Barnett Parker
Acting
Born September 10, 1886, Batley, Yorkshire, England, UK
Within the British colony of expatriate actors in Hollywood during the 1930's, Barnett Parker, born 11 September 1886, in Batley, Yorkshire, England, was among the most stereotypical. Harrowgate College-educated, straight-backed, balding and well-intoned, Parker caricatured a multitude of unctuous, stiff-upper-lip butlers, man-servants or waiters, though his performances could, at times, verge on the brink of being camp. When driven to frustration his characters commonly resorted to incoherent twitter or wild gesticulation. Parker was trained under Marie Tempest and George Alexander in England. He first acted on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre as Wilfred Tavish in Arthur Wing Pinero's "The "Mind the Paint" Girl" in 1912. He was well served with further roles in hit plays like "Hobson's Choice" (1915), "Artists and Models" (1924) and "The Red Robe" (1928). He was at first prone to reject film offers, professing to favor acting on stage. Nonetheless, the celluloid medium eventually beckoned, enticing him to sign with the East Coast-based studio Thanhouser in 1915. He worked in films during the daytime (while treading the boards at night) and quickly landed a plum role as a weak socialite, rescuing Gladys Hulette in Prudence, the Pirate (1916). He was seldom thereafter afforded the opportunity for heroic acts. During the 1930's, he was primarily in demand for small roles as dandified or 'silly ass' Britishers, giving value for money in films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Personal Property (1937), Live, Love and Learn (1937) and Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937). Looking rather older than his years, Barnett Parker died at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles after multiple heart attacks on August 5, 1941.
Filmography
- 2004Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6 — Dragon (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited)
- 1964The Big Parade of Comedy — Arthur Trevelyan in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)
- 1941A Man Betrayed — George
- 1941Kisses for Breakfast — Phillips
- 1941New Wine — The Duke
- 1941Tall, Dark and Handsome — Quentin
- 1941The Reluctant Dragon — Dragon (segment "The Reluctant Dragon") (voice)
- 1940He Married His Wife — Huggins
- 1940Hullabaloo — Samuel Stephens
- 1940La Conga Nights — Hammond
- 1940Love Thy Neighbor — George - Fred's Chauffeur
- 1940One Night in the Tropics — Thompson, Steve's Butler (uncredited)
- 1939At the Circus — Whitcomb
- 1939Babes in Arms — William
- 1939Hotel for Women — Photographer
- 1939She Married a Cop — Bekins, the Butler
- 1938Hold That Kiss — Maurice
- 1938Listen, Darling — Abercrombie
- 1938Love Is a Headache — Hotchkiss, Carlotta's Butler
- 1938Marie Antoinette — Prince de Rohan
- 1938Sally, Irene and Mary — Oscar
- 1938The Girl Downstairs — Hugo
- 1937Broadway Melody of 1938 — Jerry Jason
- 1937Dangerous Number — Minehardi
- 1937Double Wedding — Mr. Flint, Margit's Bookkeeper
- 1937Espionage — Bill Cordell
- 1937Live, Love and Learn — Alfredo
- 1937Married Before Breakfast — Tweed
- 1937Navy Blue and Gold — Graves
- 1937Personal Property — Arthur Trevelyan
- 1937Ready, Willing and Able — Waiter
- 1937The Emperor's Candlesticks — Albert, Stephan's Butler
- 1937The Last of Mrs. Cheyney — Purser
- 1937Wake Up and Live — Foster
- 1937We Who Are About to Die — John Barkley
- 1936A Girl's Best Years — Primrose
- 1936Born to Dance — Floorwalker
- 1936Libeled Lady — Butler (uncredited)
- 1936Mr. Deeds Goes to Town — Butler (uncredited)
- 1936Roaming Lady — Waters
- 1936The General Died at Dawn — Dining Car Man (uncredited)
- 1936The President's Mystery — Roger
- 1920The Misleading Lady — Steve
- 1916Prudence the Pirate — John Astorbilt
- 1916The Flight of the Duchess — The Duke
- 1916The Traffic Cop — Book Agent
- 1915Bill Bunks the Bandit — Bill - a Gentleman from the East