1878-09-24 London, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nora Cecil (September 20, 1878 – May 1, 1951) was a British-American character actress whose 30-year career spanned both the silent and sound film eras. Cecil's career began on the stage, where she appeared in a single Broadway production, The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast, which ran for more than 240 performances at the Broadway Theatre in 1901-02. (A 1930 newspaper article says that Cecil "made her debut, three decades ago, on the London stage.") Cecil appeared in well over 100 feature films and film shorts. In 1915, she moved from the stage into films, her first appearance being in a starring role in The Arrival of Perpetua, directed by Émile Chautard. She often played "thin-lipped, stern-visaged dowagers and forbidding mothers-in-law" and "welfare workers, landladies, schoolmistresses and maiden aunts". One of the most significant roles was in the W.C. Fields vehicle, The Old Fashioned Way in 1934. Some of the other notable films in which Cecil appeared include: Ernst Lubitsch's historical romance, The Merry Widow, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald; the 1939 version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, starring Mickey Rooney; the John Ford classic, Stagecoach, with John Wayne. Her final acting performance was in a featured role in Mourning Becomes Electra in 1947, starring Rosalind Russell.
 |
The Big Parade of Comedy | Actress in 'Hollywood Party' (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1964-09-02 |
 |
The Sea of Grass | Mrs. Ryan - Nurse (uncredited) | 1947-04-25 |
 |
Mourning Becomes Electra | Louisa Ames | 1947-11-19 |
 |
Two Sisters from Boston | Mrs. Mulberry - Recital Guest (uncredited) | 1946-06-06 |
 |
Big Town | Miss Lovelace (uncredited) | 1946-08-23 |
 |
The Missing Lady | Miss Millie | 1946-08-17 |
 |
Lady on a Train | 1945-08-03 | |
 |
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek | Hospital Nurse (uncredited) | 1944-09-18 |
 |
Hail the Conquering Hero | Train Ticket Clerk (uncredited) | 1944-08-09 |
 |
The Thin Man Goes Home | Miss Peavy | 1944-12-24 |
 |
The Unknown Guest | Martha Williams | 1943-10-22 |
 |
The Wife Takes a Flyer | Miss Updike | 1942-04-28 |
 |
Apache Trail | Passenger (uncredited) | 1942-09-01 |
 |
I Married a Witch | Harriet Wooley (uncredited) | 1942-10-30 |
 |
Obliging Young Lady | Miss Hollyrod - Bird Lover (uncredited) | 1942-04-01 |
 |
Three Girls About Town | Casket Customer | 1941-10-23 |
 |
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob | Charwoman | 1941-03-14 |
 |
Little Men | Head of Orphanage | 1940-11-29 |
 |
Lucky Partners | Women's Club President (uncredited) | 1940-08-02 |
 |
Young People | Righteous Old Lady | 1940-08-30 |
 |
Those Were the Days! | Mrs. Moffett | 1940-07-14 |
 |
The Bank Dick | Lompoc Ladies Auxiliary (uncredited) | 1940-11-29 |
 |
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell | Miss Jenkins | 1939-04-04 |
 |
Stagecoach | Boone's Landlady (uncredited) | 1939-03-02 |
 |
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mrs. Shackleford (uncredited) | 1939-02-10 |
 |
