From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Basil Ruysdael (July 24, 1888 - October 10, 1960) was an American film actor and opera singer. Description above from the Wikipedia article Basil Ruysdael, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia. He started his career as a baritone singer for the Metropolitan Opera Company in the early 1900's and appeared on the New York stage in 1918. Moving to California in 1923, he was a voice teacher for many actors. Encouraged to try acting himself, he made his big screen debut in "Cocoanuts" (1929). For the next 30 years he was a frequent character performer in films to include "Come to the Stable" (1949), "Broken Arrow" (1950), "People Will Talk" (1951), "The Last Hurrah" (1958) and "The Horse Soldiers" (1960). He also did voice over in "101 Dalmatians" (1961) and appeared on the TV shows "Perry Mason", "Official Detective", "Father knows Best" and "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. He at the age of 72 of complications following surgery.