Norman Bird
Born: 1920-10-30 in Coalville, Leicestershire, England, UK
Died: 2005-04-22
Known For: Acting
Biography
John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor. Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End debut in Peter Brook's production of The Winter's Tale at the Phoenix Theatre in 1951. He was also a member of the BBC's Radio Drama Company. His first film appearance was as the foreman in An Inspector Calls (1954). He was a familiar face to British cinema audiences of the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in nearly 50 films such as The Angry Silence (1960), The League of Gentlemen (1960), Whistle Down the Wind (1961), Victim (1961) and Term of Trial (1962) with Laurence Olivier and The Hill with Sean Connery (1965). He had over 200 television appearances, notably as Mr Braithwaite in Worzel Gummidge (1979–81) and Mr Arrad in the Fawlty Towers episode "Waldorf Salad" (1979). His long list of credits include Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Rising Damp, Ever Decreasing Circles, Yes Minister, To Serve Them All My Days, All Creatures Great and Small, Z-Cars, Public Eye, The Saint, Department S, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Boon. In 1990 he appeared in Stay Lucky, with Dennis Waterman, which marked his 200th television appearance. One of his last film appearances was as a taxi driver in Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands (1993).
Filmography
2005
- The Funny Blokes of British Comedy as Mr. Arrad (archive footage) (uncredited)
1996
- Crossing the Floor as Grandfather
1993
- Shadowlands as Taxi Driver Witness
1992
- Miss Pym's Day Out as Man on Bus
- Born Kicking as Mr Radley
1988
- After Henry as Mr Henderson
1986
- Buddy as Mr Normington
1985
- Screen Two as Grandfather
- Lytton's Diary as Charles Adams
1984
- Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense as Henry Bircher
- A Voyage Round My Father as Ham
- Black Carrion as Henry Bircher
- This Office Life as Seeds
1983
- The Fourth Arm as Col. Cole
1982
- Break Point as Major Houghton-Jones
- The Ghost Downstairs as Mr. Morris
1981
- The Final Conflict as Dr. Philmore
- Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years as Sir Maurice Hanley
- If You Go Down in the Woods Today as Doctor
1980
- Yes Minister
- Hammer House of Horror as Basil
- To Serve Them All My Days as Alderman Blunt
- A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special as Mr Braithwaite
1979
- Worzel Gummidge as Mr. Braithwaite
- Friday Night, Saturday Morning
- Thomas & Sarah as Gilbert
1978
- All Creatures Great and Small as Farmer Benson
- Return of the Saint as Morgan
- The Lord of the Rings as Bilbo (voice)
- Life Begins at Forty as Dr Gardiner
- The Medusa Touch as Major Henry Morlar
- The Glums as Office Manager
1976
- Yanks Go Home as Leonard Chambers
- The Slipper and the Rose as Dress Shop Proprieter
- Baby Sitters
- On the Tiles
- Wedding Bells
- Pot Luck as Farmer
- The Big Kick
- Monkey Tricks
- Double Trouble
1975
- Angels
- Fawlty Towers as Mr. Arrad
- Two's Company as Mr. Bunn
- King Arthur, the Young Warlord as Ambrose
1974
- Happy Ever After as Mr Fletcher
- Seven Faces of Woman as Ken
1973
- Up The Workers as Sid Stubbins
- Elementary, My Dear Watson as Inspector Street
1972
- Crown Court
- The Adventurer as Brooks
- Arthur of the Britons as Ambrose
- Shirley's World
- My Wife Next Door
- The Organization as Ken Grist
- Young Winston as Party Chairman
- Ooh...You Are Awful as Warder Burke
- Doomwatch as Brewer
1971
- Budgie as Inspector Charles Upton
- The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as Inspector Trent
- Jason King
- Bless This House as Vet
- The Guardians as Tom Henryson
- Suspicion as Harry Beardsley
- Hands of the Ripper as Police Inspector
- The Raging Moon as Dr Matthews
- Please Sir! as Reynolds
1970
- The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer as Alderman Poot
- The Virgin and the Gypsy as Uncle Fred
- Up Among the Cuckoos as Walter
1969
- ITV Saturday Night Theatre as Father
- Department S as Drayton
- Softly Softly: Task Force as Samuel Tomkins
- W. Somerset Maugham as Arthur Low
- Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) as Elliot
- Oh! What a Lovely War as Training Sgt (uncredited)
- Run a Crooked Mile as Sgt. Hooper
- Takeover as Father
- The Limbo Line
- All at Sea as Mr. Danvers
1968
- A Dandy in Aspic as Copperfield
1967
- Half Hour Story as Harry
- Sanctuary
1966
- Till Death Us Do Part as Landlord
- The Wrong Box as Clergyman
- Sky West and Crooked as Mr. Cheeseman - undertaker
- End in Tears as Charles 'Whoopy' Cushion
1965
- Thirty-Minute Theatre as Arthur Pendlebury
- Public Eye as Arthur Biddle
- Gideon's Way as Supt. Fred Lee
- Blackmail as Henry Cobb
- The Hill as Commandant
- It's Not Me - It's Them! as Mr. Partridge
1964
- Theatre 625 as William Oaks
- Thursday Theatre as Harry Lancaster
- The Protectors as Barnaby
- First Men in the Moon as Stuart
- Hot Enough for June as Employment Exchange Clerk
- The Bargee as Waterways Supervisor Albert Williams
- The Trial of Dr. Fancy as Charles Lincoln
- The Black Torment as Harris
- The Beauty Jungle as Mr. Edward Freeman
1963
- Maniac as Salon
- The Punch and Judy Man as Reginald Fletcher
- The Mind Benders as Aubrey
- 80,000 Suspects as Harold Davis
- The Cracksman as Policeman
- Bitter Harvest as Mr. Pitt
1962
- The Saint as Mr. Spode
- Z-Cars
- Steptoe and Son as Bank Manager
- Night of the Eagle as Doctor
- In Search of the Castaways as Senior Yacht Guard
- Term of Trial as Mr. Taylor
1961
- The Avengers
- Drama 61-67 as Father
- Whistle Down the Wind as Eddie
- Cash on Demand as Arthur Sanderson
- Victim as Harold Doe
- The Secret Partner as Ralph Beldon
- Very Important Person as Senior British Officer Travers
1960
- Coronation Street as Frank Jackson
- The League of Gentlemen as Weaver
- Man in the Moon as Herbert
- The Angry Silence as Roberts
1959
1956
- Armchair Theatre as Walter
1954
- An Inspector Calls as Jones-Collins - Foreman