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