What mere words of mine could pay tribute to the sheer genius that was Noël Coward (who was born 110 years ago today)?
It was for a very good reason that he was known as "The Master". His wit, camp, style and poise genuinely did epitomise a whole era of British life -through his plays, songs, music, acting, performance and sheer panache.
His stage productions including Cavalcade, The Vortex, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter, Bitter Sweet and Blithe Spirit, and films such as Brief Encounter are forever embedded in the psyche as examples of what represents "Britishness" in classic 20th Century drama.
UK society (and indeed high society - among his close friends were Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Lord Louis Mountbatten) adored him so much that there was an almost universal decision to ignore his gay lifestyle and his long-term relationship with Graham Payne. ("There are still a few old ladies in Worthing who don't know", he said.)
After all, his film In Which We Serve and songs such as London Pride had been officially sanctioned as a major contribution to the war effort, and in real life he worked on behalf of the the Secret Service for much of WW2... The rest is history, as Sir Noël continued to be an internationally beloved dilettante until his death in 1973.
So without further ado, here is a cavalcade (geddit?) of the Master's finest moments...
Here is Stephen Fry paying tribute to The Master earlier this week:
And finally, my favourite version of a favourite Noël Coward song by that latter-day genius Neil Hannon and The Divine Comedy:
Noël Coward Society
Noël Coward on Wikipedia
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