned Rorem , who published details of their relationship in his diaries. Coward had a 19-year friendship with Prince George, Duke of Kent , but biographers differ on whether it was platonic. Payn believed that it was, although Coward reportedly admitted to the historian Michael Thornton that there had been "a little dalliance". Coward said, on
15696-474: The pseudonym Diana Cortis. She made her a début in H. V. Esmond’s ‘Eliza Comes to Stay’ but gave up to write her first novel in 1914. Years after Dane expressed an interest in returning to acting, and her friend Noël Coward wrote the part of Madame Arcati, the eccentric medium in Blithe Spirit for her. The National Portrait Gallery contains two works by Dane, both of Coward. One is an oil painting and
15840-497: The public view of Coward's flamboyant lifestyle, Churchill used as his reason for withholding the honour Coward's £200 fine for contravening currency regulations in 1941. Had the Germans invaded Britain, Coward was scheduled to be arrested and killed, as he was in The Black Book along with other figures such as Virginia Woolf , Paul Robeson , Bertrand Russell , C. P. Snow and H. G. Wells . When this came to light after
15984-402: The regular repertoire, but the last introduced one of Coward's best-known songs, "A Room with a View". His biggest failure in this period was the play Sirocco (1927), which concerns free love among the wealthy. It starred Ivor Novello , of whom Coward said, "the two most beautiful things in the world are Ivor's profile and my mind". Theatregoers hated the play, showing violent disapproval at
16128-603: The same Order'). The position of Grand Master has been held by the following people: In addition to the sovereign and the grand master , the order has six further officers: At its foundation the order was served by three officers: the King of Arms, the Registrar & Secretary and the Gentleman Usher of the Purple Rod. In 1922 the Prelate was added, and the office of Registrar was separated from that of Secretary:
16272-466: The same as for the Civil Division (as it was now termed), but military awards were distinguished by the addition of a central vertical red stripe to the purple riband of the civil awards. In 1920 appointment as an MBE 'for an act of gallantry' was granted for the first time, to Sydney Frank Blanck Esq, who had rescued an injured man from a burning building containing explosives. In December 1922
16416-573: The same time, alongside the order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. The first investiture took place at Ibrox Stadium , as part of a royal visit to the Glasgow shipyards, with the appointment of Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde as a GBE (in recognition of his role as chairman of the Scottish War Savings Committee) and
16560-470: The screenplay for Anna Karenina , starring Greta Garbo and Fire over England based on the novel by A.E.W. Mason , starring a young Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh . The pinnacle of Dane's success was winning an Academy Award with Anthony Pelissier for the film Perfect Strangers , released in the United States as Vacation from Marriage , starring Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr as
16704-411: The staccato, blind impulsiveness of a machine-gun. In 1955 Coward's cabaret act at Las Vegas, recorded live for the gramophone and released as Noël Coward at Las Vegas , was so successful that CBS engaged him to write and direct a series of three 90-minute television specials for the 1955–56 season. The first of these, Together With Music , paired Coward with Mary Martin , featuring him in many of
16848-461: The standard of the George Medal (even though, as appointments to an order of chivalry, they were listed before it on the Order of Wear . In contrast to awards for meritorious service, which usually appear without a citation, there were often citations for gallantry awards, some detailed and graphic. From 14 January 1958, these awards were designated Commander, Officer or Member of the Order of
16992-416: The statutes of the order were amended; there having been a large number of awards for war work prior to this date, these amended statutes placed the order on more of a peacetime footing. For the first time numbers of appointments were limited, with the stipulation that senior awards in the Civil Division were to outnumber those in the Military Division by a proportion of six to one. Furthermore appointments in
17136-533: The subject and played an explicitly homosexual character. The daring piece earned Coward new critical praise. He intended to star in the trilogy on Broadway but was too ill to travel. Only two of the Suite in Three Keys plays were performed in New York, with the title changed to Noël Coward in Two Keys , starring Hume Cronyn . Coward won new popularity in several notable films later in his career, such as Around
17280-506: The title Dame . Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal GBE; Knights Commander, KBE; Dames Commander, DBE; Commanders, CBE; Officers, OBE; and Members, MBE. The post-nominal for the British Empire Medal is BEM. Members of all classes of the order are assigned positions in the order of precedence . Wives of male members of all classes also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander; relatives of Ladies of
