E. E. Clive

E. E. Clive

  • Birthday: 1879-08-26
  • Deathday: 1940-06-06
  • Place of birth: Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK
  • Also know as: Edward Erskholme Clive

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.

Filmography

They Wanted to Marry

1937

As Stiles

Isle of Fury

1936

As Dr. Hardy

Bulldog Drummond's Revenge

1937

As 'Tenny' Tennison

The Earl of Chicago

1940

As Mr. Redwood

Trouble for Two

1936

As King

Bachelor Mother

1939

As Butler

The Last Warning

1938

As Major Barclay

Personal Property

1937

As Cosgrove Dabney

Congo Maisie

1940

As Horace Snell

Bulldog Drummond in Africa

1938

As 'Tenny' Tennison

Raffles

1939

As Barraclough

Live, Love and Learn

1937

As Mr. Palmiston

The Dark Hour

1936

As Foot, the Butler

Ticket to Paradise

1936

As Barkins

Bulldog Drummond Escapes

1937

As "Tenny" Tennison

Tarzan Escapes

1936

As Masters

Long Lost Father

1934

As Spot Hawkins

Atlantic Adventure

1935

As McIntosh

Father Brown, Detective

1934

As Sergeant Dawes

All American Chump

1936

As . Montgomery Brantley

I'm from Missouri

1939

As Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood

The Invisible Man

1933

As Constable Jaffers

Little Lord Fauntleroy

1936

As Sir Harry Lorridaile

Libeled Lady

1936

As Fishing Instructor

Rose of Washington Square

1939

As Barouche Driver

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

1939

As Inspector Bristol

The Poor Rich

1934

As Lord Fetherstone

Palm Springs

1936

As Morgan

Beg, Borrow or Steal

1937

As Lord Nigel Braemer

All American Chump

1936

As Montgomery Brantley

The Widow from Monte Carlo

1935

As Lord Holloway

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

1935

As Mayor Thomas Sapsea

The Unguarded Hour

1936

As Lord Henry Hathaway

Man About Town

1939

As Hotchkiss

Night Must Fall

1937

As Guide

Cheaters at Play

1932

As Steward

Bride of Frankenstein

1935

As Burgomaster

Dracula's Daughter

1936

As Detective Sergeant Wilkes

The First Hundred Years

1938

As Chester Blascomb

Stars Over Broadway

1935

As Crane

Love Under Fire

1937

As Captain Bowden

The Gay Divorcee

1934

As Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)

It's Love I'm After

1937

As First Butler

The Hound of the Baskervilles

1939

As London Cabbie John Clayton

Camille

1936

As Saint Gaudens (uncredited)

Charlie Chan in London

1934

As Det. Sgt. Thacker

The Charge of the Light Brigade

1936

As Sir Humphrey Harcourt

Piccadilly Jim

1936

As London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan

Cain and Mabel

1936

As Charles Fendwick

We're in the Money

1935

As Jevons

Kidnapped

1938

As Minister MacDougall

Maid of Salem

1937

As Bilge

One More River

1934

As Chayne

The Little Princess

1939

As Mr. Barrows

Lloyd's of London

1936

As Magistrate

On the Avenue

1937

As Cabby

Love Before Breakfast

1936

As Yacht Captain (uncredited)

Pride and Prejudice

1940

As Sir William Lucas

Ready, Willing and Able

1937

As Sir Samuel Buffington

Gold Diggers of 1935

1935

As Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)

Adventure in Diamonds

1940

As Mr. MacPherson

A Tale of Two Cities

1935

As Judge in 'Old Bailey'

Kind Lady

1935

As Grammaphone Man (uncredited)

The Golden Arrow

1936

As Walker

Gateway

1938

As Room Steward

Remember Last Night?

1935

As Coroner's Photographer (uncredited)

The Emperor's Candlesticks

1937

As Auctioneer

Mr. Moto's Last Warning

1939

As Port Commandant General (uncredited)

Show Boat

1936

As Sir Arthur

Riptide

1934

As Major Mills (uncredited)

Flowing Gold

1940

As Mr. Naismith (uncredited)

The Little Minister

1934

As Sheriff Greer

Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back

1934

As London Bobbie

A Feather in Her Hat

1935

As Higgins - Pub Proprietor (uncredited)

Captain Blood

1935

As Clerk of the Court

Page Miss Glory

1935

As Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited)

David Copperfield

1935

As Sheriff's Man (uncredited)

3 Kids and a Queen

1935

As Coachman

Show Boat

1936

As

The White Angel

1936

As Dr. Smith (uncredited)

Foreign Correspondent

1940

As Mr. Naismith (uncredited)

The Big Parade of Comedy

1964

As (archive footage)

keyboard_arrow_up