archytele The Vault
☻

Bert Parnaby

Acting Born Mar 4, 1924 Guisborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK 24 credits

Biography

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.

Ask the Vault

Ask anything about Bert Parnaby.

Known for

Casualty

as Billie Jennings

Bergerac

as Doctor Ferns

Blackadder

as Dim Cain, a Peasant

Blackadder

as Cain, a Peasant

Blackadder

as Cain, a Blind Beggar

Inspector Morse

as Ben

The Chronicles of Narnia

as Father Christmas

The Play on One

as Bill

Nightingales

as The Inspector

Full filmography

  • Casualty (1986) as Billie Jennings
  • Bergerac (1981) as Doctor Ferns
  • Blackadder (1983) as Dim Cain, a Peasant
  • Blackadder (1983) as Cain, a Peasant
  • Blackadder (1983) as Cain, a Blind Beggar
  • Inspector Morse (1987) as Ben
  • All Creatures Great and Small (1978) as Colonel Jenkins
  • The Comic Strip Presents... (1982) as Neighbour
  • The Comic Strip Presents... (1982) as Man
  • Lovejoy (1986) as Sorrel
  • The Chronicles of Narnia (1988) as Father Christmas
  • The Play on One (1988) as Bill
  • Nightingales (1990) as The Inspector
  • First Among Equals (1986) as George Bainbridge
  • By the Sword Divided (1983) as Sir Austin Fletcher
  • Bad News (1983) as Neighbor
  • The Contract (1988) as Adam Percy
  • My Cousin Rachel (1983) as Seecombe
  • Reunion (1989) as Dr. Jakob Strauss
  • Prick Up Your Ears (1987) as Magistrate
  • On the Palm (1987) as Slatterthwaite
  • Dirty Movie (1984) as Man
  • The Dressmaker (1988) as Mr Barnes
  • Unfair Exchanges (1985) as Phone Poet