Graham Payn
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Graham Payn (25 April 1918 – 4 November 2005) was a
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
n-born English actor and singer, also known for being the life partner of the playwright Noël Coward. Beginning as a
boy soprano A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North Americ ...
, Payn later made a career as a singer and actor in the works of Coward and others. After Coward's death, Payn ran the Coward estate for 22 years.


Early life, education and early career

Payn was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the son of Francis Dawney Payn and his wife, Sybil, née Graham.''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
''. 7 September 1943. p. 6. He was educated in South Africa and, after his parents divorced, in England, where he made his first stage appearance, aged 13, at the
London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...
, as Curly in ''
Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
''.Vosburgh, Dick (29 November 2005). "Obituary: Graham Payn". ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''. p. 59. In October 1931, he broadcast as a boy soprano on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in a programme featuring
Derek Oldham Derek Oldham (29 March 1887 – 20 March 1968) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. After performing in concerts as a boy soprano and workin ...
and
Mabel Constanduros Mabel Constanduros (' Tilling; 29 March 1880 – 8 February 1957) was an English actress and screenwriter. She gained public notice playing Mrs.Buggins on the radio programme '' The Buggins Family'', which ran from 1928 to 1948. As well as writi ...
, and made further broadcasts in 1932 and 1933. At the age of 14, he auditioned for the Noël Coward and Charles B. Cochran revue '' Words and Music'' (1932). His audition piece, singing "
Nearer My God to Thee "Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th-century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, which retells the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because th ...
" while executing a tap dance, was so striking that Payn won two tiny parts in the revue. For 163 performances, he played a busker entertaining a cinema queue as a lead-in to the ballad " Mad About the Boy", and announced, in top hat, white jacket and shorts, the show's other hit song " Mad Dogs and Englishmen". He first appeared in films as a boy soprano in the same year."Graham Payn". ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
''. 8 November 2005. p. 60. When the revue closed, Payn signed a nine-week contract to sing in cinemas around Britain, but the tour was cancelled when his voice suddenly broke. Unemployable as a boy soprano, he returned with his mother to South Africa. During the run of ''Words and Music'', Payn had studied tap dancing with the show's choreographer, Buddy Bradley. To make a living in South Africa he taught at dancing schools in
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
and
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
, reproducing Bradley's routines.


Adult career

Returning to England in 1936, Payn broadcast frequently as a light baritone on radio as well as on the new television service in variety shows in 1938 and 1939; he was also cast in radio plays. His first adult role in the West End came a fortnight before the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, in
Douglas Furber Douglas Furber (13 May 1885 – 20 February 1961) was a British lyricist and playwright. Furber is best known for the lyrics to the 1937 song " The Lambeth Walk" and the libretto to the musical '' Me and My Girl'', composed by Noel Gay, from whic ...
's song and dance show, ''Sitting Pretty'', after which all the theatres were closed.Staff (9 November 2005)
"Graham Payn"
''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
''. p. 25. Retrieved 27 September 2013. Payn volunteered for the army but was discharged on health grounds after a few weeks because of a hernia. In 1941 and 1942, he appeared in ''Up and Doing'', a revue, with
Leslie Henson Leslie Lincoln Henson (3 August 1891 – 2 December 1957) was an English comedian, actor, producer for films and theatre, and film director. He initially worked in silent films and Edwardian musical comedy and became a popular music hall come ...
, Binnie Hale,
Cyril Ritchard Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in ...
and
Stanley Holloway Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in ''My F ...
, and its successor ''Fine and Dandy'', with the cast unchanged except for
Dorothy Dickson Dorothy Dickson (July 25, 1893 – September 25, 1995) was an American-born, London-based theater actress and singer, and a centenarian. Biography and Career Dickson is known mostly for her rendition of the Jerome Kern song "Look for the S ...
replacing Binnie Hale. In the latter show Payn and Patricia Burke sang
Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart' ...
's " This Can't Be Love" and later, Coward's " London Pride". One night, Coward came backstage after the performance. Payn later wrote, "I remember being very nervous, not having seen him for the best part of 10 years, though I was pleased as punch to be recognised in my own right." Coward's verdict was, "Very good. Splendid." In ''Magic Carpet'', Payn appeared with Sydney Howard and then, after '' The Lilac Domino'' (1944),Shorter, Eric; Hoare, Philip (9 November 2005)
"Graham Payn
. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. Retrieved 27 September 2013. he played
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
, the Mock Turtle and Tweedledum in
Clemence Dane Clemence Dane CBE is the pseudonym of Winifred Ashton (21 February 1888 – 28 March 1965), an English novelist and playwright. Life and career After completing her education, Dane went to Switzerland to work as a French tutor, but returned h ...
and
Richard Addinsell Richard Stewart Addinsell (13 January 190414 November 1977) was an English composer, best known for film music, primarily his '' Warsaw Concerto'', composed for the 1941 film '' Dangerous Moonlight'' (also known under the later title ''Suicide S ...
's musical version of '' Alice in Wonderland'' (1944). In the Leslie Henson show ''Gaieties'' (1945) Payn and Walter Crisham sang and danced "White Tie and Tails". Coward came backstage after a performance and offered Payn a leading part in his forthcoming show, '' Sigh No More'', which, Payn wrote in his memoirs, "marked the beginning of a personal and professional relationship between Noël and myself that would last until his death."


