Biography
Born on 25 April 1918 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and passing away on 4 November 2005 in Les Avants, Switzerland, Payn received his schooling first in his native country before continuing his studies in England beginning in 1929. At thirteen he stepped onto the London Palladium stage in a production of Peter Pan. Subsequent West End credits included Sitting Pretty in 1939, Up And Doing the following year, Fine And Dandy in 1942, Magic Carpet in 1943 (a show unrelated to the 1930 Broadway title of similar name), and, in 1944, both The Lilac Domino and Alice In Wonderland. Although he portrayed several characters in the latter piece, his usual assignments remained minor roles or positions in the chorus. Despite forming a close personal bond with Noël Coward that eventually made him the playwright’s constant companion, Payn displayed scant interest in pursuing leading parts. Coward composed the number “Matelot” expressly for him to perform in Sigh No More (1945), yet Payn declined to capitalise on the exposure. Even after appearing in additional Coward works such as Pacific 1860 (1946), he continued to favour supporting parts over greater prominence. In 1948 he did, however, tour the United States in the leading role of Tonight At 8.30, playing opposite Gertrude Lawrence.
During the 1950s Payn appeared chiefly in London revues, though he also took part in Coward’s Ace Of Clubs and After The Ball, the latter an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan. Additional stage work encompassed the musical Love Is News as well as the straight plays Subway In The Sky and Brouhaha. In 1959 he joined Margaret Lockwood and Yolande Donlan in Suddenly It’s Spring, and the next year he appeared in Coward’s Waiting In The Wings. By the mid-1960s he had become assistant director of High Spirits, the musical rendering of Blithe Spirit that opened in both the West End and on Broadway, and he also performed in a revival of Present Laughter.
His earliest screen credits date from the late 1930s, when British television was still in its infancy; film roles, occasionally listed under the spelling Payne, followed in Boys In Brown and The Astonished Heart (both 1949) and The Italian Job (1969). After Coward’s death in 1973, Payn collaborated with Sheridan Morley and Cole Lesley on the 1979 volume Noël Coward And His Friends and, again with Morley, edited The Noël Coward Diaries (1982). He subsequently oversaw the administration of Coward’s Swiss estate and issued his own autobiography in 1994.
During the 1950s Payn appeared chiefly in London revues, though he also took part in Coward’s Ace Of Clubs and After The Ball, the latter an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan. Additional stage work encompassed the musical Love Is News as well as the straight plays Subway In The Sky and Brouhaha. In 1959 he joined Margaret Lockwood and Yolande Donlan in Suddenly It’s Spring, and the next year he appeared in Coward’s Waiting In The Wings. By the mid-1960s he had become assistant director of High Spirits, the musical rendering of Blithe Spirit that opened in both the West End and on Broadway, and he also performed in a revival of Present Laughter.
His earliest screen credits date from the late 1930s, when British television was still in its infancy; film roles, occasionally listed under the spelling Payne, followed in Boys In Brown and The Astonished Heart (both 1949) and The Italian Job (1969). After Coward’s death in 1973, Payn collaborated with Sheridan Morley and Cole Lesley on the 1979 volume Noël Coward And His Friends and, again with Morley, edited The Noël Coward Diaries (1982). He subsequently oversaw the administration of Coward’s Swiss estate and issued his own autobiography in 1994.