Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
September 2, 1897
Place of Birth:
Hastings, Sussex, England, UK
Cecil Parker (3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English character and comedy actor with a distinctive husky voice, who usually played supporting roles in his 91 films made between 1928 and 1969.
Born Cecil Schwabe in Hastings, Sussex, he began his theatrical career in London in 1922 after serving in World War I. He made his first film appearance in 1928 and subsequently became a familiar face in British, and occasionally American films, until his death. He appeared less often on television, but many of his films have remained popular and are often shown.
He acted in two adaptations of A. J. Cronin's novels, The Citadel (1938) and The Stars Look Down (1940), in addition to appearing in The Lady Vanishes (1938) and Under Capricorn (1949), both of the later films were directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Other roles were in 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956), Dangerous Moonlight (1941), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), and I Was Monty's Double (1958), as well as the comedies A French Mistress (1960), The Ladykillers (1955), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Court Jester (1955), Indiscreet (1958) and I Believe in You (1952). Parker was also the original Charles Condomine in the West End production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, a role subsequently played on Broadway by Clifton Webb and in the 1945 film by Rex Harrison.
He often played a touchy senior officer or British upper-class character, and his last two films were true to form: The Magnificent Two (1967) with the British comedy double act Morecambe and Wise and Richard Attenborough's version of Oh! What A Lovely War (1969).
He played an evil, scheming butler on one episode of The Avengers ("The £50,000 Breakfast").
Description above from the Wikipedia article Cecil Parker , licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Year | Movie | Role |
---|---|---|
2002 | Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making | Self (archive) |
1969 | Oh! What a Lovely War | Sir John |
1967 | The Magnificent Two | British Ambassador |
1966 | Circus of Fear | Sir John |
1966 | A Man Could Get Killed | Sir Huntley Frazier |
1965 | A Study in Terror | Prime Minister |
1965 | The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders | The Mayor |
1965 | Lady L | Sir Percy |
1964 | Carry On Jack | First Sealord |
1964 | The Comedy Man | Thomas Rutherford |
1964 | Guns at Batasi | Fletcher |
1963 | The Iron Maiden | Sir Giles Thompson |
1963 | Heavens Above! | Archdeacon Aspinall |
1962 | The Brain | Stevenson |
1962 | The Amorous Prawn | Gen. Sir Hamish Fitzadam |
1961 | On the Fiddle | Group Capt. Bascombe |
1961 | Petticoat Pirates | C-in-C |
1961 | On the Fiddle | Gr/Cpt Bascombe |
1960 | The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's | Professor Canford |
1960 | Swiss Family Robinson | Captain Moreland |
1960 | Under Ten Flags | Colonel Howard |
1960 | A French Mistress | John Crane M.A. Headmaster of Melbury School |
1960 | Follow That Horse! | |
1959 | The Night We Dropped a Clanger | Air Vice-Marshal Sir Bertram Bukpasser |
1959 | The Navy Lark | Cmdr. Stanton |
1959 | The Wreck of the Mary Deare | Inquiry Chairman |
1958 | A Tale of Two Cities | Jarvis Lorry |
1958 | Indiscreet | Alfred Munson |
1958 | I Was Monty's Double | Colonel E.F. Logan |
1958 | Happy Is the Bride | Arthur Royd |
1957 | The Admirable Crichton | Lord Henry Loam |
1957 | True as a Turtle | Dudley Partridge |
1956 | 23 Paces to Baker Street | Bob Matthews |
1956 | It's Great to be Young! | Frome, Headmaster |
1955 | The Ladykillers | Claude, alias 'Major Courtney' |
1955 | The Court Jester | King Roderick I |
1955 | The Constant Husband | Llewellyn |
1954 | For Better, for Worse | Anne's Father |
1954 | Father Brown | The Bishop |
1953 | Isn't Life Wonderful! | Charles, the boy's father |
1952 | I Believe in You | Henry Phipps |
1952 | His Excellency | Sir James Kirkman |
1952 | The Magic Box | 1st Platform Man |
1951 | The Man in the White Suit | Alan Birnley |
1950 | Tony Draws a Horse | |
1949 | Dear Mr. Prohack | Arthur Prohack |
1949 | The Chiltern Hundreds | Benjamin Beecham |
1949 | Under Capricorn | The Governor |
1948 | Quartet | Colonel George Peregrine (segment "The Colonel's Lady") |
1948 | The Weaker Sex | Geoffrey Radcliffe |
1948 | The First Gentleman | The Prince Regent |
1947 | Hungry Hill | Copper John |
1947 | Captain Boycott | Capt. Charles C. Boycott |
1947 | The Woman in the Hall | Sir Halmar Barnard |
1946 | The Magic Bow | Luigi Germi |
1945 | Caesar and Cleopatra | Britannus |
1941 | Dangerous Moonlight | Specialist |
1941 | The Saint's Vacation | Rudolph Hauser |
1941 | Ships with Wings | German Air Marshal |
1940 | The Stars Look Down | Stanley Millington |
1940 | Under Your Hat | Sir Jeffrey Arlington |
1939 | Sons of the Sea | Cmdr. Herbert |
1938 | The Lady Vanishes | Eric Todhunter |
1938 | Housemaster | Sir Berkeley Nightingale |
1938 | The Citadel | Dr. Charles Every |
1938 | It Might Be You | Dr. Smith |
1937 | Storm in a Teacup | Provost William Gow |
1937 | Dark Journey | Captain Of Q-Boat |
1936 | The Man Who Changed His Mind | Dr. Gratton |
1936 | Jack of All Trades | Sir Chas. Darrington |
1936 | Dishonour Bright | Vincent Crane |
1936 | Men of Yesterday | |
1935 | Crime Unlimited | Assistant Commissioner |
1935 | Me and Marlborough | Colonel of the Greys |
1935 | Her Last Affaire | Sir Arthur Harding |
1935 | Foreign Affaires | Lord Wormington |
1935 | The Guv'nor | Bank Director |
1934 | The Blue Squadron | |
1934 | Dirty Work | Gordon Bray |
1934 | Little Friend | Mason |
1934 | Lady in Danger | Piker |
1934 | The Silver Spoon | Trevor |
1934 | The Office Wife | Lawrence Bradley |
1933 | A Cuckoo in the Nest | Claude Hickett |
1933 | The Golden Cage |
Year | TV Show | Role |
---|---|---|
1964 | Sherlock Holmes | |
1962 | The Saint | Lord Gillingham |
1961 | The Avengers | Glover |
1960 | The Aquanauts | Dr. Cattermole |
1960 | Citizen James | Himself |
1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | The Lawyer |
1950 | Robert Montgomery Presents | Sir Simon de Canterville |
1948 | Studio One | Dr. Hans Hojda |
1948 | Studio One | A newspaper publisher |