Norman Bird
Acting
- Born:
- 1920-10-30
- Died:
- 2005-04-22
- Place of birth:
- Coalville, Leicestershire, England, UK
Biography
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).
Known For
Filmography
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Crossing the Floor
Shadowlands
Born Kicking
Miss Pym's Day Out
After Henry
Buddy
Lytton's Diary
Screen Two
This Office Life
Black Carrion
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
A Voyage Round My Father
The Fourth Arm
The Ghost Downstairs
Break Point
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
If You Go Down in the Woods Today
The Final Conflict
A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special
To Serve Them All My Days
Hammer House of Horror
Yes Minister
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
Worzel Gummidge
Thomas & Sarah
The Lord of the Rings
The Glums
Return of the Saint
Life Begins at Forty
The Medusa Touch
All Creatures Great and Small
Miss Jones And Son
Raffles
Yanks Go Home
The Slipper and the Rose
Wedding Bells
Double Trouble
The Big Kick
Baby Sitters
On the Tiles
Monkey Tricks
Pot Luck
Fawlty Towers
Two's Company
Angels
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
Happy Ever After
Seven Faces of Woman
Up The Workers
Elementary, My Dear Watson
Arthur of the Britons
Ooh...You Are Awful
Crown Court
The Adventurer
My Wife Next Door
Young Winston
The Organization
Shirley's World
Doomwatch
Suspicion
Hands of the Ripper
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Jason King
The Guardians
Please Sir!
Budgie
Bless This House
The Raging Moon
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer
Up Among the Cuckoos
The Virgin and the Gypsy
Softly Softly: Task Force
Run a Crooked Mile
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Department S
Takeover
W. Somerset Maugham
Oh! What a Lovely War
The Limbo Line
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
All at Sea
A Dandy in Aspic
Sanctuary
Half Hour Story
The Wrong Box
Till Death Us Do Part
Sky West and Crooked
End in Tears
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Blackmail
It's Not Me - It's Them!
The Hill
Gideon's Way
Public Eye
The Black Torment
Thursday Theatre
The Trial of Dr. Fancy
The Beauty Jungle
First Men in the Moon
Theatre 625
The Bargee
The Protectors
Hot Enough for June
80,000 Suspects
Maniac
The Punch and Judy Man
Bitter Harvest
The Mind Benders
The Cracksman
In Search of the Castaways
The Saint
Term of Trial
Night of the Eagle
Steptoe and Son
Z-Cars
Cash on Demand
Victim
Whistle Down the Wind
The Secret Partner
Very Important Person
Drama 61-67
The Avengers
Coronation Street
Man in the Moon
The League of Gentlemen
The Angry Silence
No Hiding Place
Armchair Theatre
An Inspector Calls