E. E. Clive

E. E. Clive

Personal Info

Known For
Acting
Born
1879-08-26
Died
1940-06-06 (aged 60)
Place of Birth
Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK

E. E. 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.

Known For

Bride of Frankenstein
7.5

Bride of Frankenstein

Burgomaster

1935
The Invisible Man
7.5

The Invisible Man

Constable Jaffers

1933
Camille
7.0

Camille

Saint Gaudens (uncredited)

1936
Foreign Correspondent
7.0

Foreign Correspondent

Mr. Naismith (uncredited)

1940
Tarzan Escapes
6.3

Tarzan Escapes

Masters

1936
Bachelor Mother
7.2

Bachelor Mother

Butler

1939
Dracula's Daughter
6.0

Dracula's Daughter

Sergeant Wilkes

1936
Pride and Prejudice
6.9

Pride and Prejudice

Sir William Lucas

1940
A Tale of Two Cities
6.9

A Tale of Two Cities

Judge in 'Old Bailey'

1935
Piccadilly Jim
6.8

Piccadilly Jim

London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan

1936
Captain Blood
7.2

Captain Blood

Clerk of the Court

1935
Congo Maisie
4.6

Congo Maisie

Horace Snell

1940
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
6.9

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Inspector Bristol

1939
The Hound of the Baskervilles
7.1

The Hound of the Baskervilles

London Cabbie John Clayton

1939
Libeled Lady
7.3

Libeled Lady

Fishing Instructor

1936
David Copperfield
6.7

David Copperfield

Sheriff's Man (uncredited)

1935
Bulldog Drummond Escapes
6.1

Bulldog Drummond Escapes

"Tenny" Tennison

1937
The Gay Divorcee
6.9

The Gay Divorcee

Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)

1934
Personal Property
6.9

Personal Property

Cosgrove Dabney

1937
Lloyd's of London
7.3

Lloyd's of London

Magistrate

1936
The Little Princess
6.7

The Little Princess

Mr. Barrows

1939
The White Angel
7.2

The White Angel

Dr. Smith (uncredited)

1936
Kidnapped
6.0

Kidnapped

Minister MacDougall

1938
Gold Diggers of 1935
6.5

Gold Diggers of 1935

Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)

1935
Father Brown, Detective
6.5

Father Brown, Detective

Sergeant Dawes

1934
Show Boat
6.7

Show Boat

1936
Show Boat
6.7

Show Boat

Sir Arthur

1936
Live, Love and Learn
5.6

Live, Love and Learn

Mr. Palmiston

1937
Charlie Chan in London
6.9

Charlie Chan in London

Det. Sgt. Thacker

1934
The Big Parade of Comedy
7.2

The Big Parade of Comedy

Cosgrove Dabney in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)

1964
The Charge of the Light Brigade
6.6

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Sir Humphrey Harcourt

1936
The Emperor's Candlesticks
4.9

The Emperor's Candlesticks

Auctioneer

1937
Raffles
6.2

Raffles

Barraclough

1939
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
5.9

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Sapsea

1935
It's Love I'm After
7.0

It's Love I'm After

First Butler

1937
Submarine Patrol
6.7

Submarine Patrol

1938
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
5.6

Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back

London Bobbie

1934
Little Lord Fauntleroy
6.8

Little Lord Fauntleroy

Sir Harry Lorridaile

1936
Gateway
7.4

Gateway

Room Steward

1938
The Golden Arrow
6.3

The Golden Arrow

Walker

1936
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