
Ernest Torrence
Biography
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.
Acting (51 movies)

Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1928

A Dangerous Affair
1919

I Cover the Waterfront
1933

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
1923

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1923

Mantrap
1926

The Lady of the Harem
1926

The Cuban Love Song
1931

Across to Singapore
1928

Fighting Caravans
1931

Speedway
1929

Ruggles of Red Gap
1923

Desert Nights
1929

The Prodigal Judge
1922

The Unholy Night
1929

Sherlock Holmes
1932

The Great Lover
1931

Untamed
1929

Shipmates
1931

The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1929

The Cossacks
1928

Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl
1999

Call of the Flesh
1930

Sporting Blood
1931

Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
1942

Captain Salvation
1927

New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford
1931

Sweet Kitty Bellairs
1930

The Covered Wagon
1923

Officer O'Brien
1930

Strictly Unconventional
1930

Hypnotized
1932

North of 36
1926

The King of Kings
1927

Peter Pan
1924

Night Life of New York
1925

Broken Chains
1922

Twelve Miles Out
1927

The Pony Express
1925

Tol'able David
1921

The Tingler
1959

The American Venus
1926

The Brass Bottle
1923

The Wanderer
1925

Singed Wings
1922

The Fighting Coward
1924

The Heritage of the Desert
1924

The Dressmaker from Paris
1925

The Side Show of Life
1924

The Rainmaker
1926

West of the Water Tower
1924
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