Nora Cecil
Date of birth: 1878-09-24
Place of birth: London, England, UK
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Norah Cecile, Nora Cecile
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.
Movie Credits
Night of Mystery
1937-05-21
One of a series of movies based on the character Philo Vance
Big Town
1946-08-23
A newspaper editor goes on an anti-crime crusade, but gets carried away.
His Majesty, Bunker Bean
1925-09-14
His Majesty, Bunker Bean is a 1925 silent film comedy directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Matt M
Seven Footprints to Satan
1929-01-27
Before a planned African expedition, a man's fiancée worries her father's guest plans to steal one o
The Deadwood Coach
1924-12-07
A man searches for the villains who murdered his parents
The Wild Girl
1917-09-01
A dying stranger abandons a baby girl in a gypsy camp, with a note explaining that on her eighteenth
The Thin Man Goes Home
1944-12-24
On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.
The Silent Rider
1927-01-02
Cowboy Jerry Alton is content with life on the Bar Z Ranch until Mrs. Randall hires pretty Marian Fa
The Demi-Bride
1927-02-19
Trouble begins when Madame Girard steps out on her husband, Criquette's father, to fool around with
Three Smart Boys
1937-05-13
When they overhear Miss Witherspoon, the school superintendent, say that nothing short of an epidemi
A Royal Romance
1917-04-30
Princess Sylvia refuses to marry the Emperor Maximilian of Rhaetia because his proposal has been off
Manslaughter
1922-09-24
Society-girl thrillseeker Lydia's fun comes to an end when she accidentally causes the death of moto
Night Must Fall
1937-04-30
Wealthy widow Mrs. Bramson notices that her maid is distracted, and when she learns the girl's fianc
Under Your Spell
1936-11-06
A famous singer, bored with music and fans, goes to live in Mexico. His manager sends a woman to bri
Nature in the Wrong
1933-03-18
Charley, hoping to find cultured people in his ancestry in order to be suitable to Muriel's family,
A Trick of Hearts
1928-03-18
In this comedy-western, based on the life of Henry Irving Dodge, our cowboy hero keeps his tongue fi
The Devil Dancer
1927-11-03
An English explorer disturbed by the practices of an isolated tribe attempts to rescue a native girl
Arrowsmith
1931-12-07
A medical researcher is sent to a plague outbreak, where he has to decide priorities for the use of
Mixed Nuts
1934-02-16
Oddly enough for a Roach comedy the premise of MIXED NUTS is grounded in topical political satire ai
Lady on a Train
1945-08-03
While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When sh
Seven Days Leave
1930-01-24
In London, during WWI, a lonely woman who wants to feel a part of the war effort pretends to her fri
Laughing Boy
1934-04-13
A young Navajo defies tribal custom to marry an outcast.
Footfalls
1921-09-08
A blind cobbler is able, by dint of his extraordinary hearing, to recognize the identity of a murder
Mr. Boggs Steps Out
1938-02-18
A dull statistician changes his life after winning a pile of money after successfully determining th
College Holiday
1936-12-19
College students rally to save a struggling hotel from closing. Comedy.
Girl Grief
1932-10-08
Although terrified of girls, Charley must take a job teaching at a girls school.
Little Miss Nobody
1936-06-05
A runaway orphan is befriended by a kind-hearted pet store owner with a criminal past.
Car 99
1935-03-02
A story of the Michigan State Police and the strong sense of loyalty and duty it instills in its men
Partners in Crime
1937-10-08
Detective Hank Hyer investigates a blackmail case involving a candidate for mayor.
Search for Beauty
1934-02-02
Three con artists dupe two Olympians into serving as editors of a new health and beauty magazine whi
The Unknown Guest
1943-10-22
Residents get suspicious when a shady character takes over the local hunting lodge right after the t
Asleep in the Feet
1933-01-21
The girls moonlight as taxi dancers in order to earn some extra money.
American Buds
1918-02-24
Letters from the late mother of orphaned sisters Jane and Katherine seem to indicate that their fath
She Asked for It
1937-09-17
Dwight Stanford and his wife, Penny, are a pair of spendthrifts who can't hold on to money, dependen
The Daughter Pays
1920-11-10
For revenge, wealthy Osbert Gault marries Virginia Mynors, the daughter of a woman who had jilted hi
What a Life
1939-10-05
Jackie Cooper stars in this first film in the wholesome "Henry Aldrich" series of teen comedies.
