E. E. Clive
Acting
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.
Media of
E. E. Clive
Photos (21)
Filmography of
E. E. Clive
Cosgrove Dabney in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)
... 1964
Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
... 1940
Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
... 1940
Sir William Lucas
... 1940
Mr. MacPherson
... 1940
Horace Snell
... 1940
Mr. Redwood
... 1940
Barraclough
... 1939
Inspector Bristol
... 1939
Tenny
... 1939
Butler
... 1939
Hotchkiss
... 1939
Barouche Driver
... 1939
Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood
... 1939
... 1939
London Cabbie John Clayton
... 1939
Mr. Barrows
... 1939
Port Commandant General (uncredited)
... 1939
Major Barclay
... 1938
Tenny
... 1938
... 1938
'Tenny' Tennison
... 1938
Room Steward
... 1938
Minister MacDougall
... 1938
Tenny
... 1938
Chester Blascomb
... 1938
... 1938
'Tenny' Tennison
... 1937
Lord Nigel Braemer
... 1937
Mr. Palmiston
... 1937
First Butler
... 1937
Wilbur
... 1937
... 1937
Captain Bowden
... 1937
Auctioneer
... 1937
Guide
... 1937
Cosgrove Dabney
... 1937
Sir Samuel Buffington
... 1937
Cabby
... 1937
Bilge
... 1937
Stiles
... 1937
"Tenny" Tennison
... 1937
Saint Gaudens (uncredited)
... 1936
Magistrate
... 1936
Masters
... 1936
Sir Humphrey Harcourt
... 1936
. Montgomery Brantley
... 1936
Montgomery Brantley
... 1936
Dr. Hardy
... 1936
Fishing Instructor
... 1936
Charles Fendwick
... 1936
London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan
... 1936
Dr. Smith (uncredited)
... 1936
Barkins
... 1936
Morgan
... 1936
King
... 1936
Walker
... 1936
... 1936
Sir Arthur
... 1936
Detective Sergeant Wilkes
... 1936
Lord Henry Hathaway
... 1936
Yacht Captain (uncredited)
... 1936
Sir Harry Lorridaile
... 1936
Foot, the Butler
... 1936
Clerk of the Court
... 1935
Judge in 'Old Bailey'
... 1935
Lord Holloway
... 1935
Grammaphone Man (uncredited)
... 1935
Crane
... 1935
Coroner's Photographer (uncredited)
... 1935
Higgins - Pub Proprietor (uncredited)
... 1935
Coachman
... 1935
Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited)
... 1935
McIntosh
... 1935
Jevons
... 1935
Burgomaster
... 1935
Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)
... 1935
Mayor Thomas Sapsea
... 1935
Sheriff's Man (uncredited)
... 1935
Sheriff Greer
... 1934
Sergeant Dawes
... 1934
Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)
... 1934
Det. Sgt. Thacker
... 1934
London Bobbie
... 1934
Chayne
... 1934
Major Mills (uncredited)
... 1934
Lord Fetherstone
... 1934
Spot Hawkins
... 1934
Constable Jaffers
... 1933
Steward
... 1932