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 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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0868458
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q281962
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Filmography (Movies)
Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl
Character:Self (from Mantrap [1926]) (archive footage)
Release Date:14/06/1999
The Tingler
Character:Luke Hatburn (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:29/07/1959
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:01/01/1942
I Cover the Waterfront
Character:Eli Kirk (Julie's father)
Release Date:19/05/1933
Hypnotized
Character:Prof. Horace S. Limberly - Hypnotist
Release Date:25/12/1932
Sherlock Holmes
Character:Professor James Moriarty
Release Date:05/11/1932
The Cuban Love Song
Character:Romance
Release Date:18/11/1931
New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford
Character:Blackie Daw
Release Date:03/10/1931
Sporting Blood
Character:Mr. Jim Rellence
Release Date:08/08/1931
The Great Lover
Character:Potter
Release Date:18/07/1931
Shipmates
Character:Chief Bosuns Mate Scotty McTavish
Release Date:25/