Ronald Shiner
Ronald Alfred Shiner (8 June 1903 in London – 29 June 1966 in London) was a British stand-up comedian and comedic actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall. A former Royal Northwest Mounted Police Officer, farmer, greengrocer, milkman, bookie's clerk, soldier and film extra, Shiner shot to fame appearing in 1,700 performances of the stage hit Worm's Eye View from 1945 to 1947 (he would later top his own record by appearing in the play Seagulls Over Sorrento for 2,000 performances between 1950 and 1954). At the height of his career Shiner insured his nose for £10,000 because he said "it's me beak which made 'em larf." In retirement he owned a pub at Blackboys in Sussex but was plagued by ill health in his final years and retired to Eastbourne. He died there in June 1966 leaving an estate of £30,955.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 2.449 |
| Birthday | 1903-06-08 |
| Place of Birth | London, England |
| Also Known As |
1940
The Case of the Frightened Lady
6.458/12
A classic British thriller set in a sinister old house, based on a story by Edgar Wallace.
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The Case of the Frightened Lady
1949
Forbidden
6.9/8
Set on Blackpool’s Golden Mile, Jim (Douglass Montgomery), a once promising scientist, sets up in business as a patent medicine man selling hair tonic...
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Forbidden
1957
Not Wanted on Voyage
6.5/4
The scheming Albert Higgins and his dim witted mate Cecil Hollebone, set out on a ocean voyage under the exasperated chief steward. Along for the trip...
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Not Wanted on Voyage
1953
Innocents in Paris
5.2/13
Romantic comedy about a group of Britons flying to Paris for the weekend.
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Innocents in Paris
1947
The Adventures of Dusty Bates
4/2
Dusty Bates observes some smuggled jewels hidden in a crate aboard a ship; he is pursued by low-lifes when the crate is put ashore.
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The Adventures of Dusty Bates
1960
The Night We Got the Bird
4.5/2
Good natured comic caper charting the misadventures of a hapless bunch of Brighton based petty crooks dogged with disaster at every turn.
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The Night We Got the Bird
1946
George in Civvy Street
7.5/2
George Formby plays George Harper, a tavern owner, who works to turn a waitress from her current employer, a rival tavern owner, when Formby falls in...
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George in Civvy Street
1953
Laughing Anne
4.3/3
Story of love affair of captain who runs ship in Java Seas and a French saloon singer. From a story "Because of the dollars" by Joseph Conrad.
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Laughing Anne
1943
Get Cracking
6.5/4
Get Cracking is a 1943 British comedy war film, directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Dinah Sheridan, Ronald Shiner and George Formby. It was produce...
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Get Cracking
1939
Flying Fifty-Five
7.6/4
Bill Urquhart, a young wastrel disinherited by his father, tries to get a job as a jockey – just about the only thing he’s really good at. His name an...
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Flying Fifty-Five
1958
Girls at Sea
6/2
When HMS Scotia pays a visit to the French Riviera, the officers throw a lavish party to celebrate the engagement of Captain Robert Randall to Jill Ea...
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Girls at Sea
1959
The Navy Lark
6.8/5
An Inshore Minesweeping Unit has been forgotten by the Navy after World War II on the peaceful island of Boonsley and they have adapted to their circu...
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The Navy Lark
1934
Wild Boy
0/0
This film is a caper story of greyhound racing and the efforts of a crooked dog owner to stop a rival's dog, Wild Boy, from running in the Greyhound D...
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Wild Boy
1954
Aunt Clara
4.5/4
A wealthy old man dies and leaves his holdings--including a brothel and a gambling den, racing greyhounds and a sleazy bar--to his eccentric Aunt Clar...
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Aunt Clara
1937
London Melody
5/1
Jacqueline intrigues a diplomat, so unbeknown to her he finds her an apartment and finances her musical training. She ends up falling in love with one...
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London Melody
1935
Squibs
3.7/3
Squibs, a cockney flowerseller with a father overwhelmed by gambling debts wins through with the help of assorted friends and a romantically inclined...
