Noel Coward Biography

Fast Facts

• Was given the name Noël because he was born just before Christmas
• Quit school at age 9 to become an actor and help his family financially
• Met actress Gertrude Lawrence while performing and cultivated a lifelong friendship and working relationship with her
• Made his first screen appearance opposite Lillian Gish in director D
• W
• Griffith's Hearts of the World (1918)
• Soared to fame in the early 1920s writing numerous hits including the revue London Calling, the comedy Hay Fever and the controversial drama The Vortex
• Being constantly in demand coupled with the pressure of trying to top his previous successes led to a nervous breakdown by age 27
• While working intelligence during World War II, wrote the enduring Blithe Spirit, considered the greatest hit of his career
• Adapted one of his one-act plays into the tear-jerker Brief Encounter (1946) for director David Lean
• In 1955, wowed audiences with a night club engagement in Las Vegas that resulted in a popular live recording
• Finally knighted in 1970, after Winston Churchill blocked an earlier attempt