The Oxford Companion to English Literature | Coward, Noël
Coward, Noël
(
1899
–
1973
), actor, dramatist, and composer, born in Teddington, Middlesex, the son of a piano salesman and an ambitious mother who from an early age encouraged his theatrical aspirations. His first play was performed in
1917
, but he achieved fame with The Vortex (
1924
), in which he himself appeared as Nicky Lancaster, a young drug-addict tormented by his mother's adulteries. More characteristic of his talent were his comedies Fallen Angels (
1925
), Hay Fever (
1925
, about the eccentric, theatrical, guest-confusing, self-regarding Bliss family), Private Lives (
1933
, about two disastrous interconnected second marriages), Design for Living (
1933
, about a successful ménage à trois), and Blithe Spirit (
1941
), which features the hearty medium,
Madame
Arcati
, and
Elvira
, a predatory ghost. The smart sophistication, technical accomplishment, and...
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