Acclaimed actor, playwright, songwriter, singer, and director Noël Coward was the very definition of a Rennaissance man.
Born to a working class family in the suburbs of London in 1899, he turned his passion for the arts into a multi-faceted career that established him as one of the most revered voices in entertainment, from the West End to Broadway, thanks especially to his hit plays like Private Lives and Blithe Spirit (by 30, he was already the highest paid writer in the world!).
He was also gay—a truth that almost everyone knew, but no one talked about.
Your dose of fabulosi-TEA
Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.
Of course, that’s not the most surprising thing considering the era Coward rose to prominence. But it’s only in recent years that we’ve begun to fully appreciate the impact her made, not just as a dramatist, but as a queer dramatist.
While his work was never expressly gay, it was undoubtedly imbued with his queer sensibilities. Take for example, “Mad About The Boy,” one of his most well-known numbers written for the comedy I’ll Leave It To You, originally intended to be sung by women daydreaming about their movie-star crush.
Related*
This boy crazy love ballad still tugs heartstrings almost 100 years after its debut
And have you ever seen it performed in drag by Yul Bryner?
But, come on: “I know it’s stupid to be mad about the boy, I’m so ashamed of it but must admit, the sleepless nights I’ve had about the boy”? It’s not hard to read those lyrics from the perspective of a gay man!
While Coward largely kept his private life private, he did eventually find a hunky screen idol of his own: The South Africa-born stage and screen actor Graham Payn, who would appear in a number of the writer’s works over the years. The true nature of their decades-long romance was kept a secret until after Coward passed.
From his lovers to his lavish lifestyle to his lasting legacy, all of that and more is explored in the fascinating documentary Mad About The Boy: The Noël Coward Story—taking its name from his signature song, naturally!—directed by filmmaker Barnaby Thompson (who also helped produce Spice World, so let’s give him his flowers).
The film recounts his life, from impoverished childhood to jet-setting star up until his passing in 1973, told largely through his own words, music, and rarely seen home movies.
Listen carefully and you’ll hear a number of familiar voices. For one, many of Coward’s famous contemporaries and admirers—from Frank Sinatra to Lauren Bacall to Dame Maggie Smith—sing his praises via archival footage. And, reading direct from the icon’s diaries, as the voice of Noël Coward himself, is out (and recently married) star Rupert Everett.
Related*
PHOTOS: Classic Hollywood stars who would’ve been popular on the apps
Classic Hollywood may have been a gay old place, but most gay actors were forced to hide their true identities for fear of career suicide. While that’s tragic enough, it’s also sad that these handsome men were often groomed to within an inch of their lives by the studio system. We’ve searched for pics that […]
And the whole thing is narrated by recent Emmy winner Alan Cumming, whose lilting Scottish brogue is the perfect compliment to Coward’s incredible story.
After premiering in U.K. theaters earlier this year, Mad About The Boy will be screening in U.S. theaters and available via digital VOD services beginning October 11. Ahead of the release, distributor Greenwich Entertainment has shared a trailer, which features rocker Adam Lambert’s gorgeous cover of “Mad About The Boy” from his 2023 album High Drama.
Watch the trailer for Mad About The Boy: The Noël Coward Story below:
Baz01
‘Mad about the Boy’
(original – and then deleted by Coward – verse)
Male Businessman:
Mad about the boy
I know it’s silly
But I’m mad about the boy
And even Dr Freud cannot explain
Those vexing dreams
I’ve had about the boy
When I told my wife
She said
“I never heard such nonsense in my life!”
Her lack of sympathy
Embarrassed me
And made me frankly glad about the boy.
My doctor can’t advise me
He’d help me if he could
Three time he’s tried to psychoanalyse me
But it’s just no good
People I employ
Have the impertinence
To call me Myrna Loy
I rise above it
Frankly love it
‘Cos I’m absolutely
Mad about the boy
inbama
So hard to imagine Sir Noel with blue hair and carrying a Palestinian flag at a pro-Hamas demonstration.
Q u e e r, indeed.
Paul2
I always wonder why when there are retrospective on Broadway musicals, they never include “Can Can”? One of Noel’s fun show.
Man About Town
I don’t think there’s any connection between Noel Coward and Cole Porter’s “Can Can”
I also don’t think he would appreciate being called “queer”
Kangol2
Inbama, I guess you’re unaware that Noël Coward briefly flirted with British fascism, even judging a contest for pro-self-described British Fascist Carnival Nall in 1925, so he very well might have been at such a rally, in tie and tails, if not blue hair and a placard. (As I’m sure you know, Ha ma s didn’t exist then, but neither did Isr a el; there was, however, a Pa le sti ne).
jp47
Yes, Kangol, Palestine did exist, but it was a British colony, so it was not a sovereign entity.
Pietro D
When all is said and done, as Coward so apltly stated to Dick Cavett,
he had TALENT.
The man was brilliant with composing great songs, musical theatre, and
his sophisticated plays. Add to that some very great work in film including
“CAVALCADE” which won the Oscar as Best Film of the year in 1932/33,
its origin a patriotic play that played the West End, 405 performances in
1931, just after the brilliant run of Prvate Lives with Gertrude Lawrence in
1930.
G3
In Sunset Boulevard, Norma gives Joe a gold cigarette case inscribed “Mad About the Boy”