Tough Guy Mourned

Auckland talent agent and former professional wrestler Robert Bruce has died, aged 65. The Scottish-born villain could enrage the crowd with a mere facial expression. Such were his talents and wrestling style, which saw him tease and torment crowds in South Africa, Japan, Fiji and Australia en route to Auckland where he settled in 1972. Bruce’s bad boy antics, from prefacing a low blow with a devilish grin to a liberal interpretation of the rules, ensured a raucous reception every time he wrestled. In 1972, while at the height of his career Bruce was attracting attention in other circles and took a small role as a bouncer in the film A Clockwork Orange. The appearance offered Bruce a taste of what life after wrestling might offer. The Robert Bruce Agency was established in 1978 and represented some of New Zealand’s leading actors and performers such as Temuera Morrison, Cliff Curtis, Frankie Stevens and Jackie Clarke. “When you shook hands with him you felt like you were shaking hands with somebody from the Braveheart movie,” says Morrison. “You knew not to mess with that guy.”

Robert Bruce: 3 November 1943 – 2 March 2009