Duncan Macrae (actor)
Duncan Macrae ( born August 20, 1905 in Glasgow, Scotland when John Duncan Macrae, † March 23, 1967 ) was a British actor with character roles in theater, film and television. He played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s in many well-known movies. Among them in Enjoy life, defeated hatred, Once a Hero, Casino Royale or not trust anyone over 30
Life and career
Duncan Macrae was born in 1905 as the fourth of six children in Glasgow. His father James Macrae was at this time in the Scottish capital sergeant in the police force. Macrae attended Allan Glen School and enrolled at the University of Glasgow from 1923 to 1924 for mechanical engineering, but what he did not graduate, instead, he then worked full time as a teacher and played first still on amateur theaters, and later at professional theater companies. He became a member of the early Citizens' Theatre Company in Glasgow and was known for his performance as King James VI in the performance of Robert McLellan Jamie the SaxT.
His feature film debut, he finally gave in to the end of the war in 1947 in a supporting role in David MacDonald Drama Brothers. In the two following decades, he played numerous distinctive character roles in movies and TV films. 1949 saw him in Alexander Mackendricks Kriminalkomödie Enjoy life, directed by Philip Leacock he played in 1953 in the drama Defeated hate the male lead role of Jim MacKenzie. For his role there, he was honored with a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Actor. In the 1950s he played in more parts Frank Launders comedy A Scotsman looking for a wife, and in the film adaptation of Graham Greene Our Man in Havana, directed by Carol Reed. In the 1960s he played character roles in films by directors Robert Stevenson, Ronald Neame, Guy Hamilton, Michael Truman or Don Chaffey. He had one of his last cinema appearance in 1967 as Inspector Mathis in the complex and spiked with stars James Bond spoof Casino Royale.
His television appearances included from 1956 to 1967 including: ITV Play of the Week, The Vital Spark, Para Handy - Master Mariner, Kidnapped, The Avengers and melon or number 6
Macrae died on 23 March 1967 at the age of 61 in his hometown of Glasgow.