Cecil Parker (1897 - 1971)

On the face of it, Cecil Parker's range as an actor was limited. Middle-aged, middle-class, pompous, blustering characters were his forte. Within that range, however, he produced a wide variety of characters from the kindly to the seedy and played everything from tiny bit parts to title roles.

Parker was born in Hastings and educated at St Francois Xavier College and at Bruge. He served in the First World War and took to the stage in 1922 in Eastbourne. He paid his dues in rep at Huddersfield, the Abbey Theatre Dublin, and Liverpool. By the end of the decade he had appeared on the London stage and also toured South Africa.

By 1933 he was in the West End in The Rats of Norway with Gladys Cooper and Laurence Olivier, and it's also when he began his film career. Like many of his West End colleagues, he filmed in the day and performed on stage in the evening. Over the next few years he built up quite a filmography. Perhaps the most notable items were the Aldwych farces he appeared in on screen. He never joined the gang on stage, but he fitted perfectly into the films.

By the time war broke out he was well established on stage and screen, but it was Blithe Spirit which really made his name. He created the lead role in Noel Coward's smash hit and played nearly 2,000 performances of it from 1941. This kept him off screen for the next few years. Sadly, Rex Harrison took the role in the film version but from this point on Parker was firmly in the featured players category if rarely a film's official star.

Filmography 

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