E. E. Clive
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
Credits
- 1964 · The Big Parade of Comedy as Cosgrove Dabney in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)
- 1940 · Flowing Gold as Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
- 1940 · Foreign Correspondent as Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
- 1940 · Pride and Prejudice as Sir William Lucas
- 1940 · Adventure in Diamonds as Mr. MacPherson
- 1940 · Congo Maisie as Horace Snell
- 1940 · The Earl of Chicago as Mr. Redwood
- 1939 · Raffles as Barraclough
- 1939 · The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as Inspector Bristol
- 1939 · Bulldog Drummond's Bride as Tenny
- 1939 · Bachelor Mother as Butler
- 1939 · Man About Town as Hotchkiss
- 1939 · Rose of Washington Square as Barouche Driver
- 1939 · I'm from Missouri as Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood
- 1939 · Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police as Tenny
- 1939 · The Hound of the Baskervilles as London Cabbie John Clayton
- 1939 · The Little Princess as Mr. Barrows
- 1939 · Mr. Moto's Last Warning as Port Commandant General (uncredited)
- 1938 · The Last Warning as Major Barclay
- 1938 · Arrest Bulldog Drummond as Tenny
- 1938 · Submarine Patrol as
- 1938 · Gateway as Room Steward
- 1938 · Bulldog Drummond in Africa as 'Tenny' Tennison
- 1938 · Kidnapped as Minister MacDougall
- 1938 · Bulldog Drummond's Peril as Tenny
- 1938 · The First Hundred Years as Chester Blascomb
- 1938 · Arsène Lupin Returns as Alf
- 1937 · Bulldog Drummond's Revenge as 'Tenny' Tennison
- 1937 · Beg, Borrow or Steal as Lord Nigel Braemer
- 1937 · Live, Love and Learn as Mr. Palmiston
- 1937 · It's Love I'm After as First Butler
- 1937 · Danger – Love at Work as Wilbur
- 1937 · Bulldog Drummond Comes Back as Tenny
- 1937 · Love Under Fire as Captain Bowden
- 1937 · The Emperor's Candlesticks as Auctioneer
- 1937 · Night Must Fall as Guide
- 1937 · Personal Property as Cosgrove Dabney
- 1937 · Ready, Willing and Able as Sir Samuel Buffington
- 1937 · On the Avenue as Cabby
- 1937 · Maid of Salem as Bilge
- 1937 · They Wanted to Marry as Stiles
- 1937 · Bulldog Drummond Escapes as "Tenny" Tennison
- 1936 · Camille as Saint Gaudens (uncredited)
- 1936 · Lloyd's of London as Magistrate
- 1936 · Tarzan Escapes as Masters
- 1936 · The Charge of the Light Brigade as Sir Humphrey Harcourt
- 1936 · All American Chump as Montgomery Brantley
- 1936 · All American Chump as . Montgomery Brantley
- 1936 · Isle of Fury as Dr. Hardy
- 1936 · Libeled Lady as Fishing Instructor
- 1936 · Cain and Mabel as Charles Fendwick
- 1936 · Piccadilly Jim as London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan
- 1936 · The White Angel as Dr. Smith (uncredited)
- 1936 · Ticket to Paradise as Barkins
- 1936 · Palm Springs as Morgan
- 1936 · Trouble for Two as King
- 1936 · The Golden Arrow as Walker
- 1936 · Show Boat as
- 1936 · Show Boat as Sir Arthur
- 1936 · Dracula's Daughter as Detective Sergeant Wilkes
- 1936 · The Unguarded Hour as Lord Henry Hathaway
- 1936 · Love Before Breakfast as Yacht Captain (uncredited)
- 1936 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as Sir Harry Lorridaile
- 1936 · The Dark Hour as Foot, the Butler
- 1935 · Captain Blood as Clerk of the Court
- 1935 · A Tale of Two Cities as Judge in 'Old Bailey'
- 1935 · The Widow from Monte Carlo as Lord Holloway
- 1935 · Kind Lady as Grammaphone Man (uncredited)
- 1935 · Stars Over Broadway as Crane
- 1935 · Remember Last Night? as Coroner's Photographer (uncredited)
- 1935 · A Feather in Her Hat as Higgins - Pub Proprietor (uncredited)
- 1935 · 3 Kids and a Queen as Coachman
- 1935 · Page Miss Glory as Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited)
- 1935 · Atlantic Adventure as McIntosh
- 1935 · We're in the Money as Jevons
- 1935 · Bride of Frankenstein as Burgomaster
- 1935 · Gold Diggers of 1935 as Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)
- 1935 · The Mystery of Edwin Drood as Mayor Thomas Sapsea
- 1935 · David Copperfield as Sheriff's Man (uncredited)
- 1934 · The Little Minister as Sheriff Greer
- 1934 · Father Brown, Detective as Sergeant Dawes
- 1934 · The Gay Divorcee as Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)
- 1934 · Charlie Chan in London as Det. Sgt. Thacker
- 1934 · Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back as London Bobbie
- 1934 · One More River as Chayne
- 1934 · Riptide as Major Mills (uncredited)
- 1934 · The Poor Rich as Lord Fetherstone
- 1934 · Long Lost Father as Spot Hawkins
- 1933 · The Invisible Man as Constable Jaffers
- 1932 · Cheaters at Play as Steward