Sir Bruce Warner is a fictional character on the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

. He was portrayed by Ken Blackburn and was introduced as

Chris Warner Christopher Alexander Warner is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' who has been portrayed by Michael Galvin since the show's first episode, making him the longest running original character. Galvin quit the ...

's (

Michael Galvin Michael Galvin (born 27 March 1967) is a New Zealand actor, singer and playwright, well known for his role as Chris Warner on the soap opera Shortland Street, a character he has played almost since the show's debut in 1992 until 1996 and again ...

) womanizing father. The character of Bruce was written with antagonistic characteristics, with his storylines often focusing on his rivalry with CEO Michael McKenna (

Paul Gittins Paul Gittins is a New Zealand actor who is best known for playing Doctor Michael McKenna in ''Shortland Street'' from 1992 to 1995 and 1998 to 1999, and he has also appeared in ''The End of the Golden Weather'', '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', ''H ...

) and his attempts at taking over the hospital. He would often go behind his families backs and either try buy out the hospital or indulge in numerous affairs. Bruce's wish was finally granted in 1995 when Michael retired, however only after signing the ownership deal of the hospital did Bruce realize Michael had the last laugh as Bruce was shafted from any managerial positions, only being a silent partner. Bruce's arrogant persona alongside his constant womanizing, had a severe effect on both of his sons with Chris becoming the mirror image of his father and Guy (

Craig Parker Craig Parker (born 12 November 1970) is a New Zealand actor, known for his roles as Guy Warner in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' (1992–96, 2007–08, 2020), Haldir in the ''Lord of the Rings'' films ''The Fellowship of the Ring ...

) blaming Bruce for his drug addiction.

Creation and casting

Ken Blackburn was cast in the sporadic role of

's father Bruce. Blackburn struggled consistently throughout his stints with the writers for what he saw an unnecessary antagonism in the character of Bruce. He found Bruce unrealistically "abrasive" and hugely impolite. The character was eventually killed off following a stint of several episodes in 1995.

Storylines

Sir Bruce visits his son

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

(

) in and attempted to purchase the clinic to no success. He returns and invested money into a new private ward and carried out a union vote to implement him as the new

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the hospital. Even with the help of

Hone Ropata Dr. Hone Ropata is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' who was portrayed by Temuera Morrison as part of the original cast. Morrison maintained the role for three years before briefly reprising it in 2008 to c ...

(

Temuera Morrison Temuera Derek Morrison (born 26 December 1960) is a New Zealand actor and Singer who first gained recognition for his role as Dr. Hone Ropata on the soap opera ''Shortland Street''. He gained critical acclaim for his starring role as Jake "The ...

), Bruce fell short and remained a share holder. Bruce confronts

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

(

) following the poaching of

Grace Kwan Dr. Grace Kwan is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'', portrayed by Lynette Forday from 1994 to 1997. Forday reprised the role 16 years later in 2013. Creation and casting At a time when producers were structur ...

(Lynette Forday) from his hospital. Bruce soon admitted to being in love with her, straining his marriage to

Margot Margot (; ) is a feminine French given name, a variant of Marguerite. It is also occasionally a surname. Persons named Margot include the following: People with the given name Margot * Margot Asquith, countess of Oxford and Asquith * Marguerite ...

(Glynis McNicoll) even further. The following year Bruce learned he was going to be a grandfather when his son Guy's (

) girlfriend

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

(

Theresa Healey Theresa Healey (born 25 January 1964) is a New Zealand actress, known mostly for her role as nurse Carmen Roberts in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street''. Early life Theresa was born on 25 January 1964 and is of Irish Catholic descent ...

) fell pregnant. However Bruce was diagnosed with terminal cancer and dropped the bombshell that Guy was the product of an affair. Bruce dies and Nick Harrison (

Karl Burnett Karl Burnett (born 27 February 1976) is a New Zealand actor best known for his portrayal of Nick Harrison on the long-running New Zealand soap opera, ''Shortland Street''. Burnett was 16 years old when offered the role of Nick Harrison on ''S ...

) claims Bruce had retracted his will on his deathbed. Later in 2003 Margot returned to town shortly after

Toni Thompson Antoinette "Toni" Warner (née Thompson, formerly McAllister) is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' who was portrayed by Laura Hill from 2001 until 2008. In 2008, Toni became the first character on the sh ...

's (Laura Hill) brother

Dominic Dominic is a name common among Roman Catholics and other Latin-Romans as a male given name. Originally from the late Roman-Italic name "Dominicus", its translation means "Lordly", "Belonging to God" or "of the Master". Variations include: Domini ...

(

Shane Cortese Shane Cortese (born 13 August 1968) is a New Zealand actor and singer. He is perhaps best known for his role of Mac on Nothing Trivial, Loki on the Almighty Johnsons and Hayden Peters on hit show '' Outrageous Fortune''. He was also a runner-up ...

) arrived. The two claimed that Dom was the product of an affair Bruce had, thus making him Chris' brother. However it soon turned out not to be the case and Dom ended up trying to murder Chris. Then in 2012

Marj Brasch Marjorie "Marj" Brasch (previously Neilson) is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street''. Being part of the original cast, she was portrayed by Elizabeth McRae from the show's first season in 1992 up until 1996. S ...

(

Elizabeth McRae Elizabeth Helen McRae (née Kersley; born 1 August 1936) is a New Zealand actress, best known for her portrayal of Marjorie Brasch (née Neilson) in the television soap opera ''Shortland Street'', and, in the last decade, as Jean Marlowe, in ...

) praised Bruce for his determination to set up the clinic alongside Michael.

Reception

Blackburn found portraying the character in such an antagonistic manner saw a lot of negative response, something he did not mind as it was expected.

(

) found filming Bruce's final storyline that saw his health deteriorate, difficult, as his own father was going through a similar experience. He later recounted this as one of his worst moments on the soap.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Bruce Shortland Street characters Fictional physicians Fictional surgeons Television characters introduced in 1992 Male characters in television