Noel Coward was recruited as pre-war undercover agent, letters reveal
Noël Coward was recruited as a British undercover agent as early as 1938 and was deeply critical of fellow actors who “scuttled off” to Hollywood instead of fighting for their country, according to unpublished letters.
Many of the letters date from the war years – a period only touched on in Coward’s autobiography – and reveal details about his spying activities.
The screenwriter for classic films such as In Which We Serve and Brief Encounter – and whose screen performances included the British spy in Carol Reed’s Our Man in Havana in 1959 – regretted bitterly that tuberculosis and a head injury during training had prevented him from serving his country in the First World War, according to the extensive correspondence.
In 1939 he wrote to Winston Churchill: “This time I am determined to play as much of a part as the powers-that-be allow me . . . You may count on my doing whatever I am called upon to do.”
Read entire article at Times (UK)
Many of the letters date from the war years – a period only touched on in Coward’s autobiography – and reveal details about his spying activities.
The screenwriter for classic films such as In Which We Serve and Brief Encounter – and whose screen performances included the British spy in Carol Reed’s Our Man in Havana in 1959 – regretted bitterly that tuberculosis and a head injury during training had prevented him from serving his country in the First World War, according to the extensive correspondence.
In 1939 he wrote to Winston Churchill: “This time I am determined to play as much of a part as the powers-that-be allow me . . . You may count on my doing whatever I am called upon to do.”