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E. E. Clive
Acting
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,…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
E. E. Clive's Filmography
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The Big Parade of Comedy
as Cosgrove Dabney in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)
Flowing Gold
as Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
Foreign Correspondent
as Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
Pride and Prejudice
as Sir William Lucas
Adventure in Diamonds
as Mr. MacPherson
Congo Maisie
as Horace Snell
The Earl of Chicago
as Mr. Redwood
The Honeymoon's Over
as Col. Shelby
Raffles
as Barraclough
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
as Inspector Bristol
Bulldog Drummond's Bride
as Tenny
Bachelor Mother
as Butler
Man About Town
as Hotchkiss
Rose of Washington Square
as Barouche Driver
I'm from Missouri
as Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
as Tenny
The Hound of the Baskervilles
as London Cabbie John Clayton
The Little Princess
as Mr. Barrows
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
as Port Commandant General (uncredited)
The Last Warning
as Major Barclay
Arrest Bulldog Drummond
as Tenny
Submarine Patrol
Bulldog Drummond in Africa
as 'Tenny' Tennison
Gateway
as Room Steward
Kidnapped
as Minister MacDougall
Bulldog Drummond's Peril
as Tenny
The First Hundred Years
as Chester Blascomb
Arsène Lupin Returns
as Alf
Bulldog Drummond's Revenge
as 'Tenny' Tennison
Beg, Borrow or Steal
as Lord Nigel Braemer
Live, Love and Learn
as Mr. Palmiston
It's Love I'm After
as First Butler
Danger – Love at Work
as Wilbur
Bulldog Drummond Comes Back
as Tenny
Love Under Fire
as Captain Bowden
The Emperor's Candlesticks
as Auctioneer
Night Must Fall
as Guide
Personal Property
as Cosgrove Dabney
Ready, Willing and Able
as Sir Samuel Buffington
Maid of Salem
as Bilge
On the Avenue
as Cabby
They Wanted to Marry
as Stiles
Bulldog Drummond Escapes
as "Tenny" Tennison
Camille
as Saint Gaudens (uncredited)
Lloyd's of London
as Magistrate
Tarzan Escapes
as Masters
The Charge of the Light Brigade
as Sir Humphrey Harcourt
All American Chump
as Montgomery Brantley
All American Chump
as . Montgomery Brantley
Isle of Fury
as Dr. Hardy
Libeled Lady
as Fishing Instructor
Cain and Mabel
as Charles Fendwick
Piccadilly Jim
as London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan
The White Angel
as Dr. Smith (uncredited)
Ticket to Paradise
as Barkins
Palm Springs
as Morgan
Trouble for Two
as King
The Golden Arrow
as Walker
Show Boat
Show Boat
as Sir Arthur
Dracula's Daughter
as Sergeant Wilkes
The Unguarded Hour
as Lord Henry Hathaway
Love Before Breakfast
as Yacht Captain (uncredited)
Little Lord Fauntleroy
as Sir Harry Lorridaile
The Dark Hour
as Foot, the Butler
Captain Blood
as Clerk of the Court
A Tale of Two Cities
as Judge in 'Old Bailey'
The Widow from Monte Carlo
as Lord Holloway
Kind Lady
as Grammaphone Man (uncredited)
Stars Over Broadway
as Crane
Remember Last Night?
as Coroner's Photographer (uncredited)
A Feather in Her Hat
as Higgins - Pub Proprietor (uncredited)
3 Kids and a Queen
as Coachman
Page Miss Glory
as Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited)
Atlantic Adventure
as McIntosh
We're in the Money
as Jevons
Bride of Frankenstein
as Burgomaster
Gold Diggers of 1935
as Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
as Sapsea
David Copperfield
as Sheriff's Man (uncredited)
The Little Minister
as Sheriff Greer
Father Brown, Detective
as Sergeant Dawes
The Gay Divorcee
as Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in London
as Det. Sgt. Thacker
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
as London Bobbie
One More River
as Chayne
Riptide
as Major Mills (uncredited)
The Poor Rich
as Lord Fetherstone
Long Lost Father
as Spot Hawkins
The Invisible Man
as Constable Jaffers
Cheaters at Play
as Steward