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Cecil Kellaway

Highest Rated: 100% The Letter (1940)

Lowest Rated: 33% Spinout (1966)

Birthday: Aug 22, 1890

Birthplace: Cape Town, South Africa

The former character actor Cecil Kellaway began acting in Australia, then came over to the United States for more film work in the late 1930s. His early turning point was playing Earnshaw in the 1939 screen adaptation of Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights," which starred Laurence Oliver and David Niven. Kellaway followed a decade later as a leprechaun--Horace--in the 1948 romantic comedy "The Luck of the Irish," as Tyrone Power's conscience/guardian angel. The role earned Kellaway a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and led to numerous television theater appearances, along with his continuing film roles, which were primarily in comedy. Whether or not he was the perfect leprechaun, despite not being Irish, Kellaway had a certain quintessential je-ne-sais-quoi character-actor quality that kept him consistently active, and he worked with all the big names. From Olivier in the '30s, he also worked with Lana Turner in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in 1946, James Stewart in "Harvey" in 1950, and Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland and Joseph Cotton in "Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte" in 1964 (the same year he played Santa on an episode of "Bewitched"). Despite his relative anonymity, Kellaway landed an especially significant role--and another Oscar nomination--toward the end of his career, as Monsignor Ryan in the Oscar-winning, landmark race relations film "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner," with Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn, who won the Best Actress Oscar. Kellaway died at age 73.

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Highest-Rated Movies

100% 82% The Letter
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100% 67% Intermezzo
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96% 85% Wuthering Heights
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96% 71% I Married a Witch
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93% 85% Portrait of Jennie
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91% 68% The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
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90% 54% Joan of Arc
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90% 50% Mexican Spitfire
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89% 79% The Postman Always Rings Twice
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88% 93% Harvey
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Filmography

Movies TV Shows
Getting Straight 33% 41% 1970 Dr. Kasper Actor Fitzwilly 66% 1967 Buckmaster Actor Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 71% 85% 1967 Monsignor Mike Ryan Actor Kismet 1967 Omar Actor Spinout 33% 49% 1966 Bernard Ranley Actor Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte 83% 85% 1965 Harry Actor The Cardinal 47% 66% 1963 Monsignor Monaghan Actor Zotz! 21% 1962 Dean Joshua Updike Actor Francis of Assisi 57% 1961 Cardinal Hugolino Actor Destination Space 1959 Dr. A.A. Andrews Actor The Shaggy Dog 68% 48% 1959 Professor Plumcutt Actor The Proud Rebel 66% 1958 Dr. Enos Davis Actor Johnny Trouble 1957 Tom McKay Actor Toy Tiger 1956 James Fusenot Actor Female on the Beach 47% 1955 Osbert Sorenson Actor Interrupted Melody 70% 1955 Bill Lawrence Actor The Prodigal 36% 1955 Governor Actor Young Bess 53% 1953 Mr. Parry Actor The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms 91% 68% 1953 Prof. Thurgood Elson Actor Thunder in the East 1953 Dr. Willoughby Actor Paris Model 1953 Patrick J. 'P.J.' Sullivan Actor My Wife's Best Friend 1952 Rev. Thomas Chamberlain Actor Half Angel 17% 1951 Harry Gilpin Actor Francis Goes to the Races 78% 1951 Colonel Travers Actor Katie Did It 1951 Nathaniel B. Wakeley VI Actor
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