The Poor Little Rich Girl
1917-03-05
Gwen's family is rich, but her parents ignore her and most of the servants push her around, so she i
Peg o' My Heart
1933-05-26
Peg and her father live a simple life in an Irish fishing village. One day Sir Gerald arrives at the
Chip of the Flying U
1926-03-14
A remake of a 1915 Tom Mix/Selig Western, this film was yet another silent oater (loosely) based on
Sensation Seekers
1927-03-21
The prohibition is in full swing and Egypt Hagen, a new woman, is the constant subject of controvers
One-Horse Farmers
1934-08-01
The girls buy a country home that turns out to be a sand trap.
Opened by Mistake
1934-10-05
Patsy tries to stay with Thelma at the hospital where she works, but Thelma is forced to pretend tha
Easy Living
1937-07-16
J.B. Ball, a rich financier, gets fed up with his free-spending family. He takes his wife's just-bou
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
1944-09-18
A small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers wakes up the morning after a wild farewell
Hot Saturday
1932-10-28
A pretty but virtuous small-town bank clerk is the victim of a vicious rumor from an unsuccessful su
Slightly Static
1935-09-07
Thelma and Patsy get jobs at a radio station.
Going Hollywood
1933-12-22
The film tells the story of Sylvia, a French teacher at an all-girl school, who wants to find love.
East Lynne
1931-03-01
The refined Lady Isabel Carlisle, after leaving her family and enduring nearly a decade of hardships
Way Down East
1935-10-25
A family living on a farm in Maine takes in a young woman to stay with them, not knowing that the wo
The Bank Dick
1940-11-29
Egbert Sousé becomes an unexpected hero when a bank robber falls over a bench he's occupying. Now co
Stage Mother
1933-09-29
Kitty Lorraine has one purpose in life: turning her daughter Shirley into a star. Kitty controls eve
Only Saps Work
1930-12-05
Rubber-legged comedian Leon Errol made his talkie starring bow in Paramount's Only Saps Work. Based
Everything’s Rosie
1931-05-22
A little orphan girl walks into the life of a hand-to-mouth carnival huckster. He teaches her the ro
King of the Jungle
1933-03-10
A white youth raised in the jungle by animals is captured by a safari and brought back to civilizati
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1939-02-10
Huckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his
Stagecoach
1939-03-02
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939-04-04
Alexander Graham Bell falls in love with deaf girl Mabel Hubbard while teaching the deaf and trying
Union Pacific
1939-05-05
One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad acro
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
1930-05-02
The sinister Dr. Fu Manchu returns to destroy the people he holds responsible for the death of his f
Fury
1936-06-05
Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the
International Settlement
1938-02-04
In Shanghai amidst Sino-Japanese warfare an adventurer (Sanders) collecting money from gun suppliers
Fast Workers
1933-03-10
Gunner and Bucker are friends who work as riveters. Whenever Bucker gets the urge to marry, which is
Some Like It Hot
1939-05-19
Nicky Nelson is a fast-talking sideshow barker with a wax-and-alive concession on Atlantic City's bo
Design for Living
1933-12-29
An independent woman can't choose between the two men she loves.
Mourning Becomes Electra
1947-11-19
Near the end of the Civil War, the proud residents of Mannon Manor await the return of shipping tyco
Amateur Daddy
1932-04-10
Jim Gladden, a construction site foreman, is partially responsible for the accidental death of one o
The Fortune Hunter
1927-01-18
The Fortune Hunter is a lost 1927 silent film comedy directed by Charles Reisner and starring Syd Ch
The Sea of Grass
1947-04-25
On America's frontier, a St. Louis woman marries a New Mexico cattleman who is seen as a tyrant by t
The Social Secretary
1916-09-16
An attractive young girl struggles to hold a job as she deals with unwanted romantic advances from h
Tillie Wakes Up
1917-01-29
Tillie and her neighbor Mr. Pipkins are both distraught over their respective marriages. One day, th
Timothy's Quest
1922-09-16
Timothy and Gay, orphans from the slums of Boston, escape to Maine in search of a home and manage to
Two in the Dark
1936-01-10
Ford Adams regains consciousness in Boston, bloody and suffering from amnesia. Information he eventu
Wreckety Wrecks
1933-02-18
When the boys run over a dummy, they think they've killed someone. They decide to dispose of the "bo
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
1941-03-14
Steve is a shy quiet man who is an executive for a shipping firm. He meets Dot at the Opera where sh
Lucky Partners
1940-08-02
Two strangers split a sweepstake prize to go on a fake honeymoon with predictable results.
