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.
Movies(89)
The Big Parade of Comedy
Cosgrove Dabney in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)
1964
Flowing Gold
Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
1940
Foreign Correspondent
Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
1940
Pride and Prejudice
Sir William Lucas
1940
Adventure in Diamonds
Mr. MacPherson
1940
Congo Maisie
Horace Snell
1940
The Earl of Chicago
Mr. Redwood
1940
The Honeymoon's Over
Col. Shelby
1939
Raffles
Barraclough
1939
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Inspector Bristol
1939
Bulldog Drummond's Bride
Tenny
1939
Bachelor Mother
Butler
1939
Man About Town
Hotchkiss
1939
Rose of Washington Square
Barouche Driver
1939
I'm from Missouri
Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood
1939
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
Tenny
1939
The Hound of the Baskervilles
London Cabbie John Clayton
1939
The Little Princess
Mr. Barrows
1939
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
Port Commandant General (uncredited)
1939
The Last Warning
Major Barclay
1938
Arrest Bulldog Drummond
Tenny
1938
Submarine Patrol
1938
Bulldog Drummond in Africa
'Tenny' Tennison
1938
Gateway
Room Steward
1938
Kidnapped
Minister MacDougall
1938
Bulldog Drummond's Peril
Tenny
1938
The First Hundred Years
Chester Blascomb
1938
Arsène Lupin Returns
Alf
1938
Bulldog Drummond's Revenge
'Tenny' Tennison
1937
Beg, Borrow or Steal
Lord Nigel Braemer
1937
Live, Love and Learn
Mr. Palmiston
1937
It's Love I'm After
First Butler
1937
Danger – Love at Work
Wilbur
1937
Bulldog Drummond Comes Back
Tenny
1937
Love Under Fire
Captain Bowden
1937
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Auctioneer
1937
Night Must Fall
Guide
1937
Personal Property
Cosgrove Dabney
1937
Ready, Willing and Able
Sir Samuel Buffington
1937
On the Avenue
Cabby
1937
Maid of Salem
Bilge
1937
They Wanted to Marry
Stiles
1937
Bulldog Drummond Escapes
"Tenny" Tennison
1937
Camille
Saint Gaudens (uncredited)
1936
Lloyd's of London
Magistrate
1936
Tarzan Escapes
Masters
1936
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Sir Humphrey Harcourt
1936
All American Chump
. Montgomery Brantley
1936
Isle of Fury
Dr. Hardy
1936
Libeled Lady
Fishing Instructor
1936
Cain and Mabel
Charles Fendwick
1936
Piccadilly Jim
London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan
1936
The White Angel
Dr. Smith (uncredited)
1936
Ticket to Paradise
Barkins
1936
Palm Springs
Morgan
1936
Trouble for Two
King
1936
The Golden Arrow
Walker
1936
Show Boat
1936
Dracula's Daughter
Sergeant Wilkes
1936
The Unguarded Hour
Lord Henry Hathaway
1936
Love Before Breakfast
Yacht Captain (uncredited)
1936
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Sir Harry Lorridaile
1936
The Dark Hour
Foot, the Butler
1936
Captain Blood
Clerk of the Court
1935
A Tale of Two Cities
Judge in 'Old Bailey'
1935
The Widow from Monte Carlo
Lord Holloway
1935
Kind Lady
Grammaphone Man (uncredited)
1935
Stars Over Broadway
Crane
1935
Remember Last Night?
Coroner's Photographer (uncredited)
1935
A Feather in Her Hat
Higgins - Pub Proprietor (uncredited)
1935
3 Kids and a Queen
Coachman
1935
Page Miss Glory
Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited)
1935
Atlantic Adventure
McIntosh
1935
We're in the Money
Jevons
1935
Bride of Frankenstein
Burgomaster
1935
Gold Diggers of 1935
Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)
1935
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Sapsea
1935
David Copperfield
Sheriff's Man (uncredited)
1935
The Little Minister
Sheriff Greer
1934
Father Brown, Detective
Sergeant Dawes
1934
The Gay Divorcee
Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)
1934
Charlie Chan in London
Det. Sgt. Thacker
1934
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
London Bobbie
1934
One More River
Chayne
1934
Riptide
Major Mills (uncredited)
1934
The Poor Rich
Lord Fetherstone
1934
Long Lost Father
Spot Hawkins
1934
The Invisible Man
Constable Jaffers
1933
Cheaters at Play
Steward
1932