Noel Coward's
partner dies at 87

Graham Payn, Noel Coward's partner and literary executor, who went on to write about Coward's life, died November 4 at age 87. Payn was a teenager when he met Coward; he auditioned for a Coward revue. Payn, a singer-dancer who appeared in pantomimes, plays, and musicals during a career that began at age 13, went on to appear in various works by Coward. The multitalented Coward, who never publicly acknowledged his sexual orientation, wrote roles for Payn in the West End musicals Pacific 1860 and Ace of Clubs.

After Coward's death, Payn collaborated with Sheridan Morley on The Noel Coward Diaries and with Morley and Cole Lesley on Noel Coward and His Friends; he also ran Coward's estate from Switzerland.

Born in South Africa, Payn retired at Coward's last home in Switzerland, where he died. (Kenneth Jones, Playbill On-Line)