(Death: 26 March 1973) 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".
Born in Teddington, a suburb of London. Best known songs include: "I'll See You Again" (Bitter Sweet), "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" (Words and Music), "If Love Were All" (Bitter Sweet), "Someday I'll Find You" (Private Lives), "I'll Follow My Secret Heart" (Conversation Piece). As a songwriter, Coward was deeply influenced by Gilbert and Sullivan, although he shared a dislike of their works common in his generation. He recalled: "I was born into a generation that still took light music seriously. The lyrics and melodies of Gilbert and Sullivan were hummed and strummed into my consciousness at an early age. My father sang them, my mother played them... my aunts and uncles, who were legion, sang them singly and in unison at the slightest provocation." His colleague Terence Rattigan wrote that as a lyricist Coward was "the best of his kind since W. S. Gilbert."Wikipedia Bio | Search Amazon.com for Noël Coward
