Celebrity Nooz: Bruce McGill

Bruce McGill (Actor) - Animal House

Updated: 4/06/21

Name: Bruce McGill

Birth Name: Bruce Travis McGill

Born: July 11, 1950 in San Antonio, Texas, USA

Claim To Fame: Bruce McGill is an American character actor who's best known for his role as Daniel Simpson "D-Day" Day in John Landis's Nation Lampoon's Animal House, and television roles including Jack Dalton on MacGyver (1985-1992) and Det. Vince Korsak on Rizzoli & Isles (2010-2016).

Family Life: McGill has been married to his wife Gloria Lee since 1994.

Info: McGill is the son of Adriel Rose, an artist, and Woodrow Wilson McGill, a real estate and insurance agent.

His love of acting began on stage at Wilshire Elementary School in San Antonio, Texas.

Graduated from Douglas MacArthur High School in the northeastern part of San Antonio.

Earned a B.F.A. in acting from The University of Texas at Austin, and later made his professional debut as a member of Rhode Island's Trinity Square Repertory Company, appearing in numerous theatrical productions.

Among his many theatrical affiliations are the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and National Shakespeare Company in Washington, D.C.

He is related to former Texas State Senator A.R. Schwartz.

Is an accomplished pianist and guitarist.

He was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame on March 11, 2010 at their 10th anniversary awards ceremony.

Trivia: McGill has starred in many films, perhaps his most well-known role being "D-Day" in the 1978 comedy classic National Lampoon's Animal House, a role McGill was desperate to take at the time, recalling his days as a young unemployed actor sitting in a New York City casting office.

In Animal House, he played the William Tell Overture by drumming his fingers on his windpipe. He duplicated this talent in MacGyver, playing "Rock-The-Cradle" to lull a child in his care to sleep.

McGill reprised his role as D-Day from National Lampoon's Animal House in the short-lived 1979 ABC TV Spinoff Delta House.

Was in the first episode (as Weird Ernie) and last episode (as Al the Bartender) of the series "Quantum Leap". They were the only two episodes he guested on.

Was mistakenly cast for the Babylon 5 installment, Severed Dreams (which won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation). The executive producer had actually wanted Everett McGill. Bruce McGill performed well, however, and the show remains a fan favorite.

Remains in close contact with his MacGyver (1985) co-star Richard Dean Anderson.

McGill is a favorite of director Michael Mann, having worked with him on The Insider, Ali and Collateral.

In the episode "She Works Hard for the Money" of Rizzoli & Isles (season 1 episode 4) Korsak is asked where he went to college. He responds "Didn't. Watched Animal House a few times", which is a reference to his Animal House persona.

In the 2016 US Election, McGill narrated several commercials for Donald Trump during his campaign.

In 2019, McGill won Best Actor for Waiting Game at Pasadena International Film Festival.

Where Are They Now: McGill is a busy guy! His next project Blue Miracle, which is current post-production, is a based-on-a-true-story drama about Casa Hogar, the Mexican boys home that entered the world's biggest fishing tournament to save their orphanage. Sounds inspiring!

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