Background
He was born at 118 Kirkland Street, Maryhill, Glasgow, the fourth of the six children of James Macrae, a sergeant in the Glasgow police force, and his wife, Catherine Graham.
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Duncan Macrae
Edit ProfileEducation
He attended Allan Glen"s School and matriculated in the engineering faculty at Glasgow University in 1923-1924, but did not graduate.
Career
He worked mainly as a stage actor, with only a limited number of screen appearances. He was also a comedian, with a "glaikit" (Scots word for naïve or clueless) mannerism. He was a member, along with Stanley Baxter, of the early Citizens" Theatre company in Glasgow, and was best known in his early years for his performance as King James VI in Jamie the Saxt by Robert McLellan.
He had a role in the 1949 Ealing comedy, based on the book by Sir Compton Mackenzie, and, in the first television series adapted from stories about Para Handy - Master Mariner, Neil Munro"s masterpiece of west coast "high jinks", Macrae played the eponymous Captain.
He had a home in Millport on the island of Cumbrae. In 1953 he starred alongside Jean Anderson in the role of James MacKenzie, an embittered settler in the drama The Kidnappers.
During the 1960s he appeared in episodes of the cult television series The Avengers and The Prisoner, and as Inspector Mathis in the Bond spoof Casino Royale. Macrae became a mainstay of television Hogmanay celebrations in the 1950s and 1960s with a rendition of his song (in Scots), "The Wee Cock Sparra".
Macrae died in March 1967, in Glasgow, before the release of his final two film appearances in Casino Royale, and 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia.
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Born
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Died
March 23, 1967 (aged 61) -
Nationality
United Kingdom