Cecil Kellaway

Cecil Kellaway
from the trailer for The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Born	Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (1890-08-22)22 August 1890 Cape Town, South Africa
Died	28 February 1973(1973-02-28) (aged 82) Hollywood, California
Years active	1933-1972
Spouse(s)	Doreen Elizabeth Joubert (m.1919-1973; his death; 2 sons)

Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (22 August 1890 - 28 February 1973) was a South African-born character actor.

Biography

Cecil Kellaway was born on 22 August 1890 in Cape Town, South Africa, where he gained an early interest in theatre acting, much to the displeasure of his parents. He was educated in South Africa and England, before becoming a touring stock company actor. By the early 1920s, he had settled in Australia, becoming a popular character comedian of the local stage.

After receiving acclaim for his main role in the Australian Cinesound film It Isn't Done (1937), for which he also provided the original story, he was screen-tested by RKO Pictures and put under contract. He returned to Australia for a second Cinesound film, Mr. Chedworth Steps Out (1938), before going on to a long career as a Hollywood character actor, with prominent roles in William Wyler's Wuthering Heights (1939), The House of the Seven Gables (1940), The Letter (1940), Love Letters (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, as Lana Turner's husband), Portrait of Jennie (1948) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). He was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Luck of the Irish in 1948 and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in 1967.

Kellaway died in 1973 at the age of 82, and his ashes were entombed in the Sanctuary of Remembrance, at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Academy Award winning actor Edmund Gwenn, whose real surname was Kellaway, was his cousin.

Selected filmography

• The Hayseeds (1933)
• It Isn't Done (1937)
• Maid's Night Out (1938)
• Mr. Chedworth Steps Out (1939)
• Wuthering Heights (1939) – as Earnshaw
• Intermezzo (1939) – as Charles Moler
• We Are Not Alone (1939)
• The Invisible Man Returns (1940) – as Inspector Sampson Template:Nb10
• The House of the Seven Gables (1940)
• Brother Orchid (1940)
• The Mummy's Hand (1940)
• The Letter (1940)
• A Very Young Lady (1941)
• Bahama Passage (1941)
• I Married a Witch (1942)
• Take a Letter, Darling (1942)
• Freedom Comes High (1943)
• It Ain't Hay (1943)
• The Crystal Ball (1943)
• Mrs Parkington (1944)
• Practically Yours (1944)
• Love Letters (1945)
• Kitty (1945) as Thomas Gainsborough
• Easy to Wed (1946)
• The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) – as Nick Smith

• Monsieur Beaucaire (1946)
• The Cockeyed Miracle (1946)
• Unconquered (1947)
• Portrait of Jennie (1948)
• The Luck of the Irish (1948)
• Harvey (1950) – as Dr. Chumley
• Kim (1950)
• The Reformer and the Redhead (1950)
• Francis Goes to the Races (1951)
• Half Angel (1951)
• Young Bess (1953)
• The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) – as Dr. Thurgood Elson
• Interrupted Melody (1955)
• The Prodigal (1955)
• Female on the Beach (1955) – as Osbert Sorenson
• The Proud Rebel (1958)
• The Shaggy Dog (1959)
• Zotz! (1962)
• The Cardinal (1963)
• Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
• Spinout (1966) – as Bernard Ranley
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) – as Monsignor Ryan
• Fitzwilly (1967)
• Getting Straight (1970)

References

Notes

External links

• Cecil Kellaway at the Internet Broadway Database
• Cecil Kellaway at Find a Grave
• Template:Bfidb name
• Cecil Kellaway Australian theatre credits at Ausstage