17424-635: The troops, was a supreme success, first in London at the Café de Paris , and later in Las Vegas . The theatre critic Kenneth Tynan wrote: To see him whole, public and private personalities conjoined, you must see him in cabaret ... he padded down the celebrated stairs ... halted before the microphone on black-suede-clad feet, and, upraising both hands in a gesture of benediction, set about demonstrating how these things should be done. Baring his teeth as if unveiling some grotesque monument, and cooing like
17568-654: The upper classes. Its notoriety and fiery performances attracted large audiences, justifying a move from a small suburban theatre to a larger one in the West End. Coward, still having trouble finding producers, raised the money to produce the play himself. During the run of The Vortex , Coward met Jack Wilson , an American stockbroker (later a director and producer), who became his business manager and lover. At first Wilson managed Coward's business affairs well, but later abused his position to embezzle from his employer. The success of The Vortex in both London and America caused
17712-474: The war, Coward wrote an alternative reality play, Peace in Our Time , depicting an England occupied by Nazi Germany . Coward's new plays after the war were moderately successful but failed to match the popularity of his pre-war hits. Relative Values (1951) addresses the culture clash between an aristocratic English family and a Hollywood actress with matrimonial ambitions; South Sea Bubble (1951)
17856-451: The war, Coward wrote: "If anyone had told me at that time I was high up on the Nazi blacklist, I should have laughed ... I remember Rebecca West , who was one of the many who shared the honour with me, sent me a telegram which read: 'My dear – the people we should have been seen dead with'." Churchill's view was that Coward would do more for the war effort by entertaining the troops and
18000-427: The war, when food was difficult, she boomed encouragement down the telephone; 'Do come! I've got such a lovely cock.' ('I do wish you'd call it a hen', Noel answered). To use correctly, in a literary sense, the words 'erection', 'tool' and 'spunk' was second nature to her. When wishing to describe herself as being full of life and creative energy, she chose, not really very wisely, the word 'randy'." In 1955, Dane edited
18144-507: The weekend and bemuse and enrage each other's guests. Some writers have seen elements of Coward's old mentor, Mrs Astley Cooper, and her set in the characters of the family. By the 1970s the play was recognised as a classic, described in The Times as a "dazzling achievement; like The Importance of Being Earnest , it is pure comedy with no mission but to delight, and it depends purely on the interplay of characters, not on elaborate comic machinery." By June 1925 Coward had four shows running in
18288-603: Was knighted in 1970, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature . He received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 1970. In 1972, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Sussex . At the age of 73, Coward died at his home, Firefly Estate , in Jamaica on 26 March 1973 of heart failure and was buried three days later on the brow of Firefly Hill, overlooking
18432-527: Was "less impressed by some of the mournful little Brooklyn boys lying there in tears amid the alien corn with nothing worse than a bullet wound in the leg or a fractured arm". After protests from both The New York Times and The Washington Post , the Foreign Office urged Coward not to visit the United States in January 1945. He did not return to America again during the war. In the aftermath of
18576-588: Was a member of the Six Point Group . Dane's 1931 novel Broome Stages followed the fortunes of an acting family from the time of Queen Anne to the present. Broome Stages became a surprise bestseller. Dane and Helen de Guerry Simpson , both members of the Detection Club , wrote three detective novels together featuring their creation Sir John Saumarez. The first, Enter Sir John , was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1930 as Murder! and in
18720-523: Was a witness at the Flemings' wedding, but his diaries record his exasperation with their constant bickering. 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
18864-459: Was adapted for the screen three times, using the same title as the play: a silent film in 1922 , a 1932 film starring Katharine Hepburn and John Barrymore , and a 1940 film starring Maureen O’Hara and Adolphe Menjou . Dane began writing screenplays as well as novels. In 1933-1934 she travelled to Hollywood on a contract with RKO and returned again in 1937-8 and in 1947 after the war. In England she worked with Alexander Korda. She co-wrote
19008-455: 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 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
19152-579: Was bitten by the performing bug early and appeared in amateur concerts by the age of seven. He attended the Chapel Royal Choir School as a young child. He had little formal schooling but was a voracious reader. Encouraged by his ambitious mother, who sent him to a dance academy in London, Coward's first professional engagement was in January 1911 as Prince Mussel in the children's play The Goldfish . In Present Indicative , his first volume of memoirs, Coward wrote: One day ...
