Skip to content
Join free
E. E. Clive
Actor

E. E. Clive

26 Aug 1879Born
6 Jun 1940Died
60Age at death
89Credits

Biography

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.

Read the full biography

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

Filmography

The 80 most recent of 89 credits.

  1. 1964The Big Parade of ComedyFilm: Cosgrove Dabney in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)
  2. 1940Flowing GoldFilm: Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
  3. 1940Foreign CorrespondentFilm: Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
  4. 1940Pride and PrejudiceFilm: Sir William Lucas
  5. 1940Adventure in DiamondsFilm: Mr. MacPherson
  6. 1940Congo MaisieFilm: Horace Snell
  7. 1940The Earl of ChicagoFilm: Mr. Redwood
  8. 1939The Honeymoon's OverFilm: Col. Shelby
  9. 1939RafflesFilm: Barraclough
  10. 1939The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesFilm: Inspector Bristol
  11. 1939Bulldog Drummond's BrideFilm: Tenny
  12. 1939Bachelor MotherFilm: Butler
  13. 1939Man About TownFilm: Hotchkiss
  14. 1939Rose of Washington SquareFilm: Barouche Driver
  15. 1939I'm from MissouriFilm: Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood
  16. 1939Bulldog Drummond's Secret PoliceFilm: Tenny
  17. 1939The Hound of the BaskervillesFilm: London Cabbie John Clayton
  18. 1939The Little PrincessFilm: Mr. Barrows
  19. 1939Mr. Moto's Last WarningFilm: Port Commandant General (uncredited)
  20. 1938The Last WarningFilm: Major Barclay
  21. 1938Arrest Bulldog DrummondFilm: Tenny
  22. 1938Submarine PatrolFilm
  23. 1938Bulldog Drummond in AfricaFilm: 'Tenny' Tennison
  24. 1938GatewayFilm: Room Steward
  25. 1938KidnappedFilm: Minister MacDougall
  26. 1938Bulldog Drummond's PerilFilm: Tenny
  27. 1938The First Hundred YearsFilm: Chester Blascomb
  28. 1938Arsène Lupin ReturnsFilm: Alf
  29. 1937Bulldog Drummond's RevengeFilm: 'Tenny' Tennison
  30. 1937Beg, Borrow or StealFilm: Lord Nigel Braemer
  31. 1937Live, Love and LearnFilm: Mr. Palmiston
  32. 1937It's Love I'm AfterFilm: First Butler
  33. 1937Danger – Love at WorkFilm: Wilbur
  34. 1937Bulldog Drummond Comes BackFilm: Tenny
  35. 1937Love Under FireFilm: Captain Bowden
  36. 1937The Emperor's CandlesticksFilm: Auctioneer
  37. 1937Night Must FallFilm: Guide
  38. 1937Personal PropertyFilm: Cosgrove Dabney
  39. 1937Ready, Willing and AbleFilm: Sir Samuel Buffington
  40. 1937On the AvenueFilm: Cabby
  41. 1937Maid of SalemFilm: Bilge
  42. 1937They Wanted to MarryFilm: Stiles
  43. 1937Bulldog Drummond EscapesFilm: "Tenny" Tennison
  44. 1936CamilleFilm: Saint Gaudens (uncredited)
  45. 1936Lloyd's of LondonFilm: Magistrate
  46. 1936Tarzan EscapesFilm: Masters
  47. 1936The Charge of the Light BrigadeFilm: Sir Humphrey Harcourt
  48. 1936All American ChumpFilm: Montgomery Brantley, . Montgomery Brantley
  49. 1936Isle of FuryFilm: Dr. Hardy
  50. 1936Libeled LadyFilm: Fishing Instructor
  51. 1936Cain and MabelFilm: Charles Fendwick
  52. 1936Piccadilly JimFilm: London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan
  53. 1936The White AngelFilm: Dr. Smith (uncredited)
  54. 1936Ticket to ParadiseFilm: Barkins
  55. 1936Palm SpringsFilm: Morgan
  56. 1936Trouble for TwoFilm: King
  57. 1936The Golden ArrowFilm: Walker
  58. 1936Show BoatFilm: Sir Arthur
  59. 1936Dracula's DaughterFilm: Sergeant Wilkes
  60. 1936The Unguarded HourFilm: Lord Henry Hathaway
  61. 1936Love Before BreakfastFilm: Yacht Captain (uncredited)
  62. 1936Little Lord FauntleroyFilm: Sir Harry Lorridaile
  63. 1936The Dark HourFilm: Foot, the Butler
  64. 1935Captain BloodFilm: Clerk of the Court
  65. 1935A Tale of Two CitiesFilm: Judge in 'Old Bailey'
  66. 1935The Widow from Monte CarloFilm: Lord Holloway
  67. 1935Kind LadyFilm: Grammaphone Man (uncredited)
  68. 1935Stars Over BroadwayFilm: Crane
  69. 1935Remember Last Night?Film: Coroner's Photographer (uncredited)
  70. 1935A Feather in Her HatFilm: Higgins - Pub Proprietor (uncredited)
  71. 19353 Kids and a QueenFilm: Coachman
  72. 1935Page Miss GloryFilm: Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited)
  73. 1935Atlantic AdventureFilm: McIntosh
  74. 1935We're in the MoneyFilm: Jevons
  75. 1935Bride of FrankensteinFilm: Burgomaster
  76. 1935Gold Diggers of 1935Film: Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)
  77. 1935The Mystery of Edwin DroodFilm: Sapsea
  78. 1935David CopperfieldFilm: Sheriff's Man (uncredited)
  79. 1934The Little MinisterFilm: Sheriff Greer
  80. 1934Father Brown, DetectiveFilm: Sergeant Dawes

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.