Association with Coward

Coward continually promoted Payn's career. He was widely thought to overrate his protégé's talents. Payn received consistently good notices for his performances, but lacked drive and star quality, as he himself knew. Coward also eventually came to realise it, writing: "He is, I fear, a born drifter. I know his theatrical career has been a failure but there are other ploys to go after. He sleeps and sleeps, and the days go by. I love him dearly and for ever, but this lack of drive in any direction is a bad augury for the future. I am willing and happy to look after him for the rest of my life, but he must do something." In 1951, Payn returned to revue at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. ''The Lyric Revue'' had material by several contributors, including Coward,
Flanders and Swann Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo. Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a scho ...
and Payn himself; he and Cole Lesley, Coward's assistant, contributed the song "This Seems to be the Moment". The show was such a success at Hammersmith that it transferred to the West End. The following year there was a second edition, ''The Globe Revue'', which ran for six months. Coward cast Payn in an American revival of some of his '' Tonight at 8.30'' plays, with
Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born Gertr ...
. They were well received on tour but failed on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
. In London, Payn appeared in Coward's new works, '' Pacific 1860'', '' Ace of Clubs'', '' After the Ball'', and '' Waiting in the Wings''. Payn's performances were well reviewed, but the shows were unsuccessful. In the 1960s, he played the supporting role of Morris Dixon in ''
Present Laughter ''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''T ...
''. Payn also did some film work. In 1949, he was in the
Borstal A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school. Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...
drama '' Boys in Brown'', with Dirk Bogarde and Richard Attenborough. He appeared in two films with Coward: '' The Astonished Heart'' (1950) and ''
The Italian Job ''The Italian Job'' is a 1969 British comedy caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley, directed by Peter Collinson, and starring Michael Caine. The film's plot centres around Cockney criminal Charlie Croker, r ...
'' (1968), in which Coward played a criminal mastermind with Payn as his obsequious assistant.


Coward estate

After Coward died in 1973, Payn's career for the rest of his life became the administration of the Coward estate. The Coward authority Barry Day wrote, "It was not a job he ever wanted or expected but he brought to it a dedication and focus that Noël would have been surprised and pleased to see. ewas thrust into his biggest role and played it as he knew Noël would have wanted him to. It was a fitting farewell performance." Coward's biographer,
Philip Hoare Philip Hoare (born Patrick Kevin Philip Moore, 1958) is an English writer, especially of history and biography. He instigated the Moby Dick Big Read project. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton and Leverhulme a ...
, wrote, "Graham disproved his partner's assessment of himself as 'an illiterate little sod' by publishing his memoir and by managing the Coward estate. He was a generous, uncomplicated man, and he will be missed by his many friends." In 1988, 15 years after Coward's death, Payn, who "hadn't the heart to use it again", gave their
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n home, the Firefly Estate, to the
Jamaica National Heritage Trust The Jamaica National Heritage Trust is responsible for the promotion, preservation, and development of Jamaica's material cultural heritage (buildings, monuments, bridges, etc.). The organisation maintains the list of National Heritage Sites in J ...
.Payn, p. 205 He retained their other home, at
Les Avants Les Avants (Montreux) is a village in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located in the municipality of Montreux, in the east of the canton, in the district of Riviera-Pays-d’Enhaut. It lies north-east of the town of Montreux and east ...
in Switzerland, where he died in 2005, aged 87.


Publications

Payn wrote ''Noël Coward and His Friends'' (1979) with
Sheridan Morley Sheridan Morley (5 December 1941 − 16 February 2007) was an English author, biographer, critic and broadcaster. He was the official biographer of Sir John Gielgud and wrote biographies of many other theatrical figures he had known, includin ...
and Cole Lesley, and, with Morley, was co-editor of ''The Noël Coward Diaries'', which they dedicated to Lesley. Payn wrote his autobiography, ''My Life With Noël Coward'', in 1994.


Filmography


References


Notes


Sources

*Payn, Graham, with Barry Day. ''My Life with Noel Coward''. Applause Books, 1994.


External links

* *
Graham Payn at the Boy Choir & Soloist Directory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Payn, Graham 1918 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English male actors 20th-century British male singers 20th-century English writers 20th-century South African male actors Male actors from London Boy sopranos English autobiographers English operatic baritones English expatriates in Jamaica English expatriates in Switzerland English male child actors English male film actors English male musical theatre actors English male radio actors English male television actors English people of South African descent English gay actors English LGBT musicians South African LGBT writers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People from Pietermaritzburg Singers from London South African autobiographers South African male child actors South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African expatriates in the United States 20th-century South African male singers South African people of British descent White South African people LGBT memoirists British Army personnel of World War II British LGBT singers 20th-century LGBT people Gay military personnel