Biography
Noël Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and writer. He wrote the screenplay for and produced the 1945 film Brief Encounter, directed by David Lean and adapted from his one-act play Still Life.
Coward wrote more than fifty plays, many of which remain in the theatre repertoire, including Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit. His other notable screen credits include the screenplay for Cavalcade (1933) and writing and directing In Which We Serve (1942). He was knighted in 1970.
