death_date death_place years_active birth_place imagesize name birth_date spouse image article_title birth_name
20 april 1971 brighton , sussex , england , uk 1928-1969 hastings , sussex , england , uk 180px cecil parker 03 september 1897 muriel death -rrb- 1 child ann randall brown -lrb- 1927-1971 -rrb- -lrb- his cecil parker.jpg cecil parker
 cecil schwabe
cecil parker

cecil schwabe -lrb- 3 september 1897 -- 20 april 1971 -rrb- who performed under the stage name cecil parker 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 .
schwabe was born in hastings , sussex .
he was educated at st francois xavier college , and at bruges , belgium .
after serving with the royal sussex regiment in wwi , being discharged from the british army with the rank of sergeant he began his theatrical career in london in 1922 , adopting the surname `` parker '' from his mother 's maiden name .
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. cronin 's novels , `` the citadel '' -lrb- 1938 -rrb- and `` the stars look down '' -lrb- 1940 -rrb- , in addition to appearing in `` the lady vanishes '' -lrb- 1938 -rrb- and `` under capricorn '' -lrb- 1949 -rrb- , both of the later films were directed by alfred hitchcock .
other roles were in `` 23 paces to baker street '' -lrb- 1956 -rrb- , `` dangerous moonlight '' -lrb- 1941 -rrb- , `` swiss family robinson '' -lrb- 1960 -rrb- , and `` i was monty 's double '' -lrb- 1958 -rrb- , as well as the comedies `` a french mistress '' -lrb- 1960 -rrb- , `` the ladykillers '' -lrb- 1955 -rrb- , `` the man in the white suit '' -lrb- 1951 -rrb- , `` the court jester '' -lrb- 1955 -rrb- , `` indiscreet '' -lrb- 1958 -rrb- and `` i believe in you '' -lrb- 1952 -rrb- .
parker was also the original charles condomine in the west end production of noël coward 's `` 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 upper class character , and his last two films were true to form : `` the magnificent two '' -lrb- 1967 -rrb- with the british comedy double act morecambe and wise and richard attenborough 's version of `` oh !
what a lovely war '' -lrb- 1969 -rrb- .
he played an evil , scheming butler on one episode of `` the avengers '' -lrb- `` the # 50,000 breakfast '' -rrb- .
in 1957 he played dr. morelle in the bbc radio series , `` a case for dr. morelle '' .
parker married muriel anne randell-brown .
