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
ActingBirthday
August 26, 1879Deathday
June 6, 1940Gender
MaleKnown Movie Credits
90Place of birth
Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales, UKAlso known as
Edward Erskholme Clive, Edward E. Clive, E. E. CliveCast credits
Bride of Frankenstein
BurgomasterThe Invisible Man
Constable JaffersLittle Lord Fauntleroy
Sir Harry LorridaileDracula's Daughter
Detective Sergeant WilkesLibeled Lady
Fishing InstructorThe Little Princess
Mr. BarrowsCharlie Chan in London
Det. Sgt. ThackerThe Gay Divorcee
Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)Arrest Bulldog Drummond
TennyPride and Prejudice
Sir William LucasRose of Washington Square
Barouche DriverPersonal Property
Cosgrove DabneyThe Little Minister
Sheriff GreerThe Charge of the Light Brigade
Sir Humphrey HarcourtBulldog Drummond Comes Back
TennyBulldog Drummond Escapes
"Tenny" TennisonTarzan Escapes
MastersCaptain Blood
Clerk of the CourtThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Inspector BristolShow Boat
Congo Maisie
Horace Snell