Acting · London, England, UK · Born September 24, 1878
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.
MovieThe Big Parade of Comedy
1964
as Actress in 'Hollywood Party' (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieMourning Becomes Electra
1947
as Louisa Ames
MovieThe Sea of Grass
1947
as Mrs. Ryan - Nurse (uncredited)
MovieBig Town
1946
as Miss Lovelace (uncredited)
MovieThe Missing Lady
1946
as Miss Millie
MovieTwo Sisters from Boston
1946
as Mrs. Mulberry - Recital Guest (uncredited)
MovieLady on a Train
1945
MovieThe Thin Man Goes Home
1944
as Miss Peavy
MovieThe Miracle of Morgan's Creek
1944
as Hospital Nurse (uncredited)
MovieHail the Conquering Hero
1944
as Train Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
MovieThe Unknown Guest
1943
as Martha Williams
MovieI Married a Witch
1942
as Harriet Wooley (uncredited)
MovieApache Trail
1942
as Passenger (uncredited)
MovieThe Wife Takes a Flyer
1942
as Miss Updike
MovieObliging Young Lady
1942
as Miss Hollyrod - Bird Lover (uncredited)
MovieThree Girls About Town
1941
as Casket Customer
MovieA Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
1941
as Charwoman
MovieThe Bank Dick
1940
as Lompoc Ladies Auxiliary (uncredited)
MovieLittle Men
1940
as Head of Orphanage
MovieYoung People
1940
as Righteous Old Lady (uncredited)
MovieLucky Partners
1940
as Women's Club President (uncredited)
MovieThose Were the Days!
1940
as Mrs. Moffett
MovieWhat a Life
1939
as Miss Eggleston
MovieSome Like It Hot
1939
as Mrs. Beckett (uncredited)
MovieUnion Pacific
1939
as Snoring Woman on Train (uncredited)
MovieThe Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939
as Miss Jenkins
MovieStagecoach
1939
as Boone's Landlady (uncredited)
MovieThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1939
as Mrs. Shackleford (uncredited)
MovieMr. Boggs Steps Out
1938
as Widow Peddie
MovieInternational Settlement
1938
as English Woman
MovieBorrowing Trouble
1937
as Dressmaker
MovieNothing Sacred
1937
as Schoolteacher (uncredited)
MovieBlossoms On Broadway
1937
as Leader of Committee (uncredited)
MoviePartners in Crime
1937
as Housekeeper
MovieShe Asked for It
1937
as Elderly lady (uncredited)
MovieEasy Living
1937
as Miss Swerf
MovieNight of Mystery
1937
MovieThree Smart Boys
1937
as Miss Witherspoon, Superintendent
MovieNight Must Fall
1937
MovieChampagne Waltz
1937
as Train Passenger
MovieThe Mighty Treve
1937
as Old Maid at Dog Show
MovieCollege Holiday
1936
as Miss Elkins (uncredited)
MovieLaughing at Trouble
1936
as Mrs. Wigby - Townswoman
MovieUnder Your Spell
1936
as School Teacher (uncredited)
MovieThe Big Broadcast of 1937
1936
as Home Economics Woman
MovieLet's Make a Million
1936
MovieGirl of the Ozarks
1936
as Miss Trent
MovieLittle Miss Nobody
1936
as Mrs. Robinson
MovieFury
1936
as Albert's Mother (uncredited)
MovieDancing Pirate
1936
as Landlady (uncredited)
MovieTwo in the Dark
1936
as Mrs. Potter, Landlady (uncredited)
MovieCollegiate
1935
as Miss Curtiss
MovieWay Down East
1935
as Townswoman at Party
MovieSlightly Static
1935
as Beauty Products Announcer (uncredited)
MovieVagabond Lady
1935
as Miss Perkins (uncredited)
MovieGold Diggers of 1935
1935
as Housekeeper (uncredited)
MovieCar 99
1935
as Granny Adams
MovieMemories and Melodies
1935
as Customer (uncredited)
MovieBiography of a Bachelor Girl
1935
as Ship's Matron (uncredited)
MovieThe Merry Widow
1934
as Animal Woman (uncredited)
Opened by Mistake
1934
as Head Nurse
MovieThe Spectacle Maker
1934
as Duchess
MovieChained
1934
as Edith (uncredited)
One-Horse Farmers
1934
as Subway Passenger (uncredited)
MovieBachelor Bait
1934
as Mrs. Trutmanner (uncredited)
MovieThe Old-Fashioned Way
1934
as Mrs. Wendelschaffer
MovieUpperworld
1934
as Stream's Housekeeper (uncredited)
MovieLaughing Boy
1934
as Schoolteacher
MovieYou're Telling Me!