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Squibs
1939
Come on George!
5.4/5
George Formby, who plays George, a stable boy. He also has the unique ability to soothe an anxious racing horse. Expectedly, George races the horse an...
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Come on George!
1951
Worm's Eye View
0/0
Incidents in the lives of a group of R.A.F. men living in billets.
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Worm's Eye View
1939
The Missing People
0/0
27 well-to-do people have all vanished under similar circumstances. J.G. Reeder, an elderly gentleman who fancies himself a detective, decides to inve...
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The Missing People
1939
Trouble Brewing
6/5
Ealing comedy starring music hall star George Formby. An eager newspaper reporter (Formby) goes undercover to expose a gang of counterfeiters. Posing...
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Trouble Brewing
1956
Keep It Clean
4.5/4
A man invents a new cleaning machine. His brother in law offers to help him promote it and they get help from the Purity League.
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Keep It Clean
1940
Let George Do It!
5.7/10
Shortly after the start of World War II, a ukelele player (George) takes the wrong boat and finds himself in (still uninvaded) Norway. He is mistaken...
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Let George Do It!
1952
Little Big Shot
4.5/1
Harry Hawkwood is the son of 'Pa' Hawkwood, one of England's greatest crooks, and it's Harry's ambition to follow in father's footsteps and be as good...
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Little Big Shot
1934
Doctor's Orders
6/1
Leslie Fuller stars as a quack whose son qualifies as a doctor in total ignorance of his father's occupation!
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Doctor's Orders
1940
Spare a Copper
7/4
George is an inept reserve policeman working in wartime Liverpool, who is chosen by a gang of Nazi saboteurs as the stooge for their planned destructi...
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Spare a Copper
1941
Old Bill and Son
6.5/4
Old Bill has grumbled his way through the trenches of the First World War. Now it is the Second and, envious of his son, Young Bill, he decides to enl...
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Old Bill and Son
1936
Excuse My Glove
0/0
A young man, whose main interest in life is stained glass, accidentally accepts a challenge to fight in a fair boxing booth.
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Excuse My Glove
1953
Top of the Form
5/1
A con man hides out in a boys' school, posing as a professor. When the undisciplined and lazy boys have to pass a few tests, cheating becomes the only...
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Top of the Form
1957
Carry on Admiral
6/8
Two friends get drunk and decide to switch identities. One is a Parliamentary Secretary, and the other is the captain of a ship. The former's lack of...
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Carry on Admiral
1937
Beauty and the Barge
7/4
A young girl is engaged to a man she doesn't love, and rather than marry him she decides to flee the situation altogether. She is helped by a crusty o...
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Beauty and the Barge
1935
It's a Bet
0/0
A young English reporter makes a bet with a wealthy publisher that he can disappear for a month. In his absence the publisher makes much of the myster...
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It's a Bet
1959
Operation Bullshine
5.083/6
During World War II, a Royal Artillery officer is assigned to an anti-aircraft battery that is filled with female soldiers of the Auxiliary Territoria...
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Operation Bullshine
1944
Bees in Paradise
5.3/6
Four pilots become stranded on a tropical island inhabited by beautiful women.
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Bees in Paradise
1954
Up to His Neck
0/0
A maritime farce set in the South Seas. A strong supporting cast includes Brian Rix, Anthony Newley & Harry Fowler.
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Up to His Neck
1940
The Middle Watch
5/1
Through a series of unforeseen events, two glamorous young ladies find that they are obliged to spend the night on board the battleship HMS Falcon, wh...
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The Middle Watch
1942
The Balloon Goes Up
5.3/3
Balloon unit WAAFs catch German spies.
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The Balloon Goes Up
1956
Dry Rot
7.1/7
Comedy about a trio of not particularly bright bookmakers who try to fix a horse race.
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Dry Rot
1935
Once a Thief
5/2
Down on his luck inventor Roger (John Stuart) "borrows" some money from a handbag he finds but things go wrong when a necklace from the bag goes missi...
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Once a Thief
1935
Gentlemen's Agreement
7.3/3
A young doctor realises that his father is a quack and changes places with a down-and-out.
