29 Facts About Noel Coward

1. Noel Coward was honored in recognition of his talents and service to his country when he was made a knight by England's Queen Elizabeth in 1970.

2. Noel Coward ended the decade with his most popular musical play, Bitter Sweet.

3. Noel Coward appeared professionally as an actor from the age of 12.

4. Noel Coward wrote two volumes of autobiographical recollections, titled Present Indicative and Future Indefinite (1954).

5. Noel Coward died on March 26, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica.

6. Noel Coward was no fan of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, but as a songwriter was nevertheless strongly influenced by them.

7. Noel Coward was an early admirer of the plays of Harold Pinter and backed Pinter's film version of The Caretaker with a £1,000 investment.

8. Noel Coward was a witness at the Flemings' wedding, but his diaries record his exasperation with their constant bickering.

9. Noel Coward became Collinson's godfather and helped him to get started in show business.

10. Noel Coward had a 19-year friendship with Prince George, Duke of Kent, but biographers differ on whether it was platonic.

11. In 2008 an exhibition devoted to Noel Coward was mounted at the National Theatre in London.

12. Noel Coward was knighted in 1969 and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

13. Noel Coward intended to star in the trilogy on Broadway but was too ill to travel.

14. Noel Coward directed the successful 1964 Broadway musical adaptation of Blithe Spirit, called High Spirits.

15. Noel Coward owes little to earlier wits, such as Wilde or Labouchere.

16. Noel Coward wrote and recorded war-themed popular songs, including "London Pride" and "Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans".

17. Noel Coward toured, acted and sang indefatigably in Europe, Africa, Asia and America.

18. Noel Coward thrived during the Great Depression, writing a succession of popular hits.

19. Noel Coward was turning out numerous plays and acting in his own works and others'.

20. In 1924, Noel Coward achieved his first great critical and financial success as a playwright with The Vortex.

21. In 1921, Noel Coward made his first trip to America, hoping to interest producers there in his plays.

22. Noel Coward sold short stories to several magazines to help his family financially.

23. In 1918, Noel Coward was conscripted into the Artists Rifles but was assessed as unfit for active service because of a tubercular tendency, and he was discharged on health grounds after nine months.

24. Noel Coward played in the piece in 1911 and 1912 at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End.

25. Noel Coward had little formal schooling but was a voracious reader.

26. Noel Coward was born in 1899 in Teddington, Middlesex, a south-western suburb of London.

27. Noel Coward won an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 for his naval film drama, In Which We Serve, and was knighted in 1969.

28. Noel Coward worked with the Secret Service, seeking to use his influence to persuade the American public and government to help Britain.

29. At the outbreak of the Second World War Noel Coward volunteered for war work, running the British propaganda office in Paris.