This Happy Breed
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NOEL COWARD (Playwright) Sir Noel Coward (1899 – 1973) was a remarkably prolific writer with dozens of plays, several films, hundreds of songs plus volumes of autobiographies, stories and verse to his credit, produced in his rapid-fire style from the 1920s through the 1960s. Many of his plays — often presenting sophisticated characters in a worldly milieu — defined post-war Britain, conquered Broadway and are often described as among the wittiest works ever written.

Among the most famous are HAY FEVER (1925), PRIVATE LIVES (1930), DESIGN FOR LIVING (1933), PRESENT LAUGHTER (1939) and BLITHE SPIRIT (1941). An actor since age 12, his career included numerous stage credits (he originated the role of Frank Gibbons in THIS HAPPY BREED), and he appeared in the film versions of many of his plays. In his later life, Coward was honored on both sides of the Atlantic — knighthood in 1970 and a lifetime Tony Award in 1971 — and he continues to be regarded as one of the premiere artists of the 20th century.