What a Life | Miss Eggleston | 1939-10-05 |
 |
Some Like It Hot | Mrs. Beckett (uncredited) | 1939-05-19 |
 |
Union Pacific | Snoring Woman on Train (uncredited) | 1939-05-05 |
 |
Mr. Boggs Steps Out | Widow Peddie | 1938-02-18 |
 |
International Settlement | English Woman | 1938-02-04 |
 |
The Mighty Treve | Old Maid at Dog Show | 1937-01-17 |
 |
Night of Mystery | 1937-05-21 | |
 |
Easy Living | Miss Swerf | 1937-07-16 |
 |
Borrowing Trouble | Dressmaker | 1937-12-10 |
 |
Three Smart Boys | Miss Witherspoon, Superintendent | 1937-05-13 |
 |
Champagne Waltz | Train Passenger | 1937-02-05 |
 |
Nothing Sacred | Schoolteacher (uncredited) | 1937-11-25 |
 |
Night Must Fall | 1937-04-30 | |
 |
She Asked for It | Elderly lady (uncredited) | 1937-09-17 |
 |
Blossoms On Broadway | Leader of Committee (uncredited) | 1937-11-19 |
 |
Partners in Crime | Housekeeper | 1937-10-08 |
 |
Fury | Albert's Mother (uncredited) | 1936-06-05 |
 |
Dancing Pirate | Landlady (uncredited) | 1936-05-22 |
 |
Two in the Dark | Mrs. Potter, Landlady (uncredited) | 1936-01-10 |
 |
Let's Make a Million | 1936-09-01 | |
 |
The Big Broadcast of 1937 | Home Economics Woman | 1936-10-05 |
 |
Collegiate | Miss Curtiss | 1936-01-22 |
 |
Laughing at Trouble | Mrs. Wigby - Townswoman | 1936-12-11 |
 |
Little Miss Nobody | Mrs. Robinson | 1936-06-05 |
 |
College Holiday | Miss Elkins (uncredited) | 1936-12-19 |
 |
Under Your Spell | School Teacher (uncredited) | 1936-11-06 |
 |
Girl of the Ozarks | Miss Trent | 1936-06-12 |
 |
Biography of a Bachelor Girl | Ship's Matron (uncredited) | 1935-01-04 |
 |
Memories and Melodies | Customer (uncredited) | 1935-02-16 |
 |
Way Down East | Townswoman at Party | 1935-10-25 |
 |
Car 99 | Granny Adams | 1935-03-02 |
 |
Gold Diggers of 1935 | Housekeeper (uncredited) | 1935-03-15 |
 |
Slightly Static | Beauty Products Announcer (uncredited) | 1935-09-07 |
 |
Vagabond Lady | Miss Perkins (uncredited) | 1935-05-03 |
 |
You're Telling Me! | Mrs. Price | 1934-04-06 |
 |
One-Horse Farmers | Subway Passenger (uncredited) | 1934-08-01 |
 |
The Spectacle Maker | Duchess | 1934-09-20 |
 |
Search for Beauty | Miss Pettigrew | 1934-02-02 |
 |
Bachelor Bait | Mrs. Trutmanner (uncredited) | 1934-07-27 |
 |
Laughing Boy | Schoolteacher | 1934-04-13 |
|
Opened by Mistake | Head Nurse | 1934-10-05 |
 |
Upperworld | Stream's Housekeeper (uncredited) | 1934-04-28 |
 |
The Old-Fashioned Way | Mrs. Wendelschaffer | 1934-07-13 |
 |
Once to Every Woman | Miss Baxter’s Sister (uncredited) | 1934-03-24 |
 |
Chained | Edith (uncredited) | 1934-08-31 |
 |
The Merry Widow | Animal Woman (uncredited) | 1934-11-02 |
 |
Mixed Nuts | Mrs. Twitchett | 1934-02-16 |
 |
Nature in the Wrong | Muriel's mother | 1933-03-18 |
 |
Doctor Bull | Aunt Emily Banning | 1933-09-22 |
 |
Meet the Baron | Professor Winterbottom (uncredited) | 1933-10-20 |
 |
Peg o' My Heart | Smythe (maid) | 1933-05-26 |
 |
Asleep in the Feet | Female Police Officer | 1933-01-21 |
 |
Stage Mother | Miss Gilford, Kitty's Music Store Boss (uncredited) | 1933-09-29 |
 |
King of the Jungle | Spinster in park (uncredited) | 1933-03-10 |
 |
Going Hollywood | Briarcroft's Teacher | 1933-12-22 |
 |
