People active in the silent era and people who keep the silent era alive. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Photograph: Silent Era image collection.

Sidney Bracy
(same as Sidney Bracey and Sydney Bracey)

Born 18 December 1877 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, as Sidney Alfred Dunn.
Died 5 August 1942 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Son of tenor Henry T. Bracy and actress Clara T. Bracy.

Married Evelyn Foshay, 13 June 1914.

Sidney Bracy was born in Australia during his Welsh and English parents’ professional residency there. At age 16, Bracy chose acting as his career and began with the J.C. Williamson theatre troupe (that later ventured into motion picture production). Following his parents’ move to the United States, Sidney appeared in New York theatre productions as early as 1900.

Bracy appears to have begun motion picture work in 1909 for The Vitagraph Company of America. The prolific actor played supporting parts for much of his career, with a few leading roles. Early on he worked an extended run for Thanhouser Film Corporation from 1913 through 1916. Over the years Sidney played many supporting roles and walk-ons specializing in detectives, office managers, butlers, valets and personal secretaries. Nonetheless, Bracy appeared in several notable silent era films including Robin Hood (1913), Zudora (1914), Crime and Punishment (1917), The Sheik (1921), Merry-Go-Round (1923), The Merry Widow (1925), The Blackbird (1926), You Never Know Women (1926), Sunrise (1927), My Best Girl (1927), Chicago (1927), The Crowd (1928), The Matinee Idol (1928), The Cameraman (1928), The Wedding March (1928) and Show People (1928).

Sidney Bracy continued motion picture acting well into the golden era appearing in dozens of films including The Unholy Three (1930), Doughboys (1930), Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931), Freaks (1932), Speak Easily (1932), What! No Beer? (1933), Duck Soup (1933), Our Daily Bread (1934), Les Misérables (1935), Anna Karenina (1935), Magnificent Obsession (1935), A Star is Born (1937), Easy Living (1937), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Meet John Doe (1941), all the while playing a surprising number of butlers, valets and chauffeurs.

References: Website-IMDb; Website-Wikipedia.