Birthday: 1920-10-30
Deathday: 2005-04-22
Birthplace: Coalville, Leicestershire, England, UK
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned
John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor.
Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End debut in Peter Brook's production of The Winter's Tale at the Phoenix Theatre in 1951. He was also a member of the BBC's Radio Drama Company. His first film appearance was as the foreman in An Inspector Calls (1954).
He was a familiar face to British cinema audiences of the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in nearly 50 films such as The Angry Silence (1960), The League of Gentlemen (1960), Whistle Down the Wind (1961), Victim (1961) and Term of Trial (1962) with Laurence Olivier and The Hill with Sean Connery (1965).
He had over 200 television appearances, notably as Mr Braithwaite in Worzel Gummidge (1979–81) and Mr Arrad in the Fawlty Towers episode "Waldorf Salad" (1979). His long list of credits include Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Rising Damp, Ever Decreasing Circles, Yes Minister, To Serve Them All My Days, All Creatures Great and Small, Z-Cars, Public Eye, The Saint, Department S, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Boon. In 1990 he appeared in Stay Lucky, with Dennis Waterman, which marked his 200th television appearance. One of his last film appearances was as a taxi driver in Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands (1993).
Year | Title | Character | |
---|---|---|---|
1996-10-05 | Crossing the Floor | Grandfather | |
1993-12-25 | Shadowlands | Taxi Driver Witness | |
1992-09-20 | Born Kicking | Mr Radley | |
1992-02-19 | Miss Pym's Day Out | Man on Bus | |
1986-01-01 | Buddy | Mr Normington | |
1984-12-30 | This Office Life | Seeds | |
1984-11-12 | Black Carrion | Henry Bircher | |
1984-04-19 | A Voyage Round My Father | Ham | |
1982-12-26 | The Ghost Downstairs | Mr. Morris | |
1981-04-29 | If You Go Down in the Woods Today | Doctor | |
1981-03-20 | The Final Conflict | Dr. Philmore | |
1980-12-27 | A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special | Mr Braithwaite | |
1978-11-15 | The Lord of the Rings | Bilbo (voice) | |
1978-04-13 | The Medusa Touch | Major Henry Morlar | |
1976-03-25 | The Slipper and the Rose | Dress Shop Proprieter | |
1976-01-01 | Wedding Bells | ||
1976-01-01 | Double Trouble | ||
1976-01-01 | The Big Kick | ||
1976-01-01 | Baby Sitters | ||
1976-01-01 | On the Tiles | ||
1976-01-01 | Monkey Tricks | ||
1976-01-01 | Pot Luck | Farmer | |
1975-01-01 | King Arthur, the Young Warlord | Ambrose | |
1973-01-18 | Elementary, My Dear Watson | Inspector Street | |
1972-12-01 | Ooh... You Are Awful | Warder Burke | |
1972-03-01 | Doomwatch | Brewer | |
1971-10-17 | Hands of the Ripper | Police Inspector | |
1971-05-01 | Please Sir! | Reynolds | |
1971-01-21 | The Raging Moon | Dr Matthews | |
1970-11-12 | The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer | Alderman Poot | |
1970-06-07 | Up Among the Cuckoos | Walter | |
1970-06-01 | The Virgin and the Gypsy | Uncle Fred | |
1969-11-18 | Run a Crooked Mile | Sgt. Hooper | |
1969-03-10 | Oh! What a Lovely War | Training Sgt (uncredited) | |
1969-03-03 | The Limbo Line | ||
1969-01-01 | All at Sea | ||
1968-04-02 | A Dandy in Aspic | Copperfield | |
1966-06-19 | The Wrong Box | Clergyman | |
1965-08-31 | Sky West and Crooked | Mr. Cheeseman - undertaker | |
1965-06-17 | The Hill | Commandant | |
1964-10-19 | The Black Torment | Harris | |
1964-08-25 | The Beauty Jungle | Mr. Edward Freeman | |
1964-07-01 | First Men in the Moon | Stuart | |
1964-01-01 | The Bargee | Waterways Supervisor Albert Williams | |
1964-01-01 | Hot Enough for June | Employment Exchange Clerk | |
1963-08-15 | 80,000 Suspects | Harold Davis | |
1963-05-20 | Maniac | Salon | |
1963-04-08 | The Punch and Judy Man | Reginald Fletcher | |
1963-03-08 | Bitter Harvest | Mr. Pitt | |
1963-02-01 | The Mind Benders | Aubrey | |
1963-01-01 | The Cracksman | Policeman | |
1962-12-01 | In Search of the Castaways | Senior Yacht Guard | |
1962-08-16 | Term of Trial | Mr. Taylor | |
1962-04-25 | Night of the Eagle | Doctor | |
1961-12-20 | Cash on Demand | Sanderson | |
1961-08-01 | Victim | Harold Doe | |
1961-07-25 | Whistle Down the Wind | Eddie | |
1961-05-01 | The Secret Partner | Ralph Beldon | |
1961-04-24 | Very Important Person | Travers | |
1960-10-31 | Man in the Moon | Herbert | |
1960-04-15 | The League of Gentlemen | Weaver | |
1960-03-10 | The Angry Silence | Roberts | |
1954-03-16 | An Inspector Calls | Jones-Collins - Foreman |