James Donald

James Donald (18 May 1917 – 3 August 1993) was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures, particularly military doctors. Early life Donald was born in Aberdeen, the fourth son of a Scottish Presbyterian minister. His mother died when he was 18 months old and his father remarried. Donald grew up in Galashiels and was educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast. He briefly attended McGill University in Montreal, but due to asthma, he transferred to the University of Edinburgh. Donald originally intended to be a teacher, but seeing Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Dame Edith Evans in The Late Christopher Bean made him decide to be an actor. He began seeing as many shows as possible and studied at the London Theatre Studio for two years. He made his stage debut in 1938 in The White Guard and he began to get work regularly on stage. He appeared in Twelfth Night with Michael Redgrave and understudied John Gielgud in King Lear. He toured the provinces in The Cherry Orchard.