Charles B. Cochran

Cochran in 1916

Sir Charles Blake Cochran (25 September 1872 – 31 January 1951), generally known as C. B. Cochran, was an English theatrical manager. He produced some of the most successful musical revues, musicals and plays of the 1920s and 1930s, becoming associated with Noel Coward and his works.

Biography

Cochran was born in Sussex and educated at Oxford. He became an actor and made his first appearance in New York. Subsequently he was press representative to various theatres, circuses and exhibitions in the United States. For three years he was personal representative of Richard Mansfield. In 1917, he became responsible for the productions of the Oxford Music Hall, including the surprise hit The Better 'Ole, which ran for over 800 performances. He later showed an interest in many of the best known English theatres either as lessee or licensee. Cochran was also responsible for bringing Nikita Balieff and Balieff's theatre group "Chauve-Souris" to London.

From the 1920s, he produced musical revues and spectaculars in competition with André Charlot, and collaborated regularly with Noël Coward to produce Coward's famous plays and musical comedies.

Cochran was responsible for discovering new talents and making stars out of them, including Gertrude Lawrence, Noel Coward, Evelyn Laye, Jessie Matthews, The Dolly Sisters and Lizbeth Webb. He was knighted in 1948.

He died in January 1951, after being trapped in a bath full of scalding water at his home in London.^[1]

Productions

His stage productions include:

• The Better 'Ole (1917)
• In the Night Watch (1918)
• As You Were (1918)
• The Man Who Came Back (1920)
• The League of Notions (1921)
• The Man in Evening Clothes (1924)
• One Damn Thing After Another (1927)
• This Year of Grace (1928)^[2]
• The Middle Watch (1929)
• Many Waters (1929)
• Bitter Sweet (1929) ^[2]
• Wake Up and Dream (1929)
• Private Lives (1930) ^[2]
• Cavalcade (1931) ^[2]
• Words and Music (1932) ^[2]
• Nymph Errant (1933)
• Conversation Piece (1934) ^[2]
• Anything Goes (1935)
• Escape Me Never (1935)
• Big Ben (1946)
• Bless the Bride (1947)
• The Ivory Tower (1948)

Publications

• Secrets of a Showman, (1925)
• C.B.C.'s Review of Revues, (1930)
• I Had Almost Forgotten, (1932)
• Cock-a-Doodle-Do, (1941)
• A Showman Looks On, (1945)

Notes

1. ^ Morley p. 128
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Written by Noël Coward

References

Morley, Sheridan (1987). Spread a Little Happiness: The First Hundred Years of the British musical. Thames and Hudson. 

Coward, Noël (1986). Autobiography. Methuen London. ISBN 0413606600. 

External links

• Charles B. Cochran on Broadway on ibdb

This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.

Persondata
Name	Cochran, Charles B
Alternative names
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Date of birth	1872
Place of birth
Date of death	1951
Place of death