Nigel Bruce

William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character actor on stage and screen.^[1] He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes in both. Bruce is also remembered for his roles in the Alfred Hitchcock films Rebecca and Suspicion, as well as the Charlie Chaplin film Limelight and the original Lassie film Lassie Come Home.

For the South African journalist and politician, see Nigel Bruce (journalist). For the 13th-century aristocrat, see Nigel de Brus.

Nigel Bruce

William Nigel Ernle Bruce

4 February 1895

Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

8 October 1953(1953-10-08) (aged 58)

Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Chapel of the Pines Crematory

Actor

1920–1953

Violet Pauline Shelton

(m. 1921; died 1953)

2

Sir Michael Bruce, 11th Baronet (brother)
Julian Gilbey (great-grandson)
Will Gilbey (great-grandson)

Career[edit]

After being discharged from the British Army, Bruce abandoned a career in the City of London Stock Exchange, and pursued a career as a professional actor. He made his stage debut on 12 May 1920 at London's Comedy Theatre as a footman in the play Why Marry?. In October of that year, he went to Canada as stage manager to Henry V. Esmond and Eva Moore, also playing "Montague Jordan" in Eliza Comes to Stay. Upon returning to England, he toured in the same role. He appeared regularly on-stage thereafter, and 8 years later began working in silent films. In 1926 he made his Broadway debut as Major Evelyn Bathurst in Noël Coward This Was a Man. He returned to Broadway several times during the 1930s, portraying Philip Downes in Ronald Jeans's Lean Harvest (1931), Mr. Jelliwell in Benn W. Levy's Springtime for Henry (1931–1932), His Excellency, Governor of the Colony in Arthur Schwartz's Virginia (1937),^[7] and W. S. Gilbert in Oscar Hammerstein II's Knights of Song (1938).^[8] A role he reprised in the film Lillian Russell (1940).

In 1934, he had moved to Hollywood, U.S. As his career there became a success, he set up a home at 701 North Alpine Drive, Beverly Hills in the latter half of the 1930s.

Bruce typically played buffoonish, fuzzy-minded gentlemen. During his film career, he worked in 78 films, including Treasure Island (1934), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), Rebecca (1940), and Suspicion (1941).

He appeared in two landmark films: Becky Sharp (1935), the first feature film in full Technicolor, and Bwana Devil (1952), the first 3-D feature. He uncharacteristically played a detestable figure in The Rains Came (1939) which became the first film to win an Oscar for special effects.

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Jennifer, married in 1944 (divorced in 1946) Jay Gould III, son of ;

Jay Gould II

Pauline, married in 1946 the British flying ace .

Alan Geoffrey Page

Bruce was married, from 1921 until his death, to British actress Violet Campbell (née Violet Pauline Shelton^[13]) whom he always lovingly called "Bunny"; they had two daughters:

He was also a second cousin of the Canadian actor Christopher Plummer.^[14]

Death[edit]

Bruce died of a heart attack,^[15] in Santa Monica, California in 1953 at the age of 58. His body was subsequently cremated, with his ashes being placed in a niche at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.^[16]

In 1947 he began writing an autobiography entitled Games, Gossip and Greasepaint, which is unpublished; however, excerpts have been printed in the Sherlock Holmes Journal, and these have been posted online with permission.^[17]

List of Old Abingdonians

(2011). Sherlock Holmes on Screen. Titan Books. ISBN 9780857687760.

Barnes, Alan

Parkinson, David (2004). "Bruce, (William) Nigel Ernle (1895–1953)". (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57390. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Plummer, Christopher (2008). . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-39679-2. Retrieved 30 October 2020 – via Google Books.

In Spite of Myself: A Memoir

Alistair, Rupert (2018). "Nigel Bruce". The Name Below the Title: 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age (softcover) (First ed.). Great Britain: Independently published. pp. 54–56. 978-1-7200-3837-5.

ISBN

Parker, John, ed. (1947). Who's Who in the Theatre (10th revised ed.). London: Pitman. pp. 341–2. 6344958.

OCLC

Townend, Peter, ed. (1970). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage (105th ed.). London: Burke's Peerage. p. 389. 8948585.

OCLC

at IMDb

Nigel Bruce

at the Internet Broadway Database

Nigel Bruce

at Find a Grave

Nigel Bruce

Extracts from Bruce's memoirs: 'Games Gossip and Greasepaint'

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Nigel Bruce

Nigel Bruce

Born

Died

Resting place

Occupation

Years active

Spouse

Children

Relatives

Career[edit]

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Jay Gould II

Alan Geoffrey Page

Death[edit]

List of Old Abingdonians

Barnes, Alan

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

In Spite of Myself: A Memoir

ISBN

OCLC

OCLC

Nigel Bruce

Nigel Bruce

Nigel Bruce

Extracts from Bruce's memoirs: 'Games Gossip and Greasepaint'

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