Notebook

Back in Les Avants, heavy demands were made on his reserves of sympathy. Margaret Leighton came to stay, in the throes of divorcing Laurence Harvey, and Noël despaired of "these silly ladies" who "muck up their lives", regretting the time when women "just stayed put and, as a general rule, got their own way and held their gentlemen much longer. It isn't really surprising that homosexuality is becoming as normal as blueberry pie." Then Clifton Webb's mother, Maybelle, died. Webb had been inordinately attached to her; but Noël thought "the late sixties is rather late to be orphaned". When Webb rang in floods of inconsolable tears, Coward threatened him, "Clifton, if you don't stop crying, I shall reverse the charges."

Philip Hoare, "Noël Coward: A Biography".