1934
as Mrs. Price
MovieOnce to Every Woman
1934
as Miss Baxter’s Sister (uncredited)
MovieMixed Nuts
1934
as Mrs. Twitchett
MovieSearch for Beauty
1934
as Miss Pettigrew
MovieDesign for Living
1933
as Tom's Secretary (uncredited)
MovieGoing Hollywood
1933
as Briarcroft's Teacher
MovieMeet the Baron
1933
as Professor Winterbottom (uncredited)
MovieStage Mother
1933
as Miss Gilford, Kitty's Music Store Boss (uncredited)
MovieDoctor Bull
1933
as Aunt Emily Banning
MovieHold Your Man
1933
as Miss Campbell (uncredited)
MoviePeg o' My Heart
1933
as Smythe (maid)
MovieNature in the Wrong
1933
as Muriel's mother
MovieKing of the Jungle
1933
as Spinster in park (uncredited)
MovieFast Workers
1933
as Tall Window-Shopper (Uncredited)
Wreckety Wrecks
1933
as Miss Winterbottom
MovieAsleep in the Feet
1933
as Female Police Officer
MovieThe Bitter Tea of General Yen
1932
as Missionary
MovieMr. Bride
1932
as Mrs. Cecil
MovieHot Saturday
1932
as Gossip on Telephone (Uncredited)
The Millionaire Cat
1932
as Aunt Mathilda
MovieGirl Grief
1932
as Miss Tuttle, Principal
MoviePack Up Your Troubles
1932
as Welfare Association Officer (uncredited)
MovieAmateur Daddy
1932
as Saleslady
MovieYoung Bride
1932
as Landlady (uncredited)
MovieArrowsmith
1931
as Nurse (uncredited)
MovieThe Ruling Voice
1931
as Malcom's Nurse (uncredited)
MovieStreet Scene
1931
as Alice Simpson - Welfare Worker
MovieEverything’s Rosie
1931
as Hotel Proprietress
MovieEast Lynne
1931
as Charity Bazaar Committee
MovieMillie
1931
as Helen and Angie's Landlady (uncredited)
MovieOnly Saps Work
1930
as Mrs. Partridge (uncredited)
MovieHell's Angels
1930
as Helen's Maid (uncredited)
MovieLittle Accident
1930
as Dr. Zernecke
MovieThe Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
1930
MovieSeven Days Leave
1930
as Amelia Twymley
MovieFootlights and Fools
1929
as (uncredited)
MovieSeven Footprints to Satan
1929
as Old Witch
MovieThe Cavalier
1928
as Lucia's Aunt
MovieDriftwood
1928
as Mrs. Prouty
MovieThe Baby Cyclone
1928
as Mrs. Crandall
MovieA Trick of Hearts
1928
as The Mayor
MovieThe Devil Dancer
1927
as Julia
MovieBorn to Battle
1927
as Ma Cowan
MovieToo Many Crooks
1927
as (uncredited)
MovieGirls
1927
as Matron Helen Hunt
MovieSensation Seekers
1927
as Mrs. Lodge
MovieThe Demi-Bride
1927
as School Teacher
MovieThe Fortune Hunter
1927
as Betty Carpenter
MovieThe Silent Rider
1927
as Mrs. Randall
MovieMidnight Faces
1926
as Mrs. Hart
MovieChip of the Flying U
1926
as Dr. Cecil Grantham
MovieThree Weeks in Paris
1925
MovieHis Majesty, Bunker Bean
1925
as Countess Casanova
MovieThe Deadwood Coach
1924
as Matilda Shields - in play
MovieDarwin Was Right
1924
as Aunt Priscilla
MovieThe Town That Forgot God
1922
as (uncredited)
MovieManslaughter
1922
as Lydia's Chaperone (uncredited)
MovieTimothy's Quest
1922
as Townswoman
MovieFootfalls
1921
MovieThe Daughter Pays
1920
MovieRed Foam
1920
MovieWoman, Woman!
1919
as Mrs. Lindsay
MovieMiss Crusoe
1919
as Miss Meeker (uncredited)
An Amateur Widow
1919
MovieLove Net
1918
as Miss Prudence Tilly
MovieThe Zero Hour
1918
as Mrs. Winslow (uncredited)
MovieAppearance of Evil
1918
as Miss Spurgeon
MovieBy Hook or Crook
1918
as Aunt Marie
MovieAmerican Buds
1918
as Emily
MoviePrunella
1918
MovieThe Wild Girl
1917
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
MovieA Royal Romance
1917
as Miss McPherson
MovieThe Poor Little Rich Girl
1917
as One of Gwendolyn's Teachers (uncredited)
Tillie Wakes Up
1917
as Gossip in Ice Cream Parlor / Woman Having Picture Taken
MovieThe Social Secretary
1916
as Spinster (uncredited)
A Model Husband
1916
as Mrs Gossip
The Arrival of Perpetua
1915
as Abigail Majendrie
