Norman Bird

Known for ActingBorn 1920-10-30Died 2005-04-22Coalville, Leicestershire, England, UK

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).Read more

Movies & web series

A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake - Worzel Gummidge Christmas Special

All at Sea

Born Kicking

The Ghost Downstairs

The Organization

Yes Minister

Fawlty Towers

Raffles

Miss Pym's Day Out

Public Eye

Arthur of the Britons

The Punch and Judy Man

To Serve Them All My Days

All Creatures Great and Small

Jason King

The Avengers

Run a Crooked Mile

Lytton's Diary

Black Carrion

Friday Night, Saturday Morning

A Voyage Round My Father

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Till Death Us Do Part

Cash on Demand

Half Hour Story

The Hill

Two's Company

Victim

Screen Two

The Saint

Z-Cars

Hammer House of Horror

Budgie

Theatre 625

80,000 Suspects

The Angry Silence

Shadowlands

Whistle Down the Wind

Return of the Saint

King Arthur, the Young Warlord

An Inspector Calls

Elementary, My Dear Watson

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)

Crossing the Floor

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

The Slipper and the Rose

Gideon's Way

The League of Gentlemen