Oliver Messel (1904-1978)

Adrianne Allen was an English actress, best known for her performance in the original 1930 West End production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives, in which she played Sybil alongside Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Coward himself. First noticed in 1926 by the theatrical producer Basil Dean, at her graduation show at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Allen began her career as Nina Vansittart in Coward’s play Easy Virtue, later going on to star in his play The Rat Trap, alongside her husband to be Raymond Massey. After their first appearance on stage together in 1930 Coward and Allen became close friends and in the 1950s both moved to the region of Montreaux in Switzerland, with Allen settling in Glion-sur-Montreux and Coward close by in Les Avants.