Bert Parnaby

Born: 1924-03-04

James Bertram "Bert" Parnaby (4 March 1924 – 30 July 1992) was a British actor who was notable for a string of TV and Film roles from the 1960s through the 1980s. His TV roles included performances in Blackadder, By the Sword Divided, Juliet Bravo, Inspector Morse and Last of the Summer Wine. In 1988, he appeared as Father Christmas in the BBC adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His film credits included Prick Up Your Ears (1987), The Dressmaker (1988) and The Reunion (1989). Whilst living in Didsbury, Bert was a schoolmaster at Manchester Grammar School during the 1950s and early 1960s. Teaching English, he was greatly involved in the production of teachers’ plays. He subsequently became an HMI (one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools). On leaving the education profession, Parnaby worked as a producer and performer for the BBC. His monologues on breakfast radio often started ‘I hate …’, for example the edition about the Post Office, which was based on the Didsbury branch, albeit unnamed. Parnaby died in July 1992 at the age of 68, shortly after the death of his wife Jane. A bench in their memory was later erected in Drummer Street, Cambridge.


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Prick Up Your Ears

as Magistrate
Released: 1987-04-17

When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at...

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

as Father Christmas
Released: 1988-11-13

Four kids travel to the magical land of Narnia where they must battle an evil queen with the...

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Reunion

as Dr. Jakob Strauss
Released: 1989-05-17

Attorney Henry Strauss grew up in Germany, but left the country with his Jewish family during...

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Unfair Exchanges

as Phone Poet
Released: 1985-01-20

Julie Walters stars as a single mother seemingly haunted by a sinister telephone system that...

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On the Palm

as Slatterthwaite
Released: 1987-04-05

Fledge needs a job. He'll take anything. And when Dawlish gives him strange errands to run, for...

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The Dressmaker

as Mr Barnes
Released: 1988-12-16

In England during World War II, a repressed dressmaker and her sister struggle looking after...

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Bad News

as Neighbor
Released: 1983-01-24

A documentary crew films heavy metal band Bad News as they have trouble starting their van, pick...

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Rainy Day Women

as Fleming
Released: 1984-04-10

In 1940, during World War II, an officer is sent to investigate rumours of German spies in a...

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Dirty Movie

as Man
Released: 1984-01-07

Postman Bean is anxious to end his round early to catch a morning showing of 'The Sound of...

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Completely Bad News

as Neighbour
Released: 2019-11-29

A double offering of heavy metal madness from The Comic Strip and Bad News.

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Daemon

as Mr. Crabb
Released: 1985-12-31

11-year-old Nick moves into a large old house with his sisters Jennie and Clare, left in the...

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Gas and Candles

as Bill
Released: 1991-08-01

Black comedy play about two pensioners struggling to manage on an old-age pension and living in...

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Blackadder

as Cain, a Peasant
First aired: 1983-06-15

Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders...

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Blackadder

as Dim Cain, a Peasant
First aired: 1983-06-15

Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders...

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Blackadder

as Cain, a Blind Beggar
First aired: 1983-06-15

Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders...

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Casualty

as Billie Jennings
First aired: 1986-09-06

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department,...

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Bergerac

as Doctor Ferns
First aired: 1981-10-18

Bergerac is a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the...

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All Creatures Great and Small

as Colonel Jenkins
First aired: 1978-01-08

All Creatures Great and Small is a British television series, based on the books of the British...

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Inspector Morse

as Ben
First aired: 1987-01-06

Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse...

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Lovejoy

as Sorrel
First aired: 1986-01-10

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East...

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The Comic Strip Presents...

as Neighbour
First aired: 1982-11-02

The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are...

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The Comic Strip Presents...

as Man
First aired: 1982-11-02

The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are...

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The Play on One

as Bill
First aired: 1988-01-19

A series of plays specially written for television.

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Nightingales

as The Inspector
First aired: 1990-02-27

Nightingales is a British situation comedy set around the antics of three security guards...

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My Cousin Rachel

as Seecombe
First aired: 1983-03-07

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