Donald MacBride

Donald MacBride
Donald Hugh MacBride (June 23, 1893 – June 21, 1957) was an American character actor on stage, in films, and on television who launched his career as a teenage singer (making several recordings in 1907) in vaudeville and went on to be an actor in New York.
Biography
Donald MacBride was born 1893 in Brooklyn, New York.
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, Vitaphone, and Educational 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, Buster Keaton, and other comedy stars.
MacBride's fortunes improved when he was featured in the hit play Room Service. 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 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, 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, Republic, 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 in 1947. He continued to work in television until shortly before his death.
Death
MacBride died on 1957 in Los Angeles, California 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 (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
Room Service (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 (1940) - Sergeant McNott
Curtain Call (1940) - Geoffrey 'Jeff' Crandall
My Favorite Wife (1940) - Hotel Clerk
Wyoming (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 (1941) - Inspector Williams
You'll Never Get Rich (1941) - Top Sergeant
Rise and Shine (1941) - Coach Graham
Louisiana Purchase (1941) - Capt. Pierre Whitfield
You're in the Army Now (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 (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 (1946) - Lt. Mason
The Killers (1946) - R.S. Kenyon
The Brute Man (1946) - Police Captain M. J. Donelly
Beat the Band (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 (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 (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 (1955) - Mr. Brady (final film role)
References
External links
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