Cecil Ramage

Cecil Ramage MC
Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne West
In office 6 December 1923 – 29 October 1924
Preceded by	David Adams
Succeeded by	John Henry Palin
Personal details
Born	Cecil Beresford Ramage (1895-01-17)17 January 1895 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	22 February 1988(1988-02-22) (aged 93) Bournemouth, England
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Cathleen Nesbitt ​ (m. 1921)​
Children	2
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Oxford
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Rank	Major
Unit	The Royal Scots
Battles/wars	First World War
Awards	Military Cross

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), Nicholas Nickleby (1947) and Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949).

His career eventually declined, and he retired from the stage and was separated from his wife, Nesbitt, who died in 1982, aged 93. He played the Crown Counsel in Kind Hearts and Coronets, whose devastating cross-examination of Louis Mazzini does much to discredit him.

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	Notes
1932	C.O.D.	Vyner
1932	The Strangler	Dr. Bevan
1932	Account Rendered	Barry Barriter	Short
1933	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	Uncredited
1937	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)

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Cecil Ramage at IMDb
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Cecil Ramage