---
name: "Cecil Kellaway"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/cecil-kellaway"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "22 August 1890"
died: "28 February 1973"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T21:13:26.073312+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Cecil Kellaway

Actor. Born 22 August 1890 in Cape Town, South Africa. Died 28 February 1973.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 22 August 1890, Cape Town, South Africa
- **Died:** 28 February 1973
- **Also known as:** Cecil Lauriston Kellaway

## Biography

Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (also credited as Cecil Kellaway) was a South African-born character actor. He spent many years as an actor, author and director in the Australian theatre and film industry before moving to Hollywood in the 1930s.

After initial small roles, his breakthrough came with the part of Earnshaw in *Wuthering Heights* (1939), directed by William Wyler. He appeared in numerous films including *The Letter* (1940), *I Married a Witch* (1942), *The Postman Always Rings Twice* (1946), *Harvey* (1950), *Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte* (1964) and *Guess Who's Coming to Dinner* (1967). Kellaway received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for *The Luck of the Irish* (1948) and *Guess Who's Coming to Dinner* (1967). He also worked in television, including episodes of *The Twilight Zone* (1959) and *Bewitched* (1964).

Kellaway was the cousin of actor Edmund Gwenn. He died in Los Angeles in 1973.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, adb.anu.edu.au.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Wuthering Heights* (1939), Fi1m 76, as Earnshaw — [page](https://film.one/film/wuthering-heights.md)

## Also known for

- *Guess Who's Coming to Dinner* (1967), Monsignor Ryan
- *Bewitched* (1964), Santa Claus
- *Harvey* (1950), Dr. Chumley
- *The Postman Always Rings Twice* (1946), Nick Smith
- *Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte* (1964), Harry Willis
- *The Letter* (1940), Prescott
- *I Married a Witch* (1942), Daniel
- *The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms* (1953), Prof. Elson

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/cecil-kellaway