Bruce McRae

Bruce McRae (January 15, 1867 – May 7, 1927) was a stage and early silent film actor whose Broadway career spanned from 1898 to 1927. Born in India to parents of Scottish and English descent, he was the nephew of actor Sir Charles Wyndham. At sixteen he relocated to New Zealand, where he worked in cattle ranching before moving to Australia for five years as a surveyor. In 1890 he settled in the United States, initially managing a cattle ranch in Laramie, Wyoming.

One year after arriving in the United States, McRae made his stage debut supporting Elsie de Wolfe and Forbes Robertson in Thermidor at Proctor's 23rd Street Theatre. He subsequently appeared in Aristocracy by Bronson Howard — who was married to his aunt — and spent one season in Howard's Shenandoah. During the 1895–1896 season he performed in The Fatal Card by C. Haddon Chambers, then supported Olga Nethersole in a series of productions including Camille, Denise by Alexander Dumas, Frou-Frou by Henri Meilhac, The Wife of Scarli by Giuseppe Giacosa, and The Daughter of France. He next served as leading man alongside Herbert Kelcey and Effie Shannon in A Coat of Many Colors and Clyde Fitch's The Moth and the Flame.

McRae holds the distinction of being the first actor to portray Dr. Watson opposite William Gillette's Sherlock Holmes. He then spent two seasons as principal support to Julia Marlowe, playing Captain Trumbull in Barbara Frietchie and originating the role of Charles Brandon in When Knighthood Was in Flower. From 1903 to 1908 he worked as leading man to Ethel Barrymore, appearing with her in a substantial roster of productions: Carrots, A Country Mouse by Arthur Law, Cousin Kate by Hubert Henry Davies, Sunday by Thomas Raceward, A Doll's House, Alice Sit-by-the-Fire by J. M. Barrie, Captain Jinks by Clyde Fitch, The Silver Box by John Galsworthy, and His Excellency the Governor by Robert Marshall. During this same period he participated in the Miller-Anglin revival of Camille, a matinée of Paul Berton's Yvette, and The Embarrassment of Riches by Louis K. Anspacher at Wallack's. He also appeared alongside Douglas Fairbanks and William Garwood in 1908.

In the summer of 1907 McRae traveled to Chicago to support Edwin Arden in Genesee of the Hills by Marah Ellis Ryan. That fall he appeared in The Step-sister by Charles Klein before being engaged by Harrison Grey Fiske to support Minnie Maddern Fiske in Ibsen's Rosmersholm. In 1908 he toured the Pacific coast in The Thief by Henri Bernstein, taking on the role originally performed by Kyrle Bellew. During the 1908–09 season he rejoined Barrymore's company, playing Paradine Fouldes in Lady Frederick by W. Somerset Maugham. His Broadway credits also include starring in Nearly Married, as well as appearances in The Legend of Leonora, First Love, and Lovely Lady.

McRae was a recurring presence at Elitch Theatre in Denver, participating in summer stock there during the seasons of 1904, 1905, 1911, 1912, and 1914. In 1911 he had just completed a run with Blanche Bates in Nobody's Widow at New York's Hudson Theater before returning to Elitch's. Mary Elitch Long, who ran the venue, recalled that when her scheduled leading man for the summer of 1914 was unable to appear, she contacted McRae, who was on the verge of departing for a European vacation. He agreed immediately, telegraphing that he considered it a privilege to perform at the Gardens.

After establishing his reputation on stage, McRae transitioned to silent film in 1914, appearing in approximately ten films before retiring from the screen in 1922. His film credits include The Ring and the Man (1914), Via Wireless (1915), The Chain Invisible (1916), The Green Swamp (1916), Hazel Kirke (1916), episodes of Beatrice Fairfax (1916), A Star Over Night (1919), and The World's a Stage (1922). In his personal life, McRae had two children; his son, Bruce McRae Jr., married illustrator and cartoonist Nell Brinkley. McRae died of a heart attack on May 7, 1927, at his home on City Island in the Bronx.