Acting

Bert Parnaby

Born — Died

1924-03-04 — 1992-07-30

Place of birth

Guisborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

31 titles

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 subse…

Known for

Film credits

1980s · 11 titles

Prick Up Your Ears poster
6.7

When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality and starts to find success with his writing, Halliwell becomes increasingly alienated and jealous, ultimately tapping into a dangerous rage.

Prick Up Your Ears

1987

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe poster
6.5

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

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

1988

Reunion poster
6.7

Attorney Henry Strauss grew up in Germany, but left the country with his Jewish family during the rise of the Third Reich. Still wondering about what happened to his boyhood friend Konradin Von Lohenburg, Strauss travels back to Germany for the first time since he was a young man, bringing up some painful memories.

Reunion

1989

The Dressmaker poster
4.6

In England during World War II, a repressed dressmaker and her sister struggle looking after their 17-year-old niece, who is having a delusional affair with an American soldier.

The Dressmaker

1988

Bad News poster
8.7

A documentary crew films heavy metal band Bad News as they have trouble starting their van, pick up a schoolgirl groupie, and meet up with rock journalist Sally at a motorway service station where they argue about the cost of sausage and chips.

Bad News

1983

On the Palm poster
NR

Fledge needs a job. He'll take anything. And when Dawlish gives him strange errands to run, for cash in hand, strictly 'on the palm', it's a welcome change from the dole. Until he finds himself digging dirt on an old friend....

On the Palm

1987

Rainy Day Women poster
7.0

In 1940, during World War II, an officer is sent to investigate rumours of German spies in a sleepy village where various people are the victims of war hysteria.

Rainy Day Women

1984

Dirty Movie poster
NR

Postman Bean is anxious to end his round early to catch a morning showing of 'The Sound of Muzak' at his local cinema. However, he is unaware that the cinema manager Terry Toadstool is using this as a smoke screen to view a pornographic film and that Bean's wife, traffic warden Monica, is the star.

Dirty Movie

1984

Unfair Exchanges poster
NR

Julie Walters stars as a single mother seemingly haunted by a sinister telephone system that seems to have become an evil intelligence in its own right.

Unfair Exchanges

1984

No artwork available
NR

'Imagine. The whole sky filled with silent sportsmen.' Henry is a teacher, and a very good one, but his dream of man-powered flight, and his habit of destroying the odd greenhouse on his test runs, threatens his career. Also there's his daughter Ruth, who would dearly love to retrieve her bicycle wheels from his flying machine.

Flights

1985

Daemon poster
7.5

11-year-old Nick moves into a large old house with his sisters Jennie and Clare, left in the care of Helga the Swedish au pair while their parents are away in America. Nick is unhappy at his new school, where he is befriended by a boy named Sam and intimidated by scripture teacher Mr. Crabb, who is interested in the occult and demonology. Nick hears voices in the house and receives messages on his computer screen; he also suffers inexplicable blisters on his feet and grazes on his elbows and knees. When he dreams of burning and wakes up in a bed full of ashes, Nick tells a psychiatrist that he feels he is possessed by a demon.

Daemon

1985

Series credits

Casualty poster
6.2

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Casualty

1986

Bergerac poster
7.0

Jim Bergerac is a detective sergeant in The Foreigners Office who likes to do things his own way. While dealing with his own personal demons Bergerac has a knack of finding trouble, and sometimes causing it.

Bergerac

1981

Inspector Morse poster
7.9

Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis, as well as a large cast of notable actors and actresses.

Inspector Morse

1987

Blackadder poster
8.0

Blackadder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders throughout British history, from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of The Great War.

Blackadder

1983

Blackadder poster
8.0

Blackadder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders throughout British history, from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of The Great War.

Blackadder

1983

Blackadder poster
8.0

Blackadder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders throughout British history, from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of The Great War.

Blackadder

1983

All Creatures Great and Small poster
7.8

The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.

All Creatures Great and Small

1978

The Comic Strip Presents... poster
7.4

The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, who do parodies of films, literature and sometimes major events.

The Comic Strip Presents...

1982

The Comic Strip Presents... poster
7.4

The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, who do parodies of films, literature and sometimes major events.

The Comic Strip Presents...

1982

Lovejoy poster
7.4

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Lovejoy

1986

The Chronicles of Narnia poster
7.6

The Chronicles of Narnia is a British television miniseries adapting four of C.S. Lewis's books, blending live-action with animation for fantasy elements like Aslan and the creatures. The first series—The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe—aired from 13 November to 18 December 1988; the second—Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader—aired from 19 November to 24 December 1989; and the third—The Silver Chair—from 18 November to 23 December 1990. Each series consists of six episodes each.

The Chronicles of Narnia

1988

The Play on One poster
6.0

A series of television plays, some original, some based on pre-existing plays or novels.

The Play on One

1988

By the Sword Divided poster
7.0

This classic period drama series follows the fortunes of the aristocratic Lacey family, living peacefully in Arnescote Castle until the onset of the English Civil War in 1640. Sir Martin Lacey, the head of the family, is steadfastly loyal to the King. However the family is torn apart when his eldest daughter Anne weds John Fletcher - son of a merchant family who support the forces of Cromwell.

By the Sword Divided

1983

First Among Equals poster
7.0

A ten-part serial based on Jeffrey Archer's 1984 novel of the same name, which follows the careers and personal lives of a quartet of fictional Parliament members from 1964 to 1991, with each vying to become Prime Minister.

First Among Equals

1986

Nightingales poster
7.0

Nightingales is a British situation comedy set around the antics of three security guards working the night shift. It was written by Paul Makin and produced by Alomo Productions for Channel 4 in 1990.

Nightingales

1990

The Contract poster
9.0

A British spy helps a Russian scientist to defect from the Soviet Union by taking a perilous journey through the Eastern Bloc.

The Contract

1988

No artwork available
NR

Anthology of plays written by new writers, set in a function room above a public house.

Function Room

1985

My Cousin Rachel poster
7.0

A young Englishman becomes convinced that his friend and guardian has been murdered by his mysterious second wife.

My Cousin Rachel

1983