English actor and playwright Noël Coward (1899 – 1973) after the first night of his new musical ‘Sail Away’ at the Savoy Theatre in London, 22 June, 1962. (Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) The BBC has faced backlash for describing playwright Noël Coward as ‘queer’, with some condemning the term as a “homophobic slur”. On Boxing