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Gentlemen's Agreement
1952
The Magic Box
6.3/20
Now old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As young and handsome William Green he changed his name to i...
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The Magic Box
1943
The Gentle Sex
7/10
During the War seven women from very different backgrounds find themselves together in the Auxiliary Territorial Services. They are soon drilling, dri...
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The Gentle Sex
1942
Unpublished Story
6.3/5
Morale-boosting story released in the middle of World War II. A journalist uncovers a peace organisation at the centre of disreputable dealings.
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Unpublished Story
1942
The Black Sheep of Whitehall
7.2/4
A professor teaching at a correspondence school discovers that a Nazi agent is trying to prevent a trade treaty being signed between England and Sout...
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The Black Sheep of Whitehall
1943
My Learned Friend
6/15
An insane murderer is on the loose, and gunning for the men who put him away. Will Hay is on the list, and co-opts Claude Hulbert to try and stop him...
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My Learned Friend
1943
Miss London Ltd.
4.8/4
Askey stars as a man trying to save his flagging escort agency. A new partner suggests getting some new girls in, just in time for the soldiers' leave...
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Miss London Ltd.
1945
I Live in Grosvenor Square
6.7/7
The WW II romance set in Grosvenor square aka Eisenhower's home where the GIs stayed in London. Neagle loves Harrison. There arrives patriot GI Dean J...
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I Live in Grosvenor Square
1945
Caesar and Cleopatra
6.127/55
The aging Caesar finds himself intrigued by the young Egyptian queen. Adapted by George Bernard Shaw from his own play.
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Caesar and Cleopatra
1938
They Drive by Night
5.8/15
“Shorty” Matthews having recently been released from prison visits his girlfriend in London only to discover her murdered. Fearing he will be wrongly...
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They Drive by Night
1940
Salvage with a Smile
0/0
Wartime propaganda short in which a professor enlists the help of a dustman to explain the importance of saving paper, bones and metal to help the war...
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Salvage with a Smile
1941
South American George
6/1
To help out his exact double, George Formby (in a dual role) takes the place of a noted South American tenor. This way he can help the opera star fulf...
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South American George
1942
They Flew Alone
6/3
The story of flyer Amy Johnson the girl from Yorkshire who won the hearts of the British public in the 1930s with her record-breaking solo flights aro...
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They Flew Alone
1943
Thursday's Child
5.3/3
A couple's little girl becomes a movie star, but all it seems to bring is trouble.
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Thursday's Child
1942
Sabotage at Sea
5/1
The captain of a British cargo ship shanghais a group of sabateurs, unaware that the daughter of the ship’s owner is among them.
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Sabotage at Sea
1937
Dinner at the Ritz
5.5/4
The daughter of a murdered financier works as a jewelry salesperson while she tracks her father's colleagues who plotted against him.
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Dinner at the Ritz
1947
The Man Within
5.7/3
A man goes on the run from hardened smugglers.
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The Man Within
1936
Limelight
8/1
A chorus girl (Anna Neagle) discovers a singer (Arthur Tracy) in the streets and asks her producer to give him a shot at stardom.
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Limelight
1942
King Arthur Was a Gentleman
5.2/4
Arthur King joins the army, and soon starts fantasizing about King Arthur and his knights.
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King Arthur Was a Gentleman
1939
The Gang's All Here
5/1
John Forrest is anticipating a quiet retirement spent penning detective fiction when he learns that a priceless collection of jewels belonging to a fo...
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The Gang's All Here
1938
A Yank at Oxford
6.7/10
A brash young American aristocrat attending Oxford University gets a chance to prove himself and win the heart of his antagonist's sister.
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A Yank at Oxford
1939
The Nursemaid Who Disappeared
0/0
An overheard conversation leads to clues that a kidnapping plot is afoot.
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The Nursemaid Who Disappeared
1938
St. Martin's Lane
7.2/21
On the sidewalks of the London theater district the buskers (street performers) earn enough coins for a cheap room. Charles, who recites dramatic mono...
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