Acting
Nora Cecil
EN, XX cinema · 144 credits
Born
24 September 1878
Died
1 May 1951 (aged 72)
Birthplace
London, England, UK
Also known as Norah Cecile · Nora Cecile
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.
Known for
Filmography
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Actress in 'Hollywood Party' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mourning Becomes Electra
as Louisa Ames
The Sea of Grass
as Mrs. Ryan - Nurse (uncredited)
Big Town
as Miss Lovelace (uncredited)
Two Sisters from Boston
as Mrs. Mulberry - Recital Guest (uncredited)
The Missing Lady
as Miss Millie
The Thin Man Goes Home
as Miss Peavy
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
as Hospital Nurse (uncredited)
Hail the Conquering Hero
as Train Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
The Unknown Guest
as Martha Williams
I Married a Witch
as Harriet Wooley (uncredited)
Apache Trail
as Passenger (uncredited)
The Wife Takes a Flyer
as Miss Updike
Obliging Young Lady
as Miss Hollyrod - Bird Lover (uncredited)
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
as Charwoman
Three Girls About Town
as Casket Customer
The Bank Dick
as Lompoc Ladies Auxiliary (uncredited)
Lucky Partners
as Women's Club President (uncredited)
Little Men
as Head of Orphanage
Young People
as Righteous Old Lady (uncredited)
Those Were the Days!
as Mrs. Moffett
What a Life
as Miss Eggleston
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
as Mrs. Shackleford (uncredited)
Stagecoach
as Boone's Landlady (uncredited)
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
as Miss Jenkins
Union Pacific
as Snoring Woman on Train (uncredited)
Some Like It Hot
as Mrs. Beckett (uncredited)
Mr. Boggs Steps Out
as Widow Peddie
International Settlement
as English Woman
Three Smart Boys
as Miss Witherspoon, Superintendent
Partners in Crime
as Housekeeper
She Asked for It
as Elderly lady (uncredited)
Easy Living
as Miss Swerf
Champagne Waltz
as Train Passenger
Nothing Sacred
as Schoolteacher (uncredited)
Borrowing Trouble
as Dressmaker
The Mighty Treve
as Old Maid at Dog Show
Blossoms On Broadway
as Leader of Committee (uncredited)
Under Your Spell
as School Teacher (uncredited)
College Holiday
as Miss Elkins (uncredited)
Little Miss Nobody
as Mrs. Robinson
Fury
as Albert's Mother (uncredited)
Two in the Dark
as Mrs. Potter, Landlady (uncredited)
The Big Broadcast of 1937
as Home Economics Woman
Dancing Pirate
as Landlady (uncredited)
Laughing at Trouble
as Mrs. Wigby - Townswoman
Girl of the Ozarks
as Miss Trent
Car 99
as Granny Adams
Slightly Static
as Beauty Products Announcer (uncredited)
Way Down East
as Townswoman at Party
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
as Ship's Matron (uncredited)
Memories and Melodies
as Customer (uncredited)
Gold Diggers of 1935
as Housekeeper (uncredited)
Collegiate
as Miss Curtiss
Vagabond Lady
as Miss Perkins (uncredited)
Mixed Nuts
as Mrs. Twitchett
Laughing Boy
as Schoolteacher
Search for Beauty
as Miss Pettigrew
One-Horse Farmers
1934
One-Horse Farmers
as Subway Passenger (uncredited)
Opened by Mistake
1934
Opened by Mistake
as Head Nurse
The Merry Widow
as Animal Woman (uncredited)
The Old-Fashioned Way
as Mrs. Wendelschaffer
Chained
as Edith (uncredited)
You're Telling Me!
as Mrs. Price
The Spectacle Maker
as Duchess
Bachelor Bait
as Mrs. Trutmanner (uncredited)
Once to Every Woman
as Miss Baxter’s Sister (uncredited)
Upperworld
as Stream's Housekeeper (uncredited)
Nature in the Wrong
as Muriel's mother
Asleep in the Feet
as Female Police Officer
Peg o' My Heart
as Smythe (maid)
Going Hollywood
as Briarcroft's Teacher
Stage Mother
as Miss Gilford, Kitty's Music Store Boss (uncredited)
King of the Jungle
as Spinster in park (uncredited)
Fast Workers
as Tall Window-Shopper (Uncredited)
Design for Living
as Tom's Secretary (uncredited)
Wreckety Wrecks
1933
Wreckety Wrecks
as Miss Winterbottom
Meet the Baron
as Professor Winterbottom (uncredited)
Doctor Bull
as Aunt Emily Banning
Hold Your Man
as Miss Campbell (uncredited)
Girl Grief
as Miss Tuttle, Principal
Hot Saturday
as Gossip on Telephone (Uncredited)
Amateur Daddy
as Saleslady
Mr. Bride
as Mrs. Cecil
Young Bride
as Landlady (uncredited)
Pack Up Your Troubles
as Welfare Association Officer (uncredited)
The Millionaire Cat
1932
The Millionaire Cat
as Aunt Mathilda
Arrowsmith
as Nurse (uncredited)
East Lynne
as Charity Bazaar Committee
Everything’s Rosie
as Hotel Proprietress
The Ruling Voice
as Malcom's Nurse (uncredited)
Street Scene
as Alice Simpson - Welfare Worker
Millie
as Helen and Angie's Landlady (uncredited)
Seven Days Leave
as Amelia Twymley
Only Saps Work
as Mrs. Partridge (uncredited)
Little Accident
as Dr. Zernecke
Hell's Angels
as Helen's Maid (uncredited)
Seven Footprints to Satan
as Old Witch
Footlights and Fools
as (uncredited)
A Trick of Hearts
as The Mayor
The Baby Cyclone
as Mrs. Crandall
The Cavalier
as Lucia's Aunt
Driftwood
as Mrs. Prouty
The Silent Rider
as Mrs. Randall
The Demi-Bride
as School Teacher
The Devil Dancer
as Julia
Sensation Seekers
as Mrs. Lodge
The Fortune Hunter
as Betty Carpenter
Girls
as Matron Helen Hunt
Too Many Crooks
as (uncredited)
Born to Battle
as Ma Cowan
Chip of the Flying U
as Dr. Cecil Grantham
Midnight Faces
as Mrs. Hart
His Majesty, Bunker Bean
as Countess Casanova
The Deadwood Coach
as Matilda Shields - in play
Darwin Was Right
as Aunt Priscilla
Manslaughter
as Lydia's Chaperone (uncredited)
Timothy's Quest
as Townswoman
The Town That Forgot God
as (uncredited)
Red Foam
Actor
Woman, Woman!
as Mrs. Lindsay
Miss Crusoe
as Miss Meeker (uncredited)
American Buds
as Emily
Love Net
as Miss Prudence Tilly
By Hook or Crook
as Aunt Marie
Appearance of Evil
as Miss Spurgeon
The Zero Hour
as Mrs. Winslow (uncredited)
The Wild Girl
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
A Royal Romance
as Miss McPherson
The Poor Little Rich Girl
as One of Gwendolyn's Teachers (uncredited)
Tillie Wakes Up
as Gossip in Ice Cream Parlor / Woman Having Picture Taken
The Social Secretary
as Spinster (uncredited)
A Model Husband
1916
A Model Husband
as Mrs Gossip
The Arrival of Perpetua
1915
The Arrival of Perpetua
as Abigail Majendrie