William Nigel Ernle Bruce was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes in both. Bruce is also remembered for his roles in the Alfred Hitchcock films Rebecca and Suspicion, as well as the Charlie Chaplin film Limelight and the original Lassie film Lassie Come Home.
Bruce in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
Bruce pictured in the Abingdon School first XI cricket team in 1912
L. to R.: Nigel Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, and Basil Rathbone from the film Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel A Study in Scarlet (1887). "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" (1927) is the last work of Doyle featuring Watson and Holmes, although their last appearance in the canonical timeline is in "His Last Bow" (1917).
Dr. Watson (left) and Sherlock Holmes, by Sidney Paget
Watson reading bad news to Holmes in "The Five Orange Pips". One of Sidney Paget's iconic illustrations from The Strand magazine.
Watson and Holmes in a Sidney Paget illustration for "The Adventure of Silver Blaze"
Holmes (William Gillette, right) with Dr Watson (Bruce McRae, left), in the 1899 Broadway production of Sherlock Holmes
