Edward Erskholme Clive (28 August 1879 – 6 June 1940) 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.
Biography E. E. Clive was born on 28 August 1879 in Blaenavon in Monmouthshire. He attended Pembroke Preparatory School and the University of Wales. His father, a minister, opposed Clive's becoming an actor. 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 U.S. 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 on Broadway in several plays. Clive's obituary in The New York Times stated that he acted in "1,159 Legitimate Plays Before Going into Moving Pictures".
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, sometimes also as a humourless authority figure.Quinlan's Film Character Actors: E E Clive 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.
Clive died on 6 June 1940, of a heart ailment, in his Hollywood home. Clive was a member of the Euclid lodge of Freemasons in Boston.
Complete filmography
Cheaters at Play (1932) – Steward Horse Play (1933) – Scotland Yard Officer (uncredited) The Invisible Man (1933) – Constable Jaffers Long Lost Father (1934) – Spot Hawkins The Poor Rich (1934) – Lord Fetherstone Riptide (1934) – Major Mills (uncredited) One More River (1934) – Chayne Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934) – Bobby With Mustache Charlie Chan in London (1934) – Detective Sergeant Thacker The Gay Divorcee (1934) – Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited) Father Brown, Detective (1934) – Sergeant Dawes The Little Minister (1934) – Sheriff Greer (uncredited) Tin Pants (1934) David Copperfield (1935) – Sheriff's Man (uncredited) The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) – Mayor Thomas Sapsea Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) – Westbrook – Thorpe's Chauffeur (uncredited) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – Burgomaster We're in the Money (1935) – Jevons, Courtney's Butler Atlantic Adventure (1935) – McIntosh Page Miss Glory (1935) – Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited) Three Kids and a Queen (1935) – Coachman (uncredited) A Feather in Her Hat (1935) – Higgins – Pub Proprietor (uncredited) Remember Last Night? (1935) – Coroner's Photographer (uncredited) The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo (1935) – Waiter (uncredited) Stars Over Broadway (1935) – Crane Kind Lady (1935) – Gramophone Man (uncredited) A Tale of Two Cities (1935) – Judge in 'Old Bailey' Captain Blood (1935) – Clerk of the Court The Widow from Monte Carlo (1935) – Lord Holloway Sylvia Scarlett (1935) – Customs Inspector (uncredited) The Dark Hour (1936) – Foot, the Butler Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) – Sir Harry Lorridaile Love Before Breakfast (1936) – Yacht Captain (uncredited) The Unguarded Hour (1936) – Lord Hathaway Dracula's Daughter (1936) – Sergeant Wilkes The King Steps Out (1936) – Tutor (uncredited) Show Boat (1936) – London Producer (uncredited) Trouble for Two (1936) – King The Golden Arrow (1936) – Walker Palm Springs (1936) – Morgan Ticket to Paradise (1936) – Barkins The White Angel (1936) – Dr. Smith, a Surgeon (uncredited) Piccadilly Jim (1936) – London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan Cain and Mabel (1936) – Charles Fendwick Libeled Lady (1936) – Fishing Instructor Isle of Fury (1936) – Dr. Hardy All American Chump (1936) – J. Montgomery Brantley The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) – Sir Humphrey Harcourt Tarzan Escapes (1936) – Masters Lloyd's of London (1936) – Magistrate Camille (1936) – Saint Gaudens (uncredited) Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937) – Tenny On the Avenue (1937) – Cabby They Wanted to Marry (1937) – Stiles Maid of Salem (1937) – Bilge Ready, Willing and Able (1937) – Sir Samuel Buffington (Credits) / Bloomington (in Film) Personal Property (1937) – Cosgrove Dabney Night Must Fall (1937) – Guide The Road Back (1937) – General (uncredited) The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937) – Auctioneer Love Under Fire (1937) – Captain Bowden Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (1937) – Tenny Danger – Love at Work (1937) – Wilbur It's Love I'm After (1937) – First Butler The Great Garrick (1937) – Pictures Vendor (uncredited) Live, Love and Learn (1937) – Mr. Palmiston Beg, Borrow or Steal (1937) – Lord Nigel Braemer Bulldog Drummond's Revenge (1937) – Tenny Arsène Lupin Returns (1938) – Alf The First Hundred Years (1938) – Chester Blascomb Bulldog Drummond's Peril (1938) – Tenny Kidnapped (1938) – Minister MacDougall Bulldog Drummond in Africa (1938) – Tenny Gateway (1938) – Room Steward Submarine Patrol (1938) – British Officer (uncredited) Arrest Bulldog Drummond (1938) – Tenny The Last Warning (1938) – Major Barclay Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939) – Port Commandant General (uncredited) The Little Princess (1939) – Mr. Barrows I'm from Missouri (1939) – Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police (1939) – Tenny The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) – Cabby Rose of Washington Square (1939)Great Movie Musicals on DVD – A Classic Movie Fan's Guide by John Howard Reid – Google search with book preview – Barouche Driver Man About Town (1939) – Hotchkiss, Arlington's Butler Bachelor Mother (1939) – Merlin's Butler Bulldog Drummond's Bride (1939) – Tenny The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) – Inspector Bristol Raffles (1939) – Barraclough The Honeymoon's Over (1939) – Col. Shelby The Earl of Chicago (1940) – Mr. Redwood Congo Maisie (1940) – Horace Snell Adventure in Diamonds (1940) – Mr. MacPherson Pride and Prejudice (1940) – Sir William Lucas Foreign Correspondent (1940) – Mr. Naismith (uncredited) Flowing Gold (1940) – Mr. Naismith (uncredited) (final film role)
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