Donald Hugh MacBride (June 23, 1893 – June 21, 1957) was an American character actor on stage, in films, and on television. MacBride launched his career as a chorister at St Thomas Fifth Avenue and then at Garden City Cathedral in New York. As a teenager, he recorded the earliest example of a solo recording by a chorister from the USA, on 15 November 1907, singing Handel's 'Angels Ever Bright and Fair'. He also performed in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and went on to be an actor in New York.

Biography

Donald MacBride was born 1893 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. MacBride appeared in nearly 140 films between 1914 and 1955. His year of birth is given variously as 1889 or 1893 in the standard reference books.

Motion pictures

Beginning in 1930, like many New York-based, stage-trained actors, he found work at the

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National Pictures, First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc sys ...

, and

Educational Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

studios, all of which had East Coast branches. He is clearly visible as a crowd extra welcoming Groucho Marx in the Paramount feature '' Animal Crackers''. Speaking roles in short subjects followed, establishing MacBride as a comic tough guy or villain opposite Tom Howard,

Shemp Howard Shemp Howard (born Samuel Horwitz; March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955) was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the third Stooge in The Three Stooges, a role he played when the act began in the early 1920s (1923–1932), while i ...

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

, and other comedy stars. MacBride's fortunes improved when he was featured in the hit play ''

Room Service Room service or in-room dining is a hotel service enabling guests to choose items of food and drink for delivery to their hotel room for consumption. Room service is organized as a subdivision within the food and beverage department of high-end ...

''. In this farce comedy about a shoestring producer and his desperate associates trying to avoid eviction from a hotel, MacBride played the no-nonsense hotel manager, who frequently met bad news with an explosive "Oh, God ''damn!''"

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

bought the film rights to ''Room Service'' as a vehicle for The Marx Brothers, and brought many of the Broadway cast members to Hollywood, including Donald MacBride reprising his role (with his catchphrase sanitized to "Jumping butterballs!"). Hollywood producers noticed MacBride's comic timing and he was established overnight as a skilled character actor. Like fellow character comedian

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

, MacBride specialized in the comedy of frustration, and his portrayals showed the harried MacBride enduring various indignities quietly and gradually until he finally reached a boiling point. He often played police inspectors, detectives, military officers, and other authority figures, all of whom were tormented by the leading players in the films. MacBride signed a non-exclusive RKO contract, allowing him to freelance among the major studios for the next several years. In 1947, with the larger studios cutting down on the number of films in production, MacBride accepted featured roles at smaller studios:

Monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, and Lippert. He continued to work at the larger studios, but often in small or uncredited roles. MacBride was an early arrival in the new field of television, having appeared in the pioneering series ''

Public Prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

'' in 1947. He continued to work in television until shortly before his death.

Death

MacBride died on June 21, 1957 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

of a heart ailment. Survivors included his wife and a stepson, Jack Craddock.

Selected filmography

* ''The Daring of Diana'' (1916) - Jimmy Towne * ''Hesper of the Mountains'' (1916) - Baker * '' The Fettered Woman'' (1917) - Jack Wolver * '' The Shell Game'' (1918) - Vocal Teacher * '' The Capitol'' (1919) - Jimmy Vincent * '' Animal Crackers'' (1930) - House Party Guest (uncredited) * '' His Woman'' (1931) - Crewman (uncredited) * '' Wayward'' (1932) - Taxicab Driver (uncredited) * ''

Misleading Lady ''The Misleading Lady'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Stuart Walker, and starring Claudette Colbert and Edmund Lowe. The film is based on the 1913 Broadway play by Charles W. Goddard and Paul Dickey. It is also a re ...

'' (1932) - Bill - Asylum Guard * '' Buzzin' Around'' (1933, Short) - Policeman (uncredited) * '' Moonlight and Pretzels'' (1933) - Business Associate (uncredited) * '' Get That Venus'' (1933) - (uncredited) * '' The Chemist'' (1936, Short) - Gangster * ''

'' (1938) - Gregory Wagner * '' Annabel Takes a Tour'' (1938) - Thompson, RR Conductor * '' Blondie Takes a Vacation'' (1938) - Harvey Morton * '' The Great Man Votes'' (1939) - Iron Hat McCarthy * '' Twelve Crowded Hours'' (1939) - Detective Sergeant Joe Keller * '' The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' (1939) - Hotel Manager * '' The Flying Irishman'' (1939) - Mr. Roy Thompson * '' The Girl from Mexico'' (1939) - L. B. Renner * '' The Gracie Allen Murder Case'' (1939) - Dist. Atty. John Markham * '' The Girl and the Gambler'' (1939) - Mike Bascom * '' Blondie Takes a Vacation'' (1939) - Harvey Morton * '' Charlie Chan at Treasure Island'' (1939) - Chief J.J. Kilvaine * '' The Amazing Mr. Williams'' (1939) - Police Lieutenant Bixler * '' The Saint's Double Trouble'' (1940) - John Bohlen * ''

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

'' (1940) - Sergeant McNott * ''

Curtain Call A curtain call (often known as a walkdown or a final Bowing, bow) occurs at the end of a performance when one or more performers return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for the performance. In musical theatre, the performers typi ...

'' (1940) - Geoffrey 'Jeff' Crandall * ''

My Favorite Wife ''My Favorite Wife'' is a 1940 American screwball comedy film produced by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. It stars Irene Dunne as a woman who, after being shipwrecked on a tropical island for several years and declared legally dead, re ...

