Born to a Baron and a Lady, he was raised the proper way for a boy at the Turn of the Century: boarding school, summers at country manors, a love of cricket, and service in the Great War.

After a stint at his father's stock brokerage firm, he decided to be an actor. He quickly found his footing as a stock player in satires and farces on both the London stage and in silent films. He soon moved to America, where his life changed forever, appearing in diverse classics such as: Treasure Island, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Rebecca, Suspicion, Lassie Come Home, and Limelight.

Yet, he is perhaps best known as the bumbling Dr. Watson alongside Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes.

Let's discuss the quintessential character actor Nigel Bruce.

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by Anonymous

reply 29

March 8, 2023 9:18 AM

He was first cousins with Christopher Plummer

by Anonymous

reply 1

March 4, 2023 5:43 PM

Did he ever work with Eric Porter?

by Anonymous

reply 2

March 4, 2023 5:46 PM

[quote] He was first cousins with Christopher Plummer

Second cousins.

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by Anonymous

reply 4

March 4, 2023 5:47 PM

Even as an Eldergay, I can’t think of much to discuss. He was good in those old movies, mostly the same character.

by Anonymous

reply 5

March 4, 2023 5:49 PM

He had a great singing voice. Scroll to 51:10.

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by Anonymous

reply 6

March 4, 2023 6:09 PM

Was he an alcoholic? I liked him in Suspicion.

by Anonymous

reply 7

March 4, 2023 6:12 PM

I didn't know he was the son of a baronet. Learn something new every day.

by Anonymous

reply 8

March 4, 2023 7:15 PM

What's a baronet? Is it like a mini-baron?

by Anonymous

reply 9

March 4, 2023 7:24 PM

A baronet is a hereditary knighthood. So the baronet is a "Sir" and his eldest son becomes a "Sir" when the father dies, etc. It's not considered to be nobility.

by Anonymous

reply 10

March 4, 2023 7:26 PM

That's not his voice, R6.

by Anonymous

reply 11

March 4, 2023 7:28 PM

He was in mysteries, thrillers, kid's movies, and comedies.

by Anonymous

reply 12

March 4, 2023 7:40 PM

He was a great Watson to Rathbone's Holmes, probably my favorite Watson, though Cumberbatch, to me, is the best Holmes I've ever seen. I think it might be that he looks like a hammerhead shark.

by Anonymous

reply 13

March 4, 2023 8:10 PM

R13 Christopher Plummer and James Mason are my favorite Holmes/Watson combo

by Anonymous

reply 14

March 4, 2023 8:19 PM

Yes, it is his voice, R11 -according to several websites including goldenthroats wiki and rathboneandbruce.net. On what do you base the claim that it isn't him singing?

by Anonymous

reply 15

March 4, 2023 8:33 PM

[quote]What's a baronet?

Suffice it to say, it’s puny.

by Anonymous

reply 16

March 5, 2023 5:38 AM

He had such an air of dependability and familiarity.

A perfect tonic for damsels in distress.

by Anonymous

reply 17

March 5, 2023 5:39 AM

He was absolutely nothing like Watson in the stories and novels... in the original Doyle texts, he's intelligent, and not at all blithering. But they thought it would be funny to contrast how brilliant Holmes is by making Watson into a comic fool and comic foil.

I much preferred how they made Watson attractive and intelligent again for the Jeremy Brett PBS series. Brett is still my very favorite Holmes.

by Anonymous

reply 18

March 5, 2023 5:44 AM

"A baronetcy is the only British hereditary honour that is not a peerage, with the exception of the Anglo-Irish Black Knights, White Knights, and Green Knights (of whom only the Green Knights are extant). A baronet is addressed as "Sir" (just as is a knight) or "Dame" in the case of a baronetess, but ranks above all knighthoods and damehoods in the order of precedence, except for the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, and the dormant Order of St Patrick. Baronets are conventionally seen to belong to the lesser nobility,"

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by Anonymous

reply 19

March 7, 2023 8:23 AM

Being minor nobility with title that inherits via primogeniture baronets feature largely as part of UK's landed gentry in both real life and fiction.

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by Anonymous

reply 20

March 7, 2023 8:34 AM

I loved him in Rebecca. Just a few scenes but so memorable. But then, I loved everybody in Rebecca.

by Anonymous

reply 21

March 7, 2023 10:22 AM

I was an adult before I read Conan Doyle's original stories and was surprised how thoroughly the movies had dumbed down Watson.

by Anonymous

reply 22

March 7, 2023 10:47 AM

R21 Yes he was the husband of DL fav Gladys Cooper

by Anonymous

reply 23

March 7, 2023 2:51 PM

Gladys Cooper's younger sister, Mabel, was also an actress for a short time on the London stage.

One time a friend found her crying in her dressing room. Mabel told the friend she was giving up acting because every night the audience would hiss at her when she came on. The friend couldn't believe, so he came back the next night to watch.

After the performance he went to Mabel's dressing room and told her; "Darling, they are not hissing you. The first time you came on everyone turned to his neighbor and said: 'She's Gladys Cooper's sister....."

by Anonymous

reply 24

March 7, 2023 3:56 PM

As a Sherlockian, I hated his bumbling Watson. Watson wasn't an idiot.

by Anonymous

reply 26

March 7, 2023 6:14 PM

Bruce was a good actor and a better comedian

by Anonymous

reply 27

March 7, 2023 6:17 PM

The Timothy Spall of the 1920's-1950's

by Anonymous

reply 28

March 7, 2023 6:17 PM

Martin Freeman is my best Watson because I have always crushed on him and the gay vibes of his Watson... ❤️

by Anonymous

reply 29

March 8, 2023 9:18 AM