James Donald

Born: 1917-05-18

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James Donald (18 May 1917 - 3 August 1993) was a Scottish actor. Tall and gaunt, he specialised in playing authority figures; military officers, doctors or scientists. Donald was born in Aberdeen, and made his first professional stage appearance sometime in the late-1930s, having been educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast. During World War II he appeared in minor roles in such propaganda classics as In Which We Serve (1942), Went the Day Well? (1942) and The Way Ahead (1944), and he played Mr. Winkle in the 1952 film version of The Pickwick Papers. However, leading roles eluded him until Lust for Life (1956), in which he played Theo Van Gogh. His work in the theatre included Noël Coward's Present Laughter (1943) which starred Coward himself, and The Eagle with Two Heads (1947), You Never Can Tell (1948), and The Heiress (1949) with Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and Donald Sinden. He memorably portrayed Major Clipton, the doctor who expresses grave doubts about the sanity of Col. Nicholson's (Alec Guinness) efforts to build the bridge in order to show up his Japanese captors, in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). The final words are his: "Madness!, Madness!" He also played Group Captain Ramsey, the Senior British Officer in The Great Escape (1963), as well as supporting roles in other notable films both in Britain and the United States, including The Vikings (1958), King Rat (1965), Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). Donald starred in a 1960 television adaptation of A. J. Cronin's The Citadel and appeared regularly in many other television dramas in the UK and USA, as well as on stage. In 1961, he played Prince Albert opposite Julie Harris's Queen Victoria, in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of Laurence Housman's play Victoria Regina. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Donald, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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as Ramsey 'The SBO'
Released: 1963-07-03

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small...

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as Maj. Clipton
Released: 1957-10-11

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of...

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The Vikings

as Lord Egbert
Released: 1958-06-11

Einar, brutal son of Ragnar and future heir to his throne, tangles with Eric, a wily slave, for...

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King Rat

as Dr. Kennedy
Released: 1965-10-27

When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, the Allied POWs, mostly British but...

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Cast a Giant Shadow

as Maj. Safir
Released: 1966-03-30

An American Army officer is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. He...

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The Big Sleep

as Inspector Gregory
Released: 1978-03-13

Private eye Philip Marlowe investigates a case of blackmail involving the two wild daughters of...

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Lust for Life

as Theo van Gogh
Released: 1956-09-15

An intense and imaginative artist, revered Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh possesses undeniable...

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Quatermass and the Pit

as Dr. Mathew Roney
Released: 1967-11-09

A mysterious artifact unearthed below a London subway station proves to have powerful psychic...

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The Jokers

as Col. Gurney-Simms
Released: 1967-05-15

Brothers Michael and David Tremayne decide to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London,...

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David Copperfield

as Mr. Murdstone
Released: 1969-12-01

A made for TV movie of the Charles Dickens' classic novel, turns Dickens' picaresque tale into...

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In Which We Serve

as Doc
Released: 1942-09-17

The story of the HMS Torrin, from its construction to its sinking in the Mediterranean during...

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The Way Ahead

as Pvt. Evans Lloyd
Released: 1944-06-09

A mismatched collection of conscripted civilians find training tough under Lieutenant Jim Perry ...

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Conduct Unbecoming

as The Doctor
Released: 1975-01-01

A company of British soldiers in colonial India is shaken when the widow of their most honored...

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Gift Horse

as Lt. Richard Jennings, No. 1
Released: 1952-06-01

Compton Bennett's war drama The Gift Horse follows the fortunes of ageing destroyer The...

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Beau Brummell

as Lord Edwin Mercer
Released: 1954-11-16

Lavishly told story of George Bryan Brummel, a commoner born in the era of Napoleon who uses...

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Third Man on the Mountain

as Franz Lerner
Released: 1959-11-10

Third Man on the Mountain is an American film directed by Ken Annakin and produced by Walt...

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The Net

as Michael Heathley
Released: 1953-02-09

A secret jet aircraft capable of traveling three times the speed of sound is being developed by...

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Trottie True

as Lord Digby Langdon
Released: 1949-09-29

Tottie True is a gay-90s British music-hall performer who has her sights set on moving from rags...

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White Corridors

as Neil Marriner
Released: 1951-01-12

White Corridors was based on Yeoman Hospital, a novel by Helen Ashton. Told episodically, the...

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Pygmalion

as Henry Higgins
Released: 1963-02-06

Can Professor Higgins transform cockney flower girl Eliza Dolittle into a lady by teaching her...

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Cage of Gold

as Alan
Released: 1950-10-23

The love that Judy, a young painter, feels for Alan, a promising doctor to whom she is engaged,...

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Victoria Regina

as Prince Albert
Released: 1961-11-30

1961 adaptation of "Victoria Regina".

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Perilous Assignment

as Self
Released: 1959-11-06

"Perilous Assignment" is an episode of ABC's Walt Disney Presents. Disney loved to show viewers...

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One of Our Aircraft Is Missing

as (uncredited)
Released: 1942-04-24

During the Allied Bombing offensive of World War II the public was often informed that "A raid...

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The Royal Hunt of the Sun

as Carlos V
Released: 1969-10-05

The Spanish explorer Pizarro captures the Inca god-chief Atahualpa and promises to free him upon...

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The Royal Hunt of the Sun

as King Carlos
Released: 1969-10-05

The Spanish explorer Pizarro captures the Inca god-chief Atahualpa and promises to free him upon...

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The Citadel

as Dr. Andrew Manson
Released: 1960-02-19

The good doctor is on trial before the British Medical Association Council, if he is found...

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Edward, My Son

as Bronton
Released: 1949-03-01

Following the death of his only son, a ruthless businessman reflects on his life, his unhappy...

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Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood

as Dr. Mathew Roney (archive footage)
Released: 1987-01-01

A retrospective of the films of Britain's Hammer Studios, renowned for making stylish horror...

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Broken Journey

as Bill Haverton
Released: 1948-04-14

A plane flying over the Swiss Alps develops engine trouble and is forced to crash-land on a...

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San Demetrio London

as Gunnery Officer - H.M.S. Jervis Bay
Released: 1943-12-07

British drama documentary from 1943, based on the true story of the 1940 rescue of the tanker MV...

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The Pickwick Papers

as Nathaniel Winkle
Released: 1952-11-14

The Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to...

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The Small Voice

as Murray Byrne
Released: 1948-11-27

A man and his wife take to their house some men they rescue from a road crash and then find they...

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Destiny of a Spy

as Sir Martin Rolfe
Released: 1969-10-27

A veteran Russian spy is brought out of retirement to be sent to the West to do an important...

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Brandy for the Parson

as Bill Harper
Released: 1952-05-02

A young couple get involved with a smuggler

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Doc in the Box

as Crabs Guy
Released: 2015-01-15

Two bungling robbers try to play doctors at a 24hr. clinic while they wait for the time lock...

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Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Harry Pope
First aired: 1955-10-02

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

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Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Mark Cavendish
First aired: 1955-10-02

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

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Ben Casey

as uncredited
First aired: 1961-10-02

Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was...

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Play of the Week

as Priest
First aired: 1959-10-12

This syndicated anthology series staged a different play every week covering all genres, dramas,...

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Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Prince Albert
First aired: 1951-12-24

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...

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Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Henry Higgins
First aired: 1951-12-24

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...

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Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Warwick
First aired: 1951-12-24

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...

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