Nora Cecil
Cecil in The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917)
Born(1878-09-26)September 26, 1878
London, England
DiedMay 1, 1951(1951-05-01) (aged 72)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1915–1947
Children2

Nora Cecil (September 26, 1878 – May 1, 1951) was an English-born American actress whose 30-year career spanned both the silent and sound film eras.

Career

Stage

Cecil's career began on the stage, when she debuted in London at age 19.[1] She appeared in the Broadway production The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast, which ran for more than 240 performances at the Broadway Theatre in 1901–1902.[2] (A 1930 newspaper article says that Cecil "made her debut, three decades ago, on the London stage.")[3]

Film

Cecil appeared in well over 100 feature films and film shorts.[4] 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.[5] She often played "welfare workers, landladies, schoolmistresses and maiden aunts".[6]

Cecil in Street Scene (1931)
Cecil in Nothing Sacred (1937)

One of the most significant roles was in the W.C. Fields vehicle The Old Fashioned Way in 1934.[6] 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;[7] the 1939 version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, starring Mickey Rooney;[8] and the John Ford classic Stagecoach, with John Wayne.[9]

Her final acting performance was in a small role as Louisa Ames in Mourning Becomes Electra in 1947, starring Rosalind Russell.[10]

Personal life and death

Cecil was married to real estate broker Russell Evans, who died in 1949. They had two children: Dorothy Cecil, who was also an actress, with a short stage-career, and Kenneth Russell Evans, who became a petroleum engineer.[3]

She was cremated.

Filmography

(Per AFI database)[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Daughter in mother's steps". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. September 20, 1929. p. 23. Retrieved February 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on April 24, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Pianist Starts Music Dispute with Composer". Shamokin News-Dispatch. Pennsylvania, Shamokin. Shamokin News-Dispatch. January 3, 1930. p. 3. Retrieved March 24, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. 1 2 "Nora Cecil profile". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Arrival of Perpetua: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Nora Cecil profile". AllMovie. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Merry Widow: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Stagecoach: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Mourning Becomes Electra: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
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