Acting · Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK · Born August 26, 1879
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.
MovieThe Big Parade of Comedy
1964
as Cosgrove Dabney in 'Personal Property' (arch. foot.) (uncred.)
MovieFlowing Gold
1940
as Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
MovieForeign Correspondent
1940
as Mr. Naismith (uncredited)
MoviePride and Prejudice
1940
as Sir William Lucas
MovieAdventure in Diamonds
1940
as Mr. MacPherson
MovieCongo Maisie
1940
as Horace Snell
MovieThe Earl of Chicago
1940
as Mr. Redwood
MovieThe Honeymoon's Over
1939
as Col. Shelby
MovieRaffles
1939
as Barraclough
MovieThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1939
as Inspector Bristol
MovieBulldog Drummond's Bride
1939
as Tenny
MovieBachelor Mother
1939
as Butler
MovieMan About Town
1939
as Hotchkiss
MovieRose of Washington Square
1939
as Barouche Driver
MovieI'm from Missouri
1939
as Mr. Arthur, Duke of Cricklewood
MovieBulldog Drummond's Secret Police
1939
as Tenny
MovieThe Hound of the Baskervilles
1939
as London Cabbie John Clayton
MovieThe Little Princess
1939
as Mr. Barrows
MovieMr. Moto's Last Warning
1939
as Port Commandant General (uncredited)
MovieThe Last Warning
1938
as Major Barclay
MovieArrest Bulldog Drummond
1938
as Tenny
MovieSubmarine Patrol
1938
MovieBulldog Drummond in Africa
1938
as 'Tenny' Tennison
MovieGateway
1938
as Room Steward
MovieKidnapped
1938
as Minister MacDougall
MovieBulldog Drummond's Peril
1938
as Tenny
MovieThe First Hundred Years
1938
as Chester Blascomb
MovieArsène Lupin Returns
1938
as Alf
MovieBulldog Drummond's Revenge
1937
as 'Tenny' Tennison
MovieBeg, Borrow or Steal
1937
as Lord Nigel Braemer
MovieLive, Love and Learn
1937
as Mr. Palmiston
MovieIt's Love I'm After
1937
as First Butler
MovieDanger – Love at Work
1937
as Wilbur
MovieBulldog Drummond Comes Back
1937
as Tenny
MovieLove Under Fire
1937
as Captain Bowden
MovieThe Emperor's Candlesticks
1937
as Auctioneer
MovieNight Must Fall
1937
as Guide
MoviePersonal Property
1937
as Cosgrove Dabney
MovieReady, Willing and Able
1937
as Sir Samuel Buffington
MovieOn the Avenue
1937
as Cabby
MovieMaid of Salem
1937
as Bilge
MovieThey Wanted to Marry
1937
as Stiles
MovieBulldog Drummond Escapes
1937
as "Tenny" Tennison
MovieCamille
1936
as Saint Gaudens (uncredited)
MovieLloyd's of London
1936
as Magistrate
MovieTarzan Escapes
1936
as Masters
MovieThe Charge of the Light Brigade
1936
as Sir Humphrey Harcourt
MovieAll American Chump
1936
as Montgomery Brantley
MovieIsle of Fury
1936
as Dr. Hardy
MovieLibeled Lady
1936
as Fishing Instructor
MovieCain and Mabel
1936
as Charles Fendwick
MoviePiccadilly Jim
1936
as London Gossip Editor Bill Mechan
MovieThe White Angel
1936
as Dr. Smith (uncredited)
MovieTicket to Paradise
1936
as Barkins
MoviePalm Springs
1936
as Morgan
MovieTrouble for Two
1936
as King
MovieThe Golden Arrow
1936
as Walker
MovieShow Boat
1936
MovieDracula's Daughter
1936
as Sergeant Wilkes
MovieThe Unguarded Hour
1936
as Lord Henry Hathaway
MovieLove Before Breakfast
1936
as Yacht Captain (uncredited)
MovieLittle Lord Fauntleroy
1936
as Sir Harry Lorridaile
MovieThe Dark Hour
1936
as Foot, the Butler
MovieCaptain Blood
1935
as Clerk of the Court
MovieA Tale of Two Cities
1935
as Judge in 'Old Bailey'
MovieThe Widow from Monte Carlo
1935
as Lord Holloway
MovieKind Lady
1935
as Grammaphone Man (uncredited)
MovieStars Over Broadway
1935
as Crane
MovieRemember Last Night?
1935
as Coroner's Photographer (uncredited)
MovieA Feather in Her Hat
1935
as Higgins - Pub Proprietor (uncredited)
Movie3 Kids and a Queen
1935
as Coachman
MoviePage Miss Glory
1935
as Monogram Shirtmaker (uncredited)
MovieAtlantic Adventure
1935
as McIntosh
MovieWe're in the Money
1935
as Jevons
MovieBride of Frankenstein
1935
as Burgomaster
MovieGold Diggers of 1935
1935
as Thorpe's Chauffeur Westbrook (uncredited)
MovieThe Mystery of Edwin Drood
1935
as Sapsea
MovieDavid Copperfield
1935
as Sheriff's Man (uncredited)
MovieThe Little Minister
1934
as Sheriff Greer
MovieFather Brown, Detective
1934
as Sergeant Dawes
MovieThe Gay Divorcee
1934
as Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)
MovieCharlie Chan in London
1934
as Det. Sgt. Thacker
MovieBulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934
as London Bobbie
MovieOne More River
1934
as Chayne
MovieRiptide
1934
as Major Mills (uncredited)
MovieThe Poor Rich
1934
as Lord Fetherstone
MovieLong Lost Father
1934
as Spot Hawkins
MovieThe Invisible Man
1933
as Constable Jaffers
MovieCheaters at Play
1932
as Steward