'' (1940) - Hotel Clerk * ''

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

'' (1940) - Bart - Henchman (uncredited) * '' Hit Parade of 1941'' (1940) - Harrison * '' Murder Over New York'' (1940) - Inspector Vance * '' Michael Shayne: Private Detective'' (1940) - Chief Painter * '' The Invisible Woman'' (1940) - Foghorn * '' High Sierra'' (1941) - Big Mac * '' Footlight Fever'' (1941) - Mr. Geoffrey 'Geoff' Crandall * '' Topper Returns'' (1941) - Police Detective Roberts * '' Love Crazy'' (1941) - 'Pinky' Grayson * ''

Here Comes Mr. Jordan ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan'' is a 1941 American Fantasy film, fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Alexander Hall, in which a boxer, mistakenly taken to Heaven before his time, is given a second chance back on Earth. It stars Robert Montgomery ...

'' (1941) - Inspector Williams * '' You'll Never Get Rich'' (1941) - Top Sergeant * '' Rise and Shine'' (1941) - Coach Graham * ''

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

'' (1941) - Capt. Pierre Whitfield * ''

You're in the Army Now In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

'' (1941) - Colonel Dobson * '' Two Yanks in Trinidad'' (1942) - Sgt. Valentine * '' Juke Girl'' (1942) - 'Muckeye' John * '' Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost'' (1942) - Percy Fitzbadden * ''

The Glass Key ''The Glass Key'' is a novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett. First published as a serial in '' Black Mask'' magazine in 1930, it then was collected in 1931 (in London; the American edition followed 3 months later). It tells the story of a ...

'' (1942) - Farr * '' My Sister Eileen'' (1942) - Officer Lonigan * '' A Night to Remember'' (1942) - Bolling * '' Lady Bodyguard'' (1943) - R. L. Barclay * '' They Got Me Covered'' (1943) - Mason * '' A Stranger in Town'' (1943) - Vinnie Z. Blaxton * '' Best Foot Forward'' (1943) - Capt. Bradd * '' The Doughgirls'' (1944) - Judge Franklin * '' The Thin Man Goes Home'' (1944) - Police Chief MacGregor * '' Practically Yours'' (1944) - Sam (uncredited) * '' She Gets Her Man'' (1945) - Henry Wright * '' Out of This World'' (1945) - J.C. Crawford * '' Penthouse Rhythm'' (1945) - Brewster * '' Abbott and Costello in Hollywood'' (1945) - Dennis Kavanaugh * '' Hold That Blonde'' (1945) - Mr. Kratz * '' Doll Face'' (1945) - Lawyer Ferguson * '' Girl on the Spot'' (1946) - Inspector Gleason * '' Little Giant'' (1946) - The conductor * '' Blonde Alibi'' (1946) - Police Inspector Carmichael * '' The Dark Corner'' (1946) - Policeman in Galleries (uncredited) * '' The Dark Horse'' (1946) - John Rooney * ''

The Time of Their Lives ''The Time of Their Lives'' is a 1946 American fantasy comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedic duo Abbott and Costello alongside Marjorie Reynolds, Gale Sondergaard and Binnie Barnes. It was produced and distributed ...

'' (1946) - Lt. Mason * ''

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...

'' (1946) - R.S. Kenyon * '' The Brute Man'' (1946) - Police Captain M. J. Donelly * ''

Beat the Band ''Beat the Band'' is a musical quiz show heard on NBC radio from 1940 to 1944 in two distinctly different series. The program popularized the show business catch phrase, "Give me a little traveling music", often uttered on TV a decade later by ...

'' (1947) - P. Aloysius Duff * '' The Egg and I'' (1947) - Mr. Henty * '' Buck Privates Come Home'' (1947) - Police Captain * '' The Fabulous Joe'' (1947) - Lawyer Gilbert * '' Joe Palooka in the Knockout'' (1947) - Crockett * '' Good News'' (1947) - Coach Johnson * '' Smart Politics'' (1948) - Phineas Wharton, Sr. / Phineas Wharton, Jr. * ''

Campus Sleuth ''Campus Sleuth'' is a 1948 American comedy film, part of The Teen Agers series. Plot Cast * Freddie Stewart (actor), Freddie Stewart as Freddie Trimball * June Preisser as Dodie Rogers * Warren Mills as Lee Watson * Noel Neill as Betty Rogers ...

'' (1948) - Insp. Watson * '' Jinx Money'' (1948) - Police Capt. James Q. Broaderik * '' The Story of Seabiscuit'' (1949) - George Carson * '' Challenge to Lassie'' (1949) * '' Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey'' (1950) - Mayor * '' Holiday Rhythm'' (1950) - Earl E. Byrd * '' Bowery Battalion'' (1951) - Sgt. Herbert Frisbie * '' Cuban Fireball'' (1951) - Captain Brown * ''

Rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...

'' (1951) - Pheeny * '' Texas Carnival'' (1951) - Concessionaire #2 * '' The Stooge'' (1951) - Diner Proprietor (uncredited) * '' Two Tickets to Broadway'' (1951) - Bus Terminal Guard Arresting Carter (uncredited) * '' Sailor Beware'' (1952) - Chief Bos'n Mate (uncredited) * '' Meet Danny Wilson'' (1952) - Police Desk Sergeant * '' Gobs and Gals'' (1952) - Cmdr. J.E. Gerrens * ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the screenplay with George Axelrod. Based on Axelrod's 1952 The Seven Year Itch (play), play of the same name, the film stars Marilyn Monroe ...

'' (1955) - Mr. Brady (final film role)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macbride, Donald 1893 births 1957 deaths American male film actors American male silent film actors American male stage actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Brooklyn