Noel (also spelled Nowell or Noël) (nəʊˈɛl) is an alternative word for Christmas. It first entered the English language in the 14th century. The word comes from Middle English noel, which derives from the Old French word noël and its more common form naël. The English spelling "Noël" is taken directly from modern French, which also derives from the Old French. The ultimate Latin origin is the phrase nātālis (diēs), "(day) of birth".
Noel may also refer to:
Burton may refer to:
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM ( /ˈlɒrəns ɵˈlɪvi.eɪ/; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor, director, and producer. One of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, he was the youngest actor to be knighted and the first to be elevated to the peerage. He married three times, to actresses Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright. Actor Spencer Tracy said that Olivier was 'the greatest actor in the English-speaking world'.
Olivier played a wide variety of roles on stage and screen from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to modern American and British drama. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. He is regarded by some to be the greatest actor of the 20th century, in the same category as David Garrick, Richard Burbage, Edmund Kean and Henry Irving in their own centuries. Olivier's AMPAS acknowledgments are considerable: twelve Oscar nominations, with two awards (for Best Actor and Best Picture for the 1948 film Hamlet), plus two honorary awards including a statuette and certificate. He was also awarded five Emmy awards from the nine nominations he received. Additionally, he was a three-time Golden Globe and BAFTA winner.
Plot
Noel Burton, an adventurous American, falls in love with Annette, the daughter of Don Antonio Nevarro, whose rancho is mortgaged to Don Carlos Morello for $50,000. This individual is also a suitor for Annette, and, finding no favor from her, he threatens to foreclose the mortgage unless the girl is turned over to him. The father informs the American of his predicament and Noel repairs to his old friend, Sutter (the owner of Sutter's fort, who "backed" James W. Marshall when he first discovered gold in California in American rivers). Noel goes on the saw mill building expedition, strikes gold and sees a way to satisfy the creditor and win the girl. Morello hires an assassin to make away with Noel. The latter makes his escape but in his flight drops a beaded bag with nuggets and a curl of Annette's hair (which she had given him on parting). Morello takes this to Don Nevarro as a proof of Noel's death. In her despair over his seeming death and the affairs of her father, she concludes to marry Morello. Just as they are about to enter the church door, Noel appears, and with gold pays the father's debt. He then calls for the arrest of Morello, and leads the bride to the altar.