Little Men
1940-11-29
Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer operate the Plumfield School for poor boys. When Dan, a tou
Young People
1940-08-30
Wendy Ballantine's parents decide to retire from show biz so she can have a normal life. They are un
Champagne Waltz
1937-02-05
In Vienna, a new jazz club featuring American trumpeter Buzzy Bellew threatens the existence of its
Nothing Sacred
1937-11-25
When a small-town girl is incorrectly diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an unknowing newspaper
Meet the Baron
1933-10-20
A charlatan posing as Baron Munchhausen is invited to be guest speaker at a girls' school.
The Big Broadcast of 1937
1936-10-05
The employees of a failing radio station must put on a huge ratings winner to have any chance of con
The Merry Widow
1934-11-02
A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.
The Old-Fashioned Way
1934-07-13
The Great McGonigle and his troupe of third-rate vaudevillians manage to stay one step ahead of the
Doctor Bull
1933-09-22
In this engaging adaptation of James Gould Cozzen's novel The Last Adam, film icon Will Rogers portr
I Married a Witch
1942-10-30
A 17th-century witch returns to wreak havoc in the life of a descendant of the Puritan witch hunter
Mr. Bride
1932-12-24
Charley's boss "rehearses" for his honeymoon--with Charley.
Three Girls About Town
1941-10-23
Faith and Hope Banner, sisters, are "convention hostesses" in a hotel. A body is discovered next doo
Apache Trail
1942-09-01
The brother of a notorious outlaw is put in a charge of a stagecoach line way station in dangerous A
Footlights and Fools
1929-11-08
Moore plays the "dual" role of a French singer in America who was originally an American chorus girl
The Wife Takes a Flyer
1942-04-28
Christopher Reynolds, an American flying with the R.A.F, is shot down over German-occupied Holland a
The Ruling Voice
1931-09-10
A mob boss has a change of heart when his daughter convinces him to move on from crime.
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
1935-01-04
Everyweek Newsmagazine editor Richard Kurt pursues famous free-spirited portrait artist Marion Forsy
A Model Husband
1916-03-29
Mr. Cherub is considered by all tne world to be a model husband. Housewives hold him up as a shining
Little Accident
1930-08-03
On the day before his second wedding, a man finds out that his bride-to-be has had a baby.
Obliging Young Lady
1942-04-01
A woman attempts to shelter a young girl from the publicity surrounding her socialite parents' divor
Hell's Angels
1930-11-15
When the Great War breaks out, brothers Roy and Monte Rutledge, each attending Oxford University, en
Memories and Melodies
1935-02-16
This Technicolor short features the songs of the great American popular composer Stephen Collins Fos
Gold Diggers of 1935
1935-03-15
Romance strikes when a vacationing millionairess and her daughter and son spend their vacation at a
Young Bride
1932-04-08
A newlywed discovers her husband is a cheating phony.
Street Scene
1931-09-05
The setting is a city block during a sweltering summer, where the residents serve as representatives
Pack Up Your Troubles
1932-09-16
The story begins in 1917 with Stan and Ollie being drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in World War
Girls
1927-03-27
When the girls on campus learn that Tom Drake is so super-shy that he never kissed a girl, they begi
Chained
1934-08-31
Richard, a millionaire in love with his secretary, Diane, is dispirited when his wife refuses to div
Borrowing Trouble
1937-12-10
The Jones family drugstore is robbed and it looks like the culprit is a boy the family has taken a l
You're Telling Me!
1934-04-06
Sam Bisbee is an inventor whose works (e.g., a keyhole finder for drunks) have brought him only pove
The Baby Cyclone
1928-09-26
A woman thinks a small dog is an angel pet in this silent comedy.
