Bert Parnaby
Born: 1924-03-04 in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK
Died: 1992-07-30
Known For: Acting
Biography
James Bertram "Bert" Parnaby (4 March 1924 – 30 July 1992) was a British actor who was notable for a string of TV and Film roles from the 1960s through the 1980s. His TV roles included performances in Blackadder, By the Sword Divided, Juliet Bravo, Inspector Morse and Last of the Summer Wine. In 1988, he appeared as Father Christmas in the BBC adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His film credits included Prick Up Your Ears (1987), The Dressmaker (1988) and The Reunion (1989). Whilst living in Didsbury, Bert was a schoolmaster at Manchester Grammar School during the 1950s and early 1960s. Teaching English, he was greatly involved in the production of teachers’ plays. He subsequently became an HMI (one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools). On leaving the education profession, Parnaby worked as a producer and performer for the BBC. His monologues on breakfast radio often started ‘I hate …’, for example the edition about the Post Office, which was based on the Didsbury branch, albeit unnamed. Parnaby died in July 1992 at the age of 68, shortly after the death of his wife Jane. A bench in their memory was later erected in Drummer Street, Cambridge.
Filmography
2019
- Completely Bad News as Neighbour
1991
- Gas and Candles as Bill
1990
- Nightingales as The Inspector
1989
- Reunion as Dr. Jakob Strauss
1988
- The Chronicles of Narnia as Father Christmas
- The Dressmaker as Mr Barnes
- The Play on One as Bill
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe as Father Christmas
1987
- Inspector Morse as Ben
- Prick Up Your Ears as Magistrate
- On the Palm as Slatterthwaite
1986
- Casualty as Billie Jennings
- Lovejoy as Sorrel
- First Among Equals as George Bainbridge
1985
- Flights as Headmaster
- Daemon as Mr. Crabb
- Unfair Exchanges as Phone Poet
1984
- Dirty Movie as Man
- Rainy Day Women as Fleming
1983
- Blackadder as Dim Cain, a Peasant
- Bad News as Neighbor
- My Cousin Rachel as Seecombe
1982
- The Comic Strip Presents... as Neighbour
1981
- Bergerac as Doctor Ferns
1978
- All Creatures Great and Small as Colonel Jenkins