19296-575: Was born in 1899 in Teddington , Middlesex , a south-western suburb of London. His parents were Arthur Sabin Coward (1856–1937), a piano salesman, and Violet Agnes Coward (1863–1954), daughter of Henry Gordon Veitch, a captain and surveyor in the Royal Navy . Noël Coward was the second of their three sons, the eldest of whom had died in 1898 at the age of six. Coward's father lacked ambition and industry, and family finances were often poor. Coward
19440-418: Was expected of me. Part of the job." Time concluded, "Coward's greatest single gift has not been writing or composing, not acting or directing, but projecting a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise." Coward's distinctive clipped diction arose from his childhood: his mother was deaf and Coward developed his staccato style of speaking to make it easier for her to hear what he
19584-402: Was first announced at the end of December 2006, and is available to recipients of all levels of the order, as well as to holders of the British Empire Medal . The pin design is not unique to any level. The pin features the badge of the order, enclosed in a circle of ribbon of its colours of pink and grey. Lapel pins must be purchased separately by a member of the order. The creation of such a pin
19728-480: Was in the care of the orphanage. He became Collinson's godfather and helped him to get started in show business. When Collinson was a successful director, he invited Coward to play a role in The Italian Job . Graham Payn also played a small role in the film. In 1926, Coward acquired Goldenhurst Farm , in Aldington, Kent , making it his home for most of the next thirty years, except when the military used it during
19872-469: Was made a substantive member and subsequently styled as Sir Terry Wogan). Although initially intended to recognise meritorious service, the order began to also be awarded for gallantry. There were an increased number of cases in the Second World War for service personnel and civilians including the merchant navy, police, emergency services and civil defence, mostly MBEs but with a small number of OBEs and CBEs. Such awards were for gallantry that did not reach
20016-524: Was really quite good in it, owing to the kindness and care of Hawtrey's direction. He took endless trouble with me ... and taught me during those two short weeks many technical points of comedy acting which I use to this day." In 1918, Coward was conscripted into the Artists Rifles but was assessed as unfit for active service because of a tubercular tendency, and he was discharged on health grounds after nine months. That year he appeared in
20160-585: Was recommended in Sir Hayden Phillips ' review of the honours system in 2004. The Chapel of the Order of the British Empire is in St Paul's Cathedral . It occupies the far eastern end of the cathedral crypt and was dedicated in 1960. The only heraldic banners normally on display in the chapel are those of the Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire and of the Grand Master of the Order of
20304-425: Was saying; it also helped him eradicate a slight lisp. His nickname, "The Master", "started as a joke and became true", according to Coward. It was used of him from the 1920s onwards. Coward himself made light of it: when asked by a journalist why he was known as "The Master", he replied, "Oh, you know – Jack of all trades, master of none." He could, however, joke about his own immodesty: "My sense of my importance to
20448-562: Was the last musical he premiered in the West End; his last two musicals were first produced on Broadway. Sail Away (1961), set on a luxury cruise liner, was Coward's most successful post-war musical, with productions in America, Britain and Australia. The Girl Who Came to Supper , a musical adaptation of The Sleeping Prince (1963), ran for only three months. He directed the successful 1964 Broadway musical adaptation of Blithe Spirit , called High Spirits . Coward's late plays include
20592-419: Was to use his celebrity to influence American public and political opinion in favour of helping Britain. He was frustrated by British press criticism of his foreign travel while his countrymen suffered at home, but he was unable to reveal that he was acting on behalf of the Secret Service. In 1942 George VI wished to award Coward a knighthood for his efforts, but was dissuaded by Winston Churchill . Mindful of
20736-493: 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. From 1934 until 1956, Coward was the president of the Actors Orphanage , which was supported by the theatrical industry. In that capacity, he befriended the young Peter Collinson , who
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