Cecil Parker 3 September 1897 20 April 1971 was an English character and comedy actor with a distinctive husky voice who usually played supporting roles in his 91 films made between 1928 and 1969 Born Cecil Schwabe in Hastings Sussex he began his theatrical career in London in 1922 after serving in World War I He made his first film appearance in 1928 and subsequently became a familiar face in British and occasionally American films until his death He appeared less often on television but many of his films have remained popular and are often shown He acted in two adaptations of A J Cronins novels The Citadel 1938 and The Stars Look Down 1940 in addition to appearing in The Lady Vanishes 1938 and Under Capricorn 1949 both of the later films were directed by Alfred Hitchcock Other roles were in 23 Paces to Baker Street 1956 Dangerous Moonlight 1941 Swiss Family Robinson 1960 and I Was Montys Double 1958 as well as the comedies A French Mistress 1960 The Ladykillers 1955 The Man in the White Suit 1951 The Court Jester 1955 Indiscreet 1958 and I Believe in You 1952 Parker was also the original Charles Condomine in the West End production of Noel Cowards Blithe Spirit a role subsequently played on Broadway by Clifton Webb and in the 1945 film by Rex Harrison He often played a touchy senior officer or British upperclass character and his last two films were true to form The Magnificent Two 1967 with the British comedy double act Morecambe and Wise and Richard Attenboroughs version of Oh What A Lovely War 1969 He played an evil scheming butler on one episode of The Avengers The 50000 Breakfast Description above from the Wikipedia article Cecil Parker licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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