'..for millions of fans, Bruce
was the definitive Watson.'
There were 14 films made and he
also played Watson on the radio.
William Nigel Bruce (September 4, 1895 –
October 8, 1953)
Usually credited as Nigel Bruce, was a British character
actor, best known as Dr. Watson in a series of films
starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes.
The son of a baronet, he was born in Ensenada, Mexico,
where his parents were on vacation. He was severely
wounded in World War I and spent most of the war in
a wheelchair.
The Stage
In 1920 he began his career on stage and eight years
later started working in silent films. In 1934 he
moved to Hollywood. During his career he worked on
77 movies, including Treasure Island, The Scarlet
Pimpernel, Lassie Come Home, The Corn is Green, and
Bwana Devil.
He played buffoonish, fuzzy-minded gentlemen and
his signature role was that of Dr. Watson in the Sherlock
Holmes series beginning in 1939 with his good friend
Basil Rathbone. Holmes purists objected that Watson
in the books was an intelligent and capable person,
just not a super detective, and that the Bruce portrayal
made him seem dimmer and more bumbling than he was.
But for millions of fans, Bruce was the definitive
Watson. There were 14 films made and he also played
Watson on the radio.
Bruce died in 1953, aged 57, in Santa Monica, California.
He was cremated, and his ashes stored in the vault
at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.
His last movie, World for Ransom, was released posthumously
in 1954.
