Cecil Ramage

Cecil Beresford Ramage, MC (17 January 1895 – 22 February 1988) was a Scottish barrister, actor and Liberal politician.

Life Following his education at the Edinburgh Academy, Ramage was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Scots at the outbreak of World War I. He served in Gallipoli, Palestine and Egypt and was awarded the Military Cross.

Following the war, he went up to Pembroke College, Oxford, where he became President of the Oxford Union. At Oxford he first took to the stage, appearing in Antony and Cleopatra with Cathleen Nesbitt, whom he married in 1921. They had two children. Instead of taking up acting as a profession after university, Ramage read law. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, and practised on the Oxford Circuit.

At the 1922 general election, he was the Liberal candidate for the constituency of Newcastle West, but was defeated by David Adams of the Labour Party. Another election was held in 1923 and Ramage stood again and was elected as Member of Parliament (MP). He was only to be in the Commons for a short period, as he was defeated at the subsequent general election in 1924. He was the Liberal candidate at Southport at the 1929 general election, but failed to be elected.

By this time, Ramage was a professional actor, appearing in New York, the West End of London and toured with the Old Vic Company in the Mediterranean. He had a number of minor roles in films, including Secret of Stamboul (1936), and Nicholas Nickleby (1947). His final film role was as the prosecution counsel in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), whose devastating cross-examination of Louis Mazzini does much to discredit him.

His career eventually declined, and he retired from the stage and was separated from his wife, Cathleen Nesbitt, who died in 1982, aged 93.

Death Cecil Beresford Ramage died in 1988, aged 93. Of the 64 former MPs who only served in the parliament of 1924, he was the last survivor, outliving his parliamentary service by 63 years.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1932 C.O.D. Vyner 1932 The Strangler Dr. Bevan 1932 Account Rendered Barry Barriter Short1933 Britannia of Billingsgate Producer 1933 On Secret Service Ermete Davila 1934 The Luck of a Sailor Owner 1934 Freedom of the Seas Berkstrom 1934 Blossom Time Johann Vogl 1934 The Night of the Party Howard Vernon 1934 What Happened Then? Defense 1935 Be Careful, Mr. Smith 1935 McGlusky the Sea Rover Auda 1935 King of the Damned Major Ramon Montez 1936 Love in Exile John Weston 1936 Lonely Road Maj. Norman 1936 The Secret of Stamboul Prince Ali 1936 The Mill on the Floss Luke Uncredited1937 Cafe Colette Petrov 1937 Return of a Stranger John Forbes 1937 The Last Rose of Summer 1939 Black Eyes 1945 I Live in Grosvenor Square Trewhewy 1947 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Sir Mulberry Hawk 1948 Blanche Fury Prosecuting Counsel 1949 Kind Hearts and Coronets Crown Counsel (final film role)