Person Details

Birthday: 1879-08-26 09:07:37

Death: 1940-06-06 09:07:37

Aliases: Edward Erskholme Clive , Edward E. Clive , E. E. Clive

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 52

TV Involvements: 0


Most Famous Work

Biography

Edward Erskholme Clive was a Welsh stage actor and director who had a prolific acting career in Britain and America. He also played numerous supporting roles in Hollywood movies between 1933 and his death. E. E. Clive was born on 28 August 1879 in Blaenavon in Monmouthshire. Clive studied for a medical career, and had completed four years of medical studies at St Bartholomew's Hospital before switching his focus to acting at age 22. Touring the provinces for a decade, Clive became an expert at virtually every sort of regional dialect in the British Isles. He moved to the US in 1912, where after working in the Orpheum vaudeville circuit he set up his own stock company in Boston. By the 1920s, his company was operating in Hollywood; among his repertory players were such up-and-comers as Rosalind Russell. He also worked at the Broadway in several plays. E. E. Clive made his film debut as a village police constable in 1933's The Invisible Man with Claude Rains, then spent the next seven years showing up in wry supporting and bit parts, where he often portrayed comical versions of English stereotypes. He often played butlers, reporters, aristocrats, shopkeepers and cabbies during his short film career. Though his roles were often small, Clive was a well-known and prolific character actor of his time. Among his best-known roles was the incompetent Burgomaster in James Whale's horror classic Bride of Frankenstein (1935). He was a semi-regular as Tenny the Butler in Paramount Pictures' Bulldog Drummond B series, starring John Howard; he also played butlers in other movies like Bachelor Mother with David Niven and Ginger Rogers. In 1939, Clive appeared in The Little Princess as the lawyer Mr. Barrows, and the first two entries of the classic Sherlock Holmes series starring Basil Rathbone. One of Clive's last roles was Sir William Lucas in the 1940 literature adaption Pride and Prejudice (1940) with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson. E. E. Clive died on 6 June 1940, of a heart ailment, in his Hollywood home. He was survived by his wife Eleanor and their child. Clive was a member of the Euclid lodge of Freemasons in Boston.

Most Famous Work

The Bride of Frankenstein
Average
7

The Bride of Frankenstein

(1935) Burgomaster
The Invisible Man
Average
8

The Invisible Man

(1933) Constable Jaffers
Tarzan Escapes
Average
6

Tarzan Escapes

(1936) Masters
Foreign Correspondent
Average
7

Foreign Correspondent

(1940) Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Average
7

The Charge of the Light Brigade

(1936) Sir Humphrey Harcourt
Pride and Prejudice
Average
7

Pride and Prejudice

(1940) Sir William Lucas
Captain Blood
Average
7

Captain Blood

(1935) Clerk of the Court
Dracula's Daughter
Average
6

Dracula's Daughter

(1936) Detective Sergeant Wilkes

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1964 Cosgrove Dabney in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)
1940 Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
Sir William Lucas
Mr. MacPherson
Horace Snell
Mr. Redwood
1939 Barraclough
Inspector Bristol
Tenny
Butler
Hotchkiss
Barouche Driver
Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood
Tenny
London Cabbie John Clayton
Mr. Barrows
Port Commandant General (uncredited)
1938 Major Barclay
Tenny
N/A
'Tenny' Tennison
Room Steward
Minister MacDougall
Tenny
Chester Blascomb
Alf
1937 'Tenny' Tennison
Lord Nigel Braemer
Mr. Palmiston
First Butler
Wilbur
Tenny
Captain Bowden
Auctioneer
Guide
Cosgrove Dabney
Sir Samuel Buffington
Cabby
Bilge
Stiles
"Tenny" Tennison
1936 Saint Gaudens (uncredited)
Magistrate
Masters
Sir Humphrey Harcourt
. Montgomery Brantley
Montgomery Brantley
Dr. Hardy
Fishing Instructor
Charles Fendwick
London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan
Dr. Smith (uncredited)
Barkins
Morgan
King
Walker
Sir Arthur
N/A
Detective Sergeant Wilkes
Lord Henry Hathaway
Yacht Captain (uncredited)
Sir Harry Lorridaile
Foot, the Butler
1935 Clerk of the Court
Judge in 'Old Bailey'
Lord Holloway
Grammaphone Man (uncredited)
Crane
Coroner's Photographer (uncredited)
Higgins - Pub Proprietor (uncredited)
Coachman
Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited)
McIntosh
Jevons
Burgomaster
Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)
Mayor Thomas Sapsea
Sheriff's Man (uncredited)
1934 Sheriff Greer
Sergeant Dawes
Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)
Det. Sgt. Thacker
London Bobbie
Chayne
Major Mills (uncredited)
Lord Fetherstone
Spot Hawkins
1933 Constable Jaffers
1932 Steward
Year Character Movie/Tv

Join the discussion

Please Log in to comment