Frank Cellier

(b. Surbiton, London 23/02/1884 – d. London, 27/09/1948). British actor. The son of Francois Cellier, the conductor of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, Frank Cellier was a distinguished and prolific British actor who made his stage debut in Sweet Lavender in 1903 and subsequently appeared in more than forty films and innumerable plays. In December 1915 he came out to South Africa on a theatrical tour that would last until July 1919. The plays in which he appeared in South Africa included Remnant, The Blindness of Virtue (presented by Leonard Rayne and produced by Ralph Kimpton) and The Double Event - all at the Standard Theatre in 1918 - and Seven Days' Leave, Within the Law, The Little Brother and Madame X - all in 1919 with Madge Fabian at His Majesty's Theatre. He arrived back in England on 4 September 1919.

During his time in South Africa he acted in what was probably his first film, namely Gloria (Lorimer Johnston/1916), adapted by Harold M. Shaw from the novel by Charlotte Mansfield, in which he played the hero opposite Mabel May. From available records it would seem that he did not return to the screen until fifteen years later, but then made up for lost time by appearing in character roles in more than 40 films, including such productions as The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock/1935), Sixty Glorious Years (Herbert Wilcox/1938) and Love on the Dole (John Baxter/1941). There was a further South African connection when he played Barney Barnato in Berthold Viertel’s film Rhodes of Africa (1936). His stage appearances varied from popular West End plays to a variety of Shakespearean roles, amongst them Hamlet, Shylock and Sir Toby Belch. His daughter, Antoinette, and his son, Peter, both became actors. (FO)