The Spectacle Maker
1934-09-20
A parable about magic glasses involving on the nature of beauty, truth, good, and evil set in 17th C
The Mighty Treve
1937-01-17
Story of a dog that is fanatically devoted to its master.
The Cavalier
1928-11-01
In old Mexico a masked rider (Talmadge) and an impoverished girl (Bedford) fall in love, against her
Prunella
1918-01-01
When Tourneur adapted the allegorical plays The Blue Bird by Belgian symbolist Maurice Maeterlinck a
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964-09-02
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
Midnight Faces
1926-03-24
A young man inherits a mansion in a Florida swamp from an uncle he never knew he had. When he, his a
Bachelor Bait
1934-07-27
After being fired from his job at the Marriage License Bureau, a clerk turns to matchmaking.
Millie
1931-02-06
After a tumultuous first marriage, Millie Blake learns to love her newfound independence and drags h
Blossoms On Broadway
1937-11-19
A young singer hopes to become a success on Broadway.
Two Sisters from Boston
1946-06-06
Abigail Chandler has written her stuffy Boston relatives that she's a successful opera singer in New
Dancing Pirate
1936-05-22
Jonathan Pride is a mild-mannered dance instructor in 1820 Boston. En route to visit relatives, Jona
The Missing Lady
1946-08-17
While investigating the theft of a valuable jade statue known as "The Missing Lady" -- and the subse
Let's Make a Million
1936-09-01
A wealthy mama's boy finds himself the victim of con artists involved in an oil stocks racket.
Too Many Crooks
1927-04-02
Too Many Crooks is a lost 1927 American comedy silent film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, written by
Collegiate
1936-01-22
A Broadway playboy inherits an almost bankrupt girls' school and tries to save it by a big show.
Love Net
1918-12-23
Little Patty Barnes lives with her grandfather, Captain Amos Barnes, in a rickety shack on the New E
By Hook or Crook
1918-09-09
Pampered Frederic "Freddy" Pritchard, warned by his father that he must work or be disinherited, lea
Vagabond Lady
1935-05-03
Josephine Spiggins is thinking of marrying John Spear, the stuffed-shirt son of a department store o
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
1932-12-25
An American missionary is gradually seduced by a courtly warlord holding her in Shanghai.
The Arrival of Perpetua
1915-03-29
Perpetua is a rich little orphan with a kind but absent-minded dreamer of a guardian, Thaddeus, who
Red Foam
1920-10-01
An Amateur Widow
1919-05-26
Heiress Rhoda Canby is badgered by her eccentric relatives Uncle Silas, Aunt Elizabeth, and Cousin H
Hail the Conquering Hero
1944-08-09
Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow
Hold Your Man
1933-06-30
Ruby falls in love with small-time con man Eddie. During a botched blackmail scheme, Eddie accidenta
Driftwood
1928-10-15
Daisy Smith (Marceline Day), a floater and non-desirable citizen in most societies, seeks refuge on
Laughing at Trouble
1936-12-11
A man convicted of murder escapes from jail and hides out in the home of a small town newspaper publ
Woman, Woman!
1919-10-21
Alice Lindsay arrives in New York from a small town and becomes part of Greenwich Village Bohemian l
Once to Every Woman
1934-03-24
An able nurse clashes with a new doctor at her hospital.
Those Were the Days!
1940-07-14
At a family gathering, an elderly man reflects on the follies of his youth during his freshman year
Girl of the Ozarks
1936-06-12
A sweet little country girl has issues with school. Her mother is ill. The school threatens to send
The Millionaire Cat
1932-10-21
Comic shenanigans from the team of Clark & McCullough.
Born to Battle
1927-09-11
A cowboy is framed for his father's murder. His investigation leads him into the middle of a bitter
Upperworld
1934-04-28
A railroad tycoon, disillusioned with his marriage, starts seeing a showgirl. Things go agreeably un
The Town That Forgot God
1922-10-30
A village schoolteacher, unaware that Eben, the village carpenter, is in love with her, marries a su
Appearance of Evil
1918-10-07
Maida Brown, a rich widow, is being visited by wealthy aircraft manufacturer Louis Letchworth at the