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
1996
- Crossing the Floor as Grandfather
1993
- Shadowlands as Taxi Driver Witness
1992
- Born Kicking as Mr Radley
- Miss Pym's Day Out as Man on Bus
1988
- After Henry as Mr Henderson
1986
- Buddy as Mr Normington
1985
- Screen Two as Grandfather
1984
- Black Carrion as Henry Bircher
- Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense as Henry Bircher
- A Voyage Round My Father as Ham
- This Office Life as Seeds
1983
- The Fourth Arm as Col. Cole
1982
- 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
- Thomas & Sarah
1978
- All Creatures Great and Small as Farmer Benson
- The Lord of the Rings as Bilbo (voice)
- Return of the Saint as Morgan
- The Medusa Touch as Major Henry Morlar
- The Glums as Office Manager
- Life Begins at Forty
1976
- Wedding Bells
- Monkey Tricks
- The Slipper and the Rose as Dress Shop Proprieter
- Double Trouble
- The Big Kick
- On the Tiles
- Baby Sitters
- Yanks Go Home
- Pot Luck as Farmer
1975
- Fawlty Towers as Mr. Arrad
- Angels
- King Arthur, the Young Warlord as Ambrose
- Two's Company as Mr. Bunn
1973
- Elementary, My Dear Watson as Inspector Street
- Up The Workers as Sid Stubbins
1972
- Crown Court
- Doomwatch as Brewer
- Young Winston as Party Chairman
- The Adventurer as Brooks
- Arthur of the Britons as Ambrose
- Shirley's World
- Ooh...You Are Awful as Warder Burke
- My Wife Next Door
1971
- The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as Inspector Trent
- Hands of the Ripper as Police Inspector
- Jason King
- Budgie as Inspector Charles Upton
- The Raging Moon as Dr Matthews
- The Guardians
- 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
- Department S as Drayton
- Softly Softly: Task Force as Samuel Tomkins
- The Limbo Line
- Oh! What a Lovely War as Training Sgt (uncredited)
- Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) as Elliot
- Run a Crooked Mile as Sgt. Hooper
- All at Sea as Mr. Danvers
- Takeover as Father
1968
- A Dandy in Aspic as Copperfield
1967
1966
- The Wrong Box as Clergyman
- Till Death Us Do Part as Landlord
- Sky West and Crooked as Mr. Cheeseman - undertaker
1965
- The Hill as Commandant
- Gideon's Way as Supt. Fred Lee
- Thirty-Minute Theatre as Arthur Pendlebury
- Public Eye as Arthur Biddle
- It's Not Me - It's Them! as Mr. Partridge
1964
- Theatre 625 as William Oaks
- The Beauty Jungle as Mr. Edward Freeman
- First Men in the Moon as Stuart
- The Trial of Dr. Fancy as Charles Lincoln
- The Black Torment as Harris
- Hot Enough for June as Employment Exchange Clerk
- The Bargee as Waterways Supervisor Albert Williams
1963
- Maniac as Salon
- Bitter Harvest as Mr. Pitt
- The Mind Benders as Aubrey
- The Punch and Judy Man as Reginald Fletcher
- The Cracksman as Policeman
- 80,000 Suspects as Harold Davis
1962
- The Saint as Mr. Spode
- Z-Cars
- Night of the Eagle as Doctor
- Term of Trial as Mr. Taylor
- In Search of the Castaways as Senior Yacht Guard
1961
- The Avengers
- Victim as Harold Doe
- Whistle Down the Wind as Eddie
- Cash on Demand as Arthur Sanderson
- Very Important Person as Travers
- The Secret Partner as Ralph Beldon
1960
- Coronation Street as Frank Jackson
- The League of Gentlemen as Weaver
- The Angry Silence as Roberts
- Man in the Moon as Herbert
1959
1956
- Armchair Theatre as Walter
1954
- An Inspector Calls as Jones-Collins - Foreman