James Donald

Who was James Donald?

James Donald was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures.

Donald was born in Aberdeen, and made his first professional stage appearance in the late-1930s, having been educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast. During World War II he had minor roles in war films including, In Which We Serve, Went the Day Well?, and The Way Ahead. He played Mr. Winkle in the 1952 film version of The Pickwick Papers. However, leading roles eluded him until he played Theo Van Gogh in Lust for Life.

His work in the theatre included Noël Coward's Present Laughter which starred Coward himself, and The Eagle with Two Heads, You Never Can Tell, and The Heiress 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 efforts to build the bridge in order to show up his Japanese captors, in the blockbuster classic film The Bridge on the River Kwai. He had the honour of speaking the film's iconic final words: "Madness!, Madness!"