Nora Cecil
Born: 1878-09-24 in London, England, UK
Died: 1951-05-01
Known For: Acting
Biography
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.
Filmography
1964
- The Big Parade of Comedy as Actress in 'Hollywood Party' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1947
- The Sea of Grass as Mrs. Ryan - Nurse (uncredited)
- Mourning Becomes Electra as Louisa Ames
1946
- The Missing Lady as Miss Millie
- Two Sisters from Boston as Mrs. Mulberry - Recital Guest (uncredited)
- Big Town as Miss Lovelace (uncredited)
1945
1944
- The Miracle of Morgan's Creek as Hospital Nurse (uncredited)
- The Thin Man Goes Home as Miss Peavy
- Hail the Conquering Hero as Train Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
1943
- The Unknown Guest as Martha Williams
1942
- I Married a Witch as Harriet Wooley (uncredited)
- Obliging Young Lady as Miss Hollyrod - Bird Lover (uncredited)
- Apache Trail as Passenger (uncredited)
- The Wife Takes a Flyer as Miss Updike
1941
- A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob as Charwoman
- Three Girls About Town as Casket Customer
1940
- Young People as Righteous Old Lady (uncredited)
- The Bank Dick as Lompoc Ladies Auxiliary (uncredited)
- Lucky Partners as Women's Club President (uncredited)
- Little Men as Head of Orphanage
- Those Were the Days! as Mrs. Moffett
1939
- Stagecoach as Boone's Landlady (uncredited)
- Union Pacific as Snoring Woman on Train (uncredited)
- Some Like It Hot as Mrs. Beckett (uncredited)
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Mrs. Shackleford (uncredited)
- The Story of Alexander Graham Bell as Miss Jenkins
- What a Life as Miss Eggleston
1938
- International Settlement as English Woman
- Mr. Boggs Steps Out as Widow Peddie
1937
- Easy Living as Miss Swerf
- Night of Mystery
- Nothing Sacred as Schoolteacher (uncredited)
- Night Must Fall
- The Mighty Treve as Old Maid at Dog Show
- Partners in Crime as Housekeeper
- Champagne Waltz as Train Passenger
- Blossoms On Broadway as Leader of Committee (uncredited)
- Borrowing Trouble as Dressmaker
- She Asked for It as Elderly lady (uncredited)
- Three Smart Boys as Miss Witherspoon, Superintendent
1936
- Fury as Albert's Mother (uncredited)
- Collegiate as Miss Curtiss
- Little Miss Nobody as Mrs. Robinson
- Dancing Pirate as Landlady (uncredited)
- College Holiday as Miss Elkins (uncredited)
- Two in the Dark as Mrs. Potter, Landlady (uncredited)
- Under Your Spell as School Teacher (uncredited)
- Girl of the Ozarks as Miss Trent
- The Big Broadcast of 1937 as Home Economics Woman
- Laughing at Trouble as Mrs. Wigby - Townswoman
- Let's Make a Million
1935
- Way Down East as Townswoman at Party
- Vagabond Lady as Miss Perkins (uncredited)
- Car 99 as Granny Adams
- Gold Diggers of 1935 as Housekeeper (uncredited)
- Slightly Static as Beauty Products Announcer (uncredited)
- Biography of a Bachelor Girl as Ship's Matron (uncredited)
- Memories and Melodies as Customer (uncredited)
1934
- Bachelor Bait as Mrs. Trutmanner (uncredited)
- You're Telling Me! as Mrs. Price
- The Merry Widow as Animal Woman (uncredited)
- Mixed Nuts as Mrs. Twitchett
- Once to Every Woman as Miss Baxter’s Sister (uncredited)
- Opened by Mistake as Head Nurse
- Upperworld as Stream's Housekeeper (uncredited)
- Search for Beauty as Miss Pettigrew
- Chained as Edith (uncredited)
- Laughing Boy as Schoolteacher
- The Spectacle Maker as Duchess
- The Old-Fashioned Way as Mrs. Wendelschaffer
- One-Horse Farmers as Subway Passenger (uncredited)
1933
- Meet the Baron as Professor Winterbottom (uncredited)
- Wreckety Wrecks as Miss Winterbottom
- Design for Living as Tom's Secretary (uncredited)
- Doctor Bull as Aunt Emily Banning
- King of the Jungle as Spinster in park (uncredited)
- Stage Mother as Miss Gilford, Kitty's Music Store Boss (uncredited)
- Going Hollywood as Briarcroft's Teacher
- Hold Your Man as Miss Campbell (uncredited)
- Asleep in the Feet as Female Police Officer
- Peg o' My Heart as Smythe (maid)
- Fast Workers as Tall Window-Shopper (Uncredited)
- Nature in the Wrong as Muriel's mother
1932
- Girl Grief as Miss Tuttle, Principal
- Amateur Daddy as Saleslady
- The Bitter Tea of General Yen as Missionary
- Pack Up Your Troubles as Welfare Association Officer (uncredited)
- Hot Saturday as Gossip on Telephone (Uncredited)
- Young Bride as Landlady (uncredited)
- Mr. Bride as Mrs. Cecil
- The Millionaire Cat as Aunt Mathilda
1931
- Arrowsmith as Nurse (uncredited)
- Street Scene as Alice Simpson - Welfare Worker
- Millie as Helen and Angie's Landlady (uncredited)
- The Ruling Voice as Malcom's Nurse (uncredited)
- East Lynne as Charity Bazaar Committee
- Everything’s Rosie as Hotel Proprietress
1930
- Hell's Angels as Helen's Maid (uncredited)
- Seven Days Leave as Amelia Twymley
- The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
- Only Saps Work as Mrs. Partridge (uncredited)
- Little Accident as Dr. Zernecke
1929
- Footlights and Fools as (uncredited)
- Seven Footprints to Satan as Old Witch
1928
- The Baby Cyclone as Mrs. Crandall
- The Cavalier as Lucia's Aunt
- A Trick of Hearts as The Mayor
- Driftwood as Mrs. Prouty
1927
- The Demi-Bride as School Teacher
- Girls as Matron Helen Hunt
- The Devil Dancer as Julia
- The Silent Rider as Mrs. Randall
- Sensation Seekers as Mrs. Lodge
- Too Many Crooks as (uncredited)
- Born to Battle as Ma Cowan
- The Fortune Hunter as Betty Carpenter
1926
- Chip of the Flying U as Dr. Cecil Grantham
- Midnight Faces as Mrs. Hart
1925
- Three Weeks in Paris
- His Majesty, Bunker Bean as Countess Casanova
1924
- Darwin Was Right as Aunt Priscilla
- The Deadwood Coach as Matilda Shields - in play
1922
- The Town That Forgot God as (uncredited)
- Manslaughter as Lydia's Chaperone (uncredited)
- Timothy's Quest as Townswoman
1921
1919
- Miss Crusoe as Miss Meeker (uncredited)
- Woman, Woman! as Mrs. Lindsay
- An Amateur Widow
1918
- Prunella
- Love Net as Miss Prudence Tilly
- Appearance of Evil as Miss Spurgeon
- The Zero Hour as Mrs. Winslow (uncredited)
- By Hook or Crook as Aunt Marie
- American Buds as Emily
1917
- Tillie Wakes Up as Gossip in Ice Cream Parlor / Woman Having Picture Taken
- The Poor Little Rich Girl as One of Gwendolyn's Teachers (uncredited)
- The Wild Girl as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
- A Royal Romance as Miss McPherson
1916
- The Social Secretary as Spinster (uncredited)
- A Model Husband as Mrs Gossip
1915
- The Arrival of Perpetua as Abigail Majendrie