Arena

Season 1, Episode 510

Episode Title: The Noel Coward Trilogy: Sail Away

Air Date: 1998-04-13

Overview:

Concluding the three-part Easter special with a look at the last 30 years of Noel Coward's life. His post-war eclipse as a dramatist gave way to a new career as a highly successful cabaret performer in London and Las Vegas and in numerous film cameos. In the fifties he became the first celebrity tax exile and lived in Switzerland and Jamaica. Finally knighted at the age of 70, he died three years later and was buried on a mountain-top in Jamaica. Arena visits Coward's two homes, Firefly and Chalet Coward, and meets those who were closest to him, including Graham Payn, his partner for more than 30 years and Joan Hirst, his last secretary. Plus interviews with Arnold Wesker, Neil Tennant and Lionel Bart.