"daniel massey in star!"

Massey’s connections to Noël Coward pre-date his birth. His father, Raymond Massey, appeared with Coward in the London production of S.N. Berhman’s play The Second Man in 1928. His mother Adrianne Allen originated the role of Sibyl in Private Lives in 1930. When Daniel was born in 1933, Noël Coward was named his godfather.

In 1942, Noël cast nine-year-old Daniel in the role of his son in In Which We Serve. Twenty-five years later, when director Robert Wise was casting the role of Noël Coward in Star!, a biopic about Gertrude Lawrence starring Julie Andrews, Coward told him to get someone “stylish, handsome, and skinny.”

Massey was shocked that he got the part. “When they called me, I nearly fell out of my chair. Why me? I was told that it was because Noël had said ‘I think he’s right.’ Noël was marvelous during the filming. He never came near the set. He never said ‘Do this or that,’ and when I asked him, he just said ‘You know me very well.’”

The film was not a success, although Massey’s reviews were excellent. The New York Times critic wrote, “Daniel Massey acts beautifully… and the film, which gets richer and better as it goes along, has a nice scene from Private Lives.” (Star! also features a lengthy scene from Red Peppers.) For his performance as his own godfather, Massey won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for an Oscar.

After seeing the film, Noël wrote in his diary: “Julie Andrews was talented, charming, efficient and very pretty but not very like Gertie. Danny Massey was excellent as me and had the sense to give an impression of me rather than try to imitate me. He was tactless enough to sing better than I do, but of course without my special matchless charm!”

In a 1996 interview, Massey said of Coward, “Underneath the legend, there was a real fella. He wasn’t just a glitter person. We instinctively got on. He came to see everything I did. He’d be wonderfully helpful. I’ve never seen him bested in conversation by anybody. I don’t think I’ve met anybody with a quicker mind. And funny, too. His home was very comfortable. Big chairs, good food, wonderful talk. Noely was a mensch!”

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