Fast Workers | Tall Window-Shopper (Uncredited) | 1933-03-10 |
 |
Hold Your Man | Miss Campbell (uncredited) | 1933-06-30 |
 |
Design for Living | Tom's Secretary (uncredited) | 1933-12-29 |
|
Wreckety Wrecks | Miss Winterbottom | 1933-02-18 |
 |
Young Bride | Landlady (uncredited) | 1932-04-08 |
 |
Pack Up Your Troubles | Welfare Association Officer (uncredited) | 1932-09-16 |
 |
The Bitter Tea of General Yen | Missionary | 1932-12-25 |
 |
Amateur Daddy | Saleslady | 1932-04-10 |
 |
Girl Grief | Miss Tuttle, Principal | 1932-10-08 |
 |
Hot Saturday | Gossip on Telephone (Uncredited) | 1932-10-28 |
|
The Millionaire Cat | Aunt Mathilda | 1932-10-21 |
 |
Mr. Bride | Mrs. Cecil | 1932-12-24 |
 |
Everything’s Rosie | Hotel Proprietress | 1931-05-22 |
 |
East Lynne | Charity Bazaar Committee | 1931-03-01 |
 |
The Ruling Voice | Malcom's Nurse (uncredited) | 1931-09-10 |
 |
Arrowsmith | Nurse (uncredited) | 1931-12-07 |
 |
Millie | Helen and Angie's Landlady (uncredited) | 1931-02-06 |
 |
Street Scene | Alice Simpson - Welfare Worker | 1931-09-05 |
 |
Seven Days Leave | Amelia Twymley | 1930-01-24 |
 |
Only Saps Work | Mrs. Partridge (uncredited) | 1930-12-05 |
 |
Hell's Angels | Helen's Maid (uncredited) | 1930-11-15 |
 |
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu | 1930-05-02 | |
 |
Little Accident | Dr. Zernecke | 1930-08-03 |
 |
Footlights and Fools | (uncredited) | 1929-11-08 |
 |
Seven Footprints to Satan | Old Witch | 1929-01-27 |
 |
The Cavalier | Lucia's Aunt | 1928-11-01 |
 |
A Trick of Hearts | The Mayor | 1928-03-18 |
 |
The Baby Cyclone | Mrs. Crandall | 1928-09-26 |
|
Driftwood | Mrs. Prouty | 1928-10-15 |
 |
Sensation Seekers | Mrs. Lodge | 1927-03-21 |
 |
Girls | Matron Helen Hunt | 1927-03-27 |
 |
The Demi-Bride | School Teacher | 1927-02-19 |
 |
Born to Battle | Ma Cowan | 1927-09-11 |
 |
The Devil Dancer | Julia | 1927-11-03 |
 |
Too Many Crooks | (uncredited) | 1927-04-02 |
 |
The Fortune Hunter | Betty Carpenter | 1927-01-18 |
 |
The Silent Rider | Mrs. Randall | 1927-01-02 |
 |
Chip of the Flying U | Dr. Cecil Grantham | 1926-03-14 |
 |
Midnight Faces | Mrs. Hart | 1926-03-24 |
 |
His Majesty, Bunker Bean | Countess Casanova | 1925-09-14 |
 |
The Deadwood Coach | Matilda Shields - in play | 1924-12-07 |
 |
Manslaughter | Lydia's Chaperone (uncredited) | 1922-09-24 |
 |
Timothy's Quest | Townswoman | 1922-09-16 |
 |
Footfalls | 1921-09-08 | |
 |
Red Foam | 1920-10-01 | |
 |
The Daughter Pays | 1920-11-10 | |
|
An Amateur Widow | 1919-05-26 | |
 |
Woman, Woman! | Mrs. Lindsay | 1919-10-21 |
 |
Prunella | 1918-01-01 | |
 |
American Buds | Emily | 1918-02-24 |
 |
The Love Net | Miss Prudence Tilly | 1918-12-23 |
|
By Hook or Crook | Aunt Marie | 1918-09-09 |
|
Tillie Wakes Up | Gossip in Ice Cream Parlor / Woman Having Picture Taken | 1917-01-29 |
 |
A Royal Romance | Miss McPherson | 1917-04-30 |
 |
The Wild Girl | Undetermined Role (uncredited) | 1917-09-01 |
 |
The Poor Little Rich Girl | One of Gwendolyn's Teachers (uncredited) | 1917-03-05 |
 |
The Social Secretary | Spinster (uncredited) | 1916-09-16 |
|
A Model Husband | Mrs Gossip | 1916-03-29 |
|
The Arrival of Perpetua | Abigail Majendrie | 1915-03-29 |
