Ernest Torrence
He was the man you loved to hiss. This towering (6' 4"), highly imposing character star with cold, hollow, beady eyes and a huge, protruding snout would go on to become one of the silent screen's finest arch villains. Born Ernest Thayson Torrence-Thompson on June 26, 1878, in Edinburgh, Scotland, he was, unlikely enough, an exceptional pianist and operatic baritone. A graduate of the Stuttgart Conservatory, Edinburgh Academy before earning a scholarship at London's Royal Academy of Music, he toured with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in such productions as "The Emerald Isle" (1901) and "The Talk of the Town" (1905) before serious vocal problems set in. Both Ernest and his actor brother David Torrence came to America directly from Scotland prior to WWI. Focusing instead on a purely acting career, both brothers developed into seasoned players on the New York stage. Ernest made his Broadway bow with "Modest Suzanne" in 1912 and a standout role in "The Night Boat" in 1920 brought him to the attention of Hollywood filmmakers. He earned superb marks playing the despicable adversary Luke Hatburn in Tol'able David (1921) opposite Richard Barthelmess, and immediately settled into films for the rest of his career. Adept at both comedy and drama, Ernest avoided what could have been a damaging stereotype with his sympathetic portrayal of a grizzled old codger in the classic western The Covered Wagon (1923). He further bolstered his celebrity with plum, lip-smacking roles alongside Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) as Clopin, king of the beggars, and Betty Bronson in Peter Pan (1924) as the dastardly Captain Hook. In an offbeat bit of casting he paired up with Clara Bow in Mantrap (1926) as a gentle, bear-like backwoodsman in search of a wife, and participated in other silent classics such as The King of Kings (1927) (as Peter) and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) as Buster Keaton's steamboat captain Dad. Despite his celluloid villainy, Ernest was known as a courtly and cultivated gentleman in private. He made the transition into talking films intact and was able to play a marvelous nemesis, Dr. Moriarty, to Clive Brooks ' Sherlock Holmes (1932) before his untimely death. Ernest died following his filming as a smuggler in I Cover the Waterfront (1933) starring Claudette Colbert in New York on May 15,1933, at the relatively young age of 54. It seems that while en route to Europe by ship, Torrence suffered an acute attack of gall stones and was rushed back to a New York hospital. He died of complications following surgery. Looking and usually playing much older than he was, Hollywood lost a marvelously talented and robust character player who had dozens of films ahead of him.
Known For
Credits
- 1999 · Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl as Self (from Mantrap [1926]) (archive footage)
- 1959 · The Tingler as Luke Hatburn (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1942 · Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) as Self (archive footage)
- 1933 · I Cover the Waterfront as Eli Kirk (Julie's father)
- 1932 · Hypnotized as Prof. Horace S. Limberly - Hypnotist
- 1932 · Sherlock Holmes as Professor James Moriarty
- 1931 · The Cuban Love Song as Romance
- 1931 · New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford as Blackie Daw
- 1931 · Sporting Blood as Mr. Jim Rellence
- 1931 · The Great Lover as Potter
- 1931 · Shipmates as Chief Bosuns Mate Scotty McTavish
- 1931 · Fighting Caravans as Bill Jackson
- 1930 · Sweet Kitty Bellairs as Sir Jasper Standish
- 1930 · Call of the Flesh as Esteban
- 1930 · Strictly Unconventional as Lord Porteous
- 1930 · Officer O'Brien as John Patrick O'Brien
- 1929 · Untamed as Uncle Ben Murchison
- 1929 · Speedway as Jim MacDonald
- 1929 · The Unholy Night as Dr. Ballou
- 1929 · The Bridge of San Luis Rey as Uncle Pio
- 1929 · Desert Nights as Steve
- 1928 · The Cossacks as Ivan
- 1928 · Steamboat Bill, Jr. as William 'Steamboat Bill' Canfield Sr.
- 1928 · Across to Singapore as Captain Mark Shore
- 1927 · Twelve Miles Out as Red McCue
- 1927 · Captain Salvation as Captain of the 'Panther'
- 1927 · The King of Kings as Peter
- 1926 · The Lady of the Harem as Hassan
- 1926 · Mantrap as Joe Easter
- 1926 · The Rainmaker as Mike
- 1926 · The Blind Goddess as Mr. Clayton
- 1926 · North of 36 as Jim Nabours
- 1926 · The American Venus as King Neptune
- 1925 · The Pony Express as 'Ascension' Jones
- 1925 · The Wanderer as Tola
- 1925 · Night Life of New York as John Bentley
- 1925 · The Dressmaker from Paris as Angus McGregor
- 1924 · Peter Pan as Captain James Hook
- 1924 · The Side Show of Life as Andrew Lackady
- 1924 · The Fighting Coward as Gen. Orlando Jackson
- 1924 · The Heritage of the Desert as August Naab
- 1923 · Ruggles of Red Gap as Cousin Egbert Floud
- 1923 · The Hunchback of Notre Dame as Clopin
- 1923 · The Brass Bottle as Fakresh-el-Aamash
- 1923 · The Trail of the Lonesome Pine as 'Devil' Jud Tolliver
- 1923 · The Covered Wagon as Jackson
- 1922 · The Kingdom Within as Kreig
- 1922 · Broken Chains as Boyan Boone
- 1922 · Singed Wings as Emilio
- 1922 · The Prodigal Judge as Solomon Mahaffy
- 1921 · Tol'able David as Luke Hatburn
- 1919 · A Dangerous Affair as Abner (as Ernest Torrance)