Cyril Smith (actor)

Cyril Smith (actor)
Cyril Edward Bruce-Smith (4 April 1892 – 5 March 1963) was a Scottish actor who began his career as a child in 1900 and went on to appear in numerous stage plays as well as over 100 films between 1914 and his death almost 50 years later. The son of Frederick and Elsa Smith; his mother travelled with him on his engagements during his boyhood.
Career
Smith first became known as a child stage actor in 1900, and by the age of 13 in 1905, he travelled to New York to appear as Cosmo in a production of the J. M. Barrie play Alice-Sit-By-The Fire, opposite Ethel Barrymore; at the time, The New York Times hailed him as "one of the best-known child actors in England". Smith's film career began in 1914 in the Wilfred Noy-directed Old St. Paul's and he appeared in almost 20 other silent films of the 1910s and 1920s before making the transition to sound. From the early 1930s until his death, he featured in dozens of films ranging from the quota quickies of the 1930s and the B-movies of the 1940s and 1950s, through to more prestigious productions starring names such as Vivien Leigh, Trevor Howard and Deborah Kerr. Smith was not a name-billed film actor, and many of his roles were uncredited bit parts or minor roles with generic titles such as "Publican", "Reporter" or "Bailiff"; however towards the end of his life he achieved several more prominent billings after finding a late-career niche portraying scatty and doddery elderly men. For instance, in 1956, he had a leading role in the Peggy Mount comedy, Sailor Beware! and a similar leading role in the Hylda Baker comedy, She Knows Y'Know (1962) . Smith also moved into television, as Merlin the magician in the 1956 ITV series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot which was also a success in the U.S. and as Harold Wormold in the first series of the BBC sitcom Hugh and I in 1962.
Smith suffered a heart attack in December 1962 and died on 5 March 1963, aged 70.
Filmography
Old St. Paul's (1914) - Boy (film debut)
Pallard the Punter (1919) - Horace Callender
Walls of Prejudice (1920) - Karpat
The Fordington Twins (1920) - Cyril Raleigh
Class and No Class (1921) - Lord Daventry
Fires of Fate (1923) - Lord Howard Cecil
The Desert Sheik (1924)
The Innocents of Chicago (1932) - Gangster
The Mayor's Nest (1932) - Magistrate
The Man from Toronto (1933) - Gossiping Villager (uncredited)
The Good Companions (1933) - Leonard Oakroyd
Channel Crossing (1933) - Beach
Friday the Thirteenth (1933) - Fred the Driver
The Roof (1933) - McNair
The Black Abbot (1934) - Alf Higgins
Waltzes from Vienna (1934) - Secretary (uncredited)
It's a Cop (1934) - Lewis
Evergreen (1934) - Stage Manager (uncredited)
Wild Boy (1934) - Kennel Boy
Oh, Daddy! (1935) - Alfred the Butler (uncredited)
Key to Harmony (1935) - Fred
Hello, Sweetheart (1935) - Mac McGuire
Me and Marlborough (1935) - Corporal Fox
Bulldog Jack (1935) - Duke (uncredited)
Lend Me Your Wife (1935) - Charles Harwood
Brown on Resolution (1935) - William Brown, Jr.
The Tunnel (1935) - Casualty Announcer (uncredited)
Music Hath Charms (1935) - BBC Producer (uncredited)
Pot Luck (1936) - Miller
The Last Journey (1936) - Postal Sorter (uncredited)
Jack of All Trades (1936) - (uncredited)
O.H.M.S. (1937) - Steward (uncredited)
Dark Journey (1937) - Baron von Marwitz's Valet (uncredited)
The Frog (1937) - PC Balder
Storm in a Teacup (1937) - Councillor
The Challenge (1938) - Customs Officer
No Parking (1938) - Stanley
Sidewalks of London (1938) - Black Face
The Return of the Frog (1938) - Maggs
Sword of Honour (1939) - Bright
Traitor Spy (1939) - Det. Sgt. Trotter
The Flying Squad (1940) - Tiser
They Flew Alone (1942) - Radio Operator On 'Aquitania'
We'll Smile Again (1942) - Assistant Cutter (uncredited)
When We Are Married (1943) - Fred Dyson
Fanny by Gaslight (1944) - Publican (uncredited)
One Exciting Night (1944) - Joe
Meet Sexton Blake (1945) - Belford
On Stage Everybody (1945) - Talent Show Winner
Don Chicago (1945) - Flash Kelly
The Agitator (1945) - Dunham
Murder in Reverse? (1945) - Customer
The Echo Murders (1945) - P.C. Smith
This Man Is Mine (1946) - Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Appointment with Crime (1946) - Det. Sgt. Charlie Weeks
School for Secrets (1946) - Flight Sgt. Cox
They Made Me a Fugitive (1947) - Bert
So Well Remembered (1947) - 2nd Publican (uncredited)
If Winter Comes (1947) - Truck Driver (uncredited)
Daughter of Darkness (1948) - Joe
Escape (1948) - Policeman (uncredited)
One Night with You (1948) - Second Ticket Collector
Romance on the High Seas (1948) - English Bartender (uncredited)
No Room at the Inn (1948) - Store Detective (uncredited)
It's Hard to Be Good (1948) - Fred Hobson
Hills of Home (1948) - Signor Rimini (uncredited)
The History of Mr. Polly (1949) - Mr. Voules
Conspirator (1949) - Detective Inspector
The Interrupted Journey (1949) - Publican
The Rocking Horse Winner (1949) - Bailiff
The Body Said No! (1950) - Sergeant
Old Mother Riley Headmistress (1950) - Maltby
The Third Visitor (1951) - Detective Horton
The Dark Man (1951) - Samuel Denny
No Highway in the Sky (1951) - Airport Officer (uncredited)
Mystery Junction (1951) - Station Master
Green Grow the Rushes (1951) - Hubert Hewitt
Night Was Our Friend (1951) - Rogers the Reporter
Judgment Deferred (1952) - (uncredited)
Stolen Face (1952) - Alf Bixby, Innkeeper
Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952) - Mr. Paine, the rent collector
The Lost Hours (1952) - Det. Sgt. Roper
Women of Twilight (1952) - Flinton (uncredited)
Hindle Wakes (1952) - Hotel Porter
The Steel Key (1953) - Boat Owner (uncredited)
Wheel of Fate (1953) - Perce
The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp (1954) - Dog Owner
Svengali (1954) - 1st Stage Manager
Burnt Evidence (1954) - Alf Quinney
The Brain Machine (1955) - Prison Warder
John and Julie (1955) - Ticket Inspector
Value for Money (1955) - Writ Server (uncredited)
Who Done It? (1956) - Refrigeration Plant Worker (uncredited)
Sailor Beware! (1956) - Henry Hornett
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956-1957, TV Series) - Merlin
The Rough and the Smooth (1959) - Taxi Driver
Light Up the Sky! (1960) - 'Spinner' Rice
Watch it, Sailor! (1961) - Henry Hornett
On the Fiddle (1961) - Ticket Collector
Over the Odds (1961) - Sam
She Knows Y'Know (1962) - Joe Worswick (final film)
References
External links
1892 births
1963 deaths
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male silent film actors
Scottish male stage actors
Scottish male television actors
People from Peterhead
20th-century Scottish male actors