John Duncan Macrae (20 August 1905 – 23 March 1967) was one of the leading Scottish actors of his generation. He worked mainly as a stage actor and also made five television appearances and seventeen films.

Life and career

He was born at 118 Kirkland Street,

Maryhill Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road. The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station. History Hew Hill ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, the fourth of the six children of James Macrae, a sergeant in the Glasgow police force, and his wife, Catherine Graham. He attended

Allan Glen's School Allan Glen's School was, for most of its existence, a local authority, selective secondary school for boys in Glasgow, Scotland, charging nominal fees for tuition. It was founded by the Allan Glen's Endowment Scholarship Trust on the death, i ...

and matriculated in the engineering faculty at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1923–1924, but did not graduate. He trained as a schoolteacher at Jordanhill College, where he met Ann H Mcallister, the voice coach, who was a profound influence on his life. He taught in Glasgow until he became a professional actor in 1943, after a successful amateur drama career. He first made his name as a comic actor of distinction with

Curtain Theatre The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Hewett Street, Shoreditch (within the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1624. The Curtain was b ...

, an amateur group, in 1937, in the title role of Robert McLellan's '' Jamie the Saxt'', a performance which became his "signature" role in the early years. In 1938, he directed Curtain's production of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...

's ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

'' at the Lyric Theatre in Glasgow. He was then a member, along with

Stanley Baxter Stanley Livingstone Baxter (born 24 May 1926) is a Scottish actor, comedian, impressionist and author. Baxter began his career as a child actor on BBC Scotland and later became known for his British television comedy shows '' The Stanley Baxte ...

, of the early

Citizens' Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various ...

company in Glasgow, founded during the war in

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

. He had a role in the 1949

Ealing comedy The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the ...

'' Whisky Galore!'', based on the book by Sir

Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of th ...

, and, in the first TV series adapted from stories about ''Para Handy – Master Mariner'', Neil Munro's masterpiece of west coast "high jinks", Macrae played the eponymous Captain. He lived in Glasgow and also had a home in Millport on the island of

Cumbrae Great Cumbrae ( sco, Muckle Cumbrae; gd, Cumaradh Mòr; also known as Great Cumbrae Island, Cumbrae or the Isle of Cumbrae) is the larger of the two islands known as The Cumbraes in the lower Firth of Clyde in western Scotland. The island i ...

. In 1953 he starred alongside

Jean Anderson Jean Anderson (12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001) was an English actress best remembered for her television roles as hard-faced matriarch Mary Hammond in the BBC drama '' The Brothers'' (1972–1976) and as rebellious aristocrat Lady Jocelyn " ...

in the role of James MacKenzie, an embittered settler in the drama ''

The Kidnappers ''The Kidnappers'' (US: ''The Little Kidnappers'') is a 1953 British film, directed by Philip Leacock and written by Neil Paterson. Plot In the early 1900s, two young orphaned brothers, eight-year-old Harry (Jon Whiteley) and five-year-ol ...

'' for which he received a Scottish Arts Council award. One of the film's most memorable moments comes with the horror on Duncan Macrae's face at what his grandchild must have thought of him when the little boy implores "Don't eat the babbie". Macrae played the Nabob in the Edinburgh Gateway Company's

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are ...

production of McLellan's historical comedy ''The Flouers o Edinburgh'' in August 1957. He then played the title role in

James Bridie James Bridie (3 January 1888 in Glasgow – 29 January 1951 in Edinburgh) was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and physician whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor.Daniel Leary (1982) ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: ...

's ''Dr. Angelus'' at The Gateway before returning to the Citizens' to play

Malvolio Malvolio is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's comedy '' Twelfth Night, or What You Will''. His name means "ill will" in Italian, referencing his disagreeable nature. He is the vain, pompous, authoritarian steward of Olivia's househo ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins V ...

''.Elder, Michael (2003), ''What do You do During the Day?'', Eldon Productions, pp. 122 & 123, During the 1960s he appeared in episodes of the cult TV series '' The Avengers'' and ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...

'', as well as Inspector Mathis in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

spoof '' Casino Royale''. Macrae became a mainstay of television

Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or in ...

celebrations in the 1950s and 1960s with a rendition of his song (in Glaswegian Scots), "The Wee Cock Sparra". Macrae died in March 1967, in Glasgow, before the release of several screen appearances: in the films ''Casino Royale'', and ''30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia'', and in the television series ''The Wednesday Play'' and ''The Prisoner''.

Selected filmography

* '' The Brothers'' (1947): John MacRae * '' Whisky Galore!'' (1949): Angus MacCormac * ''

The Woman in Question ''The Woman in Question'' (released in the United States as ''Five Angles on Murder'') is a 1950 British Murder-mystery film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and John McCallum. After a woman is murdered, the c ...

'' (1950): Supt. Lodge * ''

You're Only Young Twice ''You're Only Young Twice'' was a British TV sitcom made and broadcast on the ITV network by Yorkshire Television from 6 September 1977 to 4 August 1981. Plot Set in Paradise Lodge retirement home, ''You're Only Young Twice'' was created a ...

'' (1952): Prof. Hayman * ''

'' (1953): Jim MacKenzie, Granddaddy * ''

Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitute ...

'' (1955): Schoolmaster * '' Rockets Galore!'' (1957): Duncan Ban * '' The Bridal Path'' (1959): H.Q. Police Sgt. * ''

Our Man in Havana ''Our Man in Havana'' (1958) is a novel set in Cuba by the British author Graham Greene. He makes fun of intelligence services, especially the British MI6, and their willingness to believe reports from their local informants. The book predates ...

'' (1959): MacDougal * ''

Kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically ...

'' (1960): The Highlander * ''

Tunes of Glory ''Tunes of Glory'' is a 1960 British drama film directed by Ronald Neame, based on the 1956 novel and screenplay by James Kennaway. The film is a "dark psychological drama" focusing on events in a wintry Scottish Highland regimental barracks in ...

'' (1960): Pipe Major Maclean * ''

Greyfriars Bobby Greyfriars Bobby (4 May 1855 – 14 January 1872) was a Skye Terrier or Dandie Dinmont Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died on 14 January 1872. The story conti ...

'' (1961): Sgt. Davie Maclean * '' The Best of Enemies'' (1961): Sgt. Trevethan * '' Girl in the Headlines'' (1963): Barney * '' A Jolly Bad Fellow'' (1964): Dr. Brass * '' Casino Royale'' (1967): Inspector Mathis * '' 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia'' (1968): Jock McCue (final film role)

Television

* '' Para Handy - Master Mariner'' (1959): Para Handy * ''

'' (1963): Ebeneezer Balfour * '' The Avengers'' (1964), episode "

Esprit de Corps Morale, also known as esprit de corps (), is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value ...

": Brigadier General Sir Ian Stuart-Bollinger * ''

Dr Finlay's Casebook ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'' is a television drama series that was produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's 1935 novella ''Country Doctor'', the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fictio ...

'' (1964): Cogger * ''

'' (1967), episode " Dance of the Dead": Doctor/Napoleon Bonaparte

References

External links

* *Duncan MacRae o
Vimeo (A Wee Coak Sparrah)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macrae, Duncan 1905 births 1967 deaths Male actors from Glasgow Scottish male film actors Scottish male television actors People educated at Allan Glen's School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish male stage actors Scottish male comedians 20th-century Scottish male actors People from Maryhill 20th-century British comedians