Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953), best known as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Doctor Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes). Bruce is also remembered for his roles in the Alfred Hitchcock films Rebecca and Suspicion.
Known For
Complete Filmography

In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes
1996
Actor Patrick Macnee leads the viewer through London in the footsteps of the genius private investigator Sherlock Holmes and his assistant and friend,...

The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
1985
as Dr. Watson (archive footage)
This documentary examines the making of the Sherlock Holmes cinematic dynasty and includes interviews and archival film clips featuring the original c...

Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
as Self (archive footage)
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension th...

World for Ransom
1954
as Governor Sir Charles Coutts
In Singapore, a private detective and the British authorities are on the trail of a crime syndicate that kidnaps a nuclear physicist with the aim of s...

Limelight
1952
as Postant
A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.

Bwana Devil
1952
as Dr. Angus McLean
British railway workers in Kenya are becoming the favorite snack of two man-eating lions. Head engineer Bob Hayward becomes obsessed with trying to ki...

Hong Kong
1952
as Lighton
American adventurer Jeff Williams is fleeing the communist advance in China when he becomes entangled with a young Chinese orphan, Wei Lin, and a beau...

Vendetta
1950
as Sir Thomas Nevil
The daughter of a slain man pushes her brother toward vengeance in 19th-century Corsica.

Julia Misbehaves
1948
as Col. Bruce 'Bunny' Willowbrook
Julia and William were married and soon separated by his snobbish family. They meet again many years later, when their daughter he has raised invites ...

The Exile
1947
as Sir Edward Hyde
In 17th-century England, Charles II, the rightful heir to the kingdom, is driven from his country by militants working for rogue leader Oliver Cromwel...

The Two Mrs. Carrolls
1947
as Dr. Tuttle
Struggling artist Geoffrey Carroll meets Sally while on holiday in the country. A romance develops, but he doesn't tell her he's already married. Suff...

Dressed to Kill
1946
as Dr. John H. Watson
A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison hides the location of the stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes. When the innocent purc...

Terror by Night
1946
as Dr. John H. Watson
Holmes and Watson board a passenger train bound from London to Edinburgh, to guard the Star of Rhodesia, an enormous diamond worth a fortune belonging...

Pursuit to Algiers
1945
as Doctor Watson
After the King of Ruthenia has been assassinated, Holmes and Watson are engaged to escort his son to Europe via Algiers, aboard a transatlantic ocean ...

The Woman in Green
1945
as Dr. John Watson
Sherlock Holmes investigates when young women around London turn up murdered, each with a finger severed. Scotland Yard suspects a madman, but Holmes ...

Son of Lassie
1945
as Duke of Radling
Laddie (Son of Lassie) and his master are trapped in Norway during WW2 - has he inherited his mothers famous courage?

The Corn Is Green
1945
as The Squire
When a teacher reads an essay written by Morgan Evans, one of the boys, moved by his rough poetry she decides to hold classes in her house and believe...

The House of Fear
1945
as Dr. John Watson
The Good Comrades are a collection of varied gentlemen who crave one thing - solitude. They reside at Drearcliff House, ancestral home of their eldest...

Frenchman's Creek
1944
as Lord Godolphin
An English lady falls in love with a French pirate after he kidnaps her from her ancestral home on the coast of Cornwall and sweeps her off her feet i...

Gypsy Wildcat
1944
as High Sheriff
In an unspecified Renaissance kingdom, no sooner has Anube's gypsy tribe encamped near Baron Tovar's village when Count Orso is found murdered. The wi...

The Pearl of Death
1944
as Dr. John Watson
The famous Borgia Pearl, a valuable gem with a history of bringing murder and misfortune to its owner since the days of the Borgias, is brought to Lon...

The Scarlet Claw
1944
as Doctor Watson
When a woman is found dead with her throat torn out, the local villagers blame a supernatural monster. But Sherlock Holmes, who gets drawn into the ca...

The Spider Woman
1943
as Dr. John H. Watson
Sherlock Holmes investigates a series of so-called "pajama suicides". He knows the female villain behind them is as cunning as Moriarty and as venomou...

Lassie Come Home
1943
as Duke of Rudling
Hard times come for the Carraclough family and they are forced to sell their dog, Lassie, to the rich Duke of Rudling. Lassie, however, is unwilling t...

Crazy House
1943
as Dr. Watson
Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson are Broadway stars who return to Universal Studios to make another movie. The mere mention of Olsen and Johnson's names eva...

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
1943
as Doctor Watson
During WWII several murders occur at a convalescent home where Dr. Watson has volunteered his services. He summons Holmes for help and the master dete...

