Overview

Noel Coward (1899-1973), playwright and actor, personified an elegant, witty and faintly outrageous way of life between the wars. He first achieved fame starring in his own play The Vortex in 1924, which he followed with Hay Fever (1925) and Private Lives (1930). A patriotic vein evident in his stage extravaganza Cavalcade (1931) came into its own with the wartime fim In Which We Serve (1942); from the same period is his classic Brief Encounter (1945). He was also an accomplished cabaret performer, singing at the piano his own lyrics such as 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen (out in the midday sun)'.

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9781904341888

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Reviews

'[Morley] reminds us of a time when Coward plays such as The Vortex were considered cutting edge in their treatment of sexuality and drugs... Illustrated with some well-chosen photographs, Morley's Coward is quite as diverting as the finest work of the Master himself.' -- Barry Forshaw The Independent

'One of the best things about this book is the author's style. Take Coward's brief spell in the army. Morley writes: You could indeed argue that a summons to the Camberwell swimming baths was not the most auspicious beginning to a career in the armed forces. Fortunately, King and Country took a dim view of the usefulness of Noel to the war effort and he was sent to the Artists' Rifles, a well-known refuge for those of an unwarlike disposition. ' -- The Independent

Author Information

Sheridan Morley is one of Britain's foremost theatre critics, broadcasters and biographers. He has written the first biographies of David Niven and James Mason as well as the lives of many other actors including his father, Robert Morley, and his grandmother, Dame Gladys Cooper. His Authorised Biography of John Gielgud was published to much critical acclaim in 2001. Sheridan Morley is the executor of Noel Coward's literary estate and will include hitherto unpublished material in this new biography.

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