Theater's Sparkling, Many-Talented Noel Coward Dies

By 1966 Sir Noel was able to write and act in his most

Sir Noel Coward AP Wirephoto

intensely autobiographical play, "A Song at Twilight."

It concerns an aging homosexual writer and his. problem, that he has not been able to write truthfully about himself in his work. Confronted by a blackmailer who threatens him with exposure and upbraids him for having masked his homosexuality in his art and camouflaged it in his life, the writer replies:

"Was that so unpardonable?" I was young, ambiticus and already almost a public figure. Was it so base of me to try to show to the world that I was capable of playing the game according to the rules?"