Sherlock Holmes in Washington
1943
as Doctor Watson
In World War II, a British secret agent carrying a vitally important document is kidnapped en route to Washington. The British government calls on She...

Forever and a Day
1943
as Major Garrow
In World War II, American Gates Trimble Pomfret is in London during the Blitz to sell the ancestral family house. The current tenant, Leslie Trimble, ...

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
1942
as Doctor Watson
In the midst of World War II, Sherlock Holmes rescues the Swiss inventor of a new bomb-sight from the Gestapo and brings him to England, where he quic...

Journey for Margaret
1942
as Herbert V. Allison
An American newspaperman and his wife, end up in London after several retreats in the opening days of WWII. After a shrapnel wound and loss of her ba...

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
1942
as Doctor Watson
England, at the start of World War Two. Mysterious wireless broadcasts, apparently from Nazi Germany are heard over the BBC. They warn of acts of terr...

Eagle Squadron
1942
as McKinnon
An American joins the British Royal Air Force just before Pearl Harbor is attacked, and falls in love with a beautiful English girl.

This Above All
1942
as Ramsbottom
In 1940 England, aristocratic Prudence Cathaway alarms her snobbish parents by joining the WAF service branch. She soon meets and falls in love with t...

Roxie Hart
1942
as E. Clay Benham
A café in Chicago, 1942. On a rainy night, veteran reporter Homer Howard tells an increasing audience the story of Roxie Hart and the crime she was ju...

Suspicion
1941
as Gordon Cochrane 'Beaky' Thwaite
A wealthy and sheltered young woman elopes with a charming playboy and soon learns of his bad traits, including his extreme dishonesty and lust for mo...

The Chocolate Soldier
1941
as Bernard Fischer
Maria and Karl Lang are the singing duo of Vienna. Maria is very flirtatious and Karl very jealous. Karl decides to masquerade as a Russian guardsman ...

This Woman Is Mine
1941
as Duncan MacDougall
Three seafaring fur traders fall in love with a female stowaway they discover aboard their ship. Many adventures follow.

Free and Easy
1941
as Florian Clemington
This MGM B-picture was adapted from Ivor Novello's play The Truth Game. Max and Florian Clemington pretend to be members of the landed gentry. Max rom...

Play Girl
1941
as William McDonald Vincent
When a gold digger starts to get a little old to ply her trade, she teaches a younger woman all her tricks.

Hudson's Bay
1941
as Prince Rupert
Highly fictionalized early history of Canada. Trapper/explorer Radisson imagines an empire around Hudson's Bay. He befriends the Indians, fights the F...

A Dispatch from Reuters
1940
as Sir Randolph Persham
German Julius Reuter sends 19th-century news by carrier pigeon and then by wire, founding a news agency.

Susan and God
1940
as 'Hutchie'
A flighty socialite neglects her family to promote a new religious group.

Lillian Russell
1940
as William Gilbert
Alice Faye plays the title role in this 1940 film biography of the early-20th-century stage star.

Rebecca
1940
as Major Giles Lacy
Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died myste...

Adventure in Diamonds
1940
as Col. J.W. Lansfield
A government pilot (George Brent) falls for a woman (Isa Miranda) helping her partner (John Loder) smuggle diamonds out of South Africa.

The Blue Bird
1940
as Mr. Luxury
Peasant children Mytyl and Tyltyl are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the fairy Berylune. On their journey, they're ...

The Rains Came
1939
as Lord Albert Esketh
Indian aristocrat Rama Safti returns from medical training in the U.S. to give his life to the poor folk of Ranchipur. Lady Edwina and her drunken art...

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1939
as Dr. Watson
Having once again avoided criminal conviction, Professor Moriarity develops a murderous plan to “finish off” his last major nemesis, Sherlock Holmes, ...

The Hound of the Baskervilles
1939
as Doctor John H. Watson
On his uncle's death Sir Henry Baskerville returns from Canada to take charge of his ancestral hall on the desolate moors of Devonshire, and finds tha...

Suez
1938
as Sir Malcolm Cameron
Ferdinand de Lesseps, disappointed in love, is sent as a junior diplomat to the Isthmus of Suez, and realizes it's just the place for a canal.

Kidnapped
1938
as Neil MacDonald
Robert Louis Stevenson's hero David Balfour joins rebel Alan Breck Stewart in 18th-century Scotland.

The Baroness and the Butler
1938
as Major Andros
A Butler gets elected to the Hungarian parliament where he opposes his master's government.

Thunder in the City
1937
as Duke Of Glenavon
A visiting American engages in a bold business promotion, the likes of which the British have not seen.

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937
as Lord Willie Winton
A chic American jewel thief falls in love with one of her marks, an English lord.
The Man I Marry
1936
as Robert Hartley
A wealthy young man writes a play under a different name to prove to his overbearing mother that he can succeed on his own.

The Charge of the Light Brigade
1936
as Sir Benjamin Warrenton
In 1853, as the British and Russian empires compete to gain and maintain their place in the dreadful Great Game of political intrigues and alliances w...

Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
1936
as Self
Viewers are provided a visit to Ken Maynard's private circus; Bette Davis poses for her portrait; Frank McHugh plays with his children; a visit to the...

Follow Your Heart
1936
as Henri Forrester
An eccentric musical family is kept in order by a talented daughter with modest ambitions.

The White Angel
1936
as Dr. West
In Victorian England, Florence Nightingale's heroic measures slowly change the attitude towards nurses when it was considered a disreputable professio...

Under Two Flags
1936
as Capt. Menzies
Sergeant Victor comes to the French Foreign Legion after taking the blame for his brother's crime. Cigarette falls in love with him though Major Doyle...

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
1936
as Thurber
A well-established tale of a long-running feud between two mountain clans.

The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo
1935
as Ivan
A Russian prince goes to Monte Carlo just after World War I with money supplied to him by Parisian Russians. He wins but the casino operators want him...

Jalna
1935
as Maurice Vaughn
A young poet, accompanied by his new bride, returns home to his large family at their Canadian farm.

She
1935
as Horace Holly
Leo Vincey, told by his dying uncle of a lost land visited 500 years ago by his ancestor, heads out with family friend Horace Holly to try to discover...

Becky Sharp
1935
as Joseph Sedley
The first feature length film to use three-strip Technicolor film. Adapted from a play that was adapted from William Makepeace Thackeray's book "Vanit...

The Scarlet Pimpernel
1934
as The Prince of Wales
18th century English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney leads a double life. He appears to be merely the effete aristocrat, but in reality is part of an un...

Springtime for Henry
1934
as Johnny Jewlliwell
A rakish fellow involves himself with a married woman. Later his secretary endeavors to win him away with the promise of a more stable relationship. T...

Treasure Island
1934
as Squire Trelawney
In this early film adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver in searc...

The Lady Is Willing
1934
as Welton
In this comedy-mystery, a private detective helps three businessmen get even with the man who misused their investments. The detective plans to kidnap...

Murder in Trinidad
1934
as Bertram Lynch
Author/explorer John W. Vandercook conceived the character of Bertram Lynch as an investigator for the League of Nations. He is Trinidad's Port o' Spa...

Stand Up and Cheer!
1934
as Eustis Dinwiddle
President Franklin Roosevelt appoints a theatrical producer as the new Secretary of Amusement in order to cheer up an American public still suffering ...

Coming Out Party
1934
as Troon
In this romance, a lovely young debutante falls in love with a jazz violinist. Her mother wants her to marry a wealthy young man, but the strong-wille...

Channel Crossing
1933
as Nigel Guthrie
Money isn't everything. Tycoon races against time to cross the English Channel in order to save a business deal, but along the way his whole value sys...

I Was a Spy
1933
as Scottie
During World War I, a young nurse in a hospital in German-occupied Belgium is secretly feeding military information to the British. Complicating matte...

The Midshipmaid
1932
as Maj. Spink
Sir Percy Newbiggin visits the fleet to find ways to economize Naval expenditures. Daughter Celia tags along and organizes a morale-boosting show util...

Lord Camber's Ladies
1932
as Lord Camber
In this drama the owner of a flower shop falls in love with one of her patrons. Unfortunately, he is married to a shrewish actress and cannot get out ...

The Calendar
1931
as Lord Willie Panniford
Racehorse owner Anson is swindled by a woman named Wenda and goes up in front of the Jockey Club where he is disqualified on race fixing allegations. ...

Birds of Prey
1930
as Major Fothergill
At a reception given by Arthur Hilton at his Sussex home the conversation turns to the subject of danger, with Hilton recalling a case in which he was...
Red Aces
1930
as Kinsfeather
A gambler frames a banker for killing the man whose name he forged.

Escape!
1930
as Constable at Vicarage
When Matt Denant (Gerald de Maurier) finds himself wrongly imprisoned for manslaughter, he takes an opportunity to escape from jail during a foggy day...

The Squeaker
1930
as Collie
A detective poses as an ex-convict to expose the head of a benevolent society as a fence.