Ernest Torrence

Ernest Torrence

Acting 1878-06-24 Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

He was the man you loved to hiss. This towering (6' 4"), highly imposing character star with cold, hollow, beady eyes and a huge, protruding snout would go on to become one of the silent screen's finest arch villains. Born Ernest Thayson Torrence-Thompson on June 26, 1878, in Edinburgh, Scotland, he was, unlikely enough, an exceptional pianist and operatic baritone. A graduate of the Stuttgart Conservatory, Edinburgh Academy before earning a scholarship at London's Royal Academy of Music, he toured with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in such productions as "The Emerald Isle" (1901) and "The Talk of the Town" (1905) before serious vocal problems set in. Both Ernest and his actor brother David Torrence came to America directly from Scotland prior to WWI. Focusing instead on a purely acting career, both brothers developed into seasoned players on the New York stage. Ernest made his Broadway bow with "Modest Suzanne" in 1912 and a standout role in "The Night Boat" in 1920 brought him to the attention of Hollywood filmmakers. He earned superb marks playing the despicable adversary Luke Hatburn in Tol'able David (1921) opposite Richard Barthelmess, and immediately settled into films for the rest of his career. Adept at both comedy and drama, Ernest avoided what could have been a damaging stereotype with his sympathetic portrayal of a grizzled old codger in the classic western The Covered Wagon (1923). He further bolstered his celebrity with plum, lip-smacking roles alongside Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) as Clopin, king of the beggars, and Betty Bronson in Peter Pan (1924) as the dastardly Captain Hook. In an offbeat bit of casting he paired up with Clara Bow in Mantrap (1926) as a gentle, bear-like backwoodsman in search of a wife, and participated in other silent classics such as The King of Kings (1927) (as Peter) and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) as Buster Keaton's steamboat captain Dad. Despite his celluloid villainy, Ernest was known as a courtly and cultivated gentleman in private. He made the transition into talking films intact and was able to play a marvelous nemesis, Dr. Moriarty, to Clive Brooks ' Sherlock Holmes (1932) before his untimely death. Ernest died following his filming as a smuggler in I Cover the Waterfront (1933) starring Claudette Colbert in New York on May 15,1933, at the relatively young age of 54. It seems that while en route to Europe by ship, Torrence suffered an acute attack of gall stones and was rushed back to a New York hospital. He died of complications following surgery. Looking and usually playing much older than he was, Hollywood lost a marvelously talented and robust character player who had dozens of films ahead of him.

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全部作品

1999 Self (from Mantrap [1926]) (archive footage)
1959 Luke Hatburn (archive footage) (uncredited)
1942 Self (archive footage)
1933 Eli Kirk (Julie's father)
1932 Professor James Moriarty
1932 Prof. Horace S. Limberly - Hypnotist
1931 Romance
1931 Bill Jackson
1931 Potter
1931 Chief Bosuns Mate Scotty McTavish
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1931 Mr. Jim Rellence
1930 Esteban
1930 Sir Jasper Standish
1930 John Patrick O'Brien
1930 Lord Porteous
1929 Jim MacDonald
1929 Steve
1929 Dr. Ballou
1929 Uncle Ben Murchison
1929 Uncle Pio
1928 William 'Steamboat Bill' Canfield Sr.
1928 Captain Mark Shore
1928 Ivan
1927 Captain of the 'Panther'
1927 Peter
1927 Red McCue
1926 Mr. Clayton
1926 Joe Easter
1926 Hassan
1926 Jim Nabours
1926 King Neptune
1926 Mike
1925 John Bentley
1925 'Ascension' Jones
1925 Tola
1925 Angus McGregor
1924 Captain James Hook
1924 Gen. Orlando Jackson
1924 August Naab
1924 Andrew Lackady
1924 Rev. Adrian Plummer
1923 'Devil' Jud Tolliver
1923 Clopin
1923 Cousin Egbert Floud
1923 Jackson
1923 Fakresh-el-Aamash
1922 Solomon Mahaffy
1922 Boyan Boone
1922 Kreig
1922 Emilio
1921 Luke Hatburn
1919 Abner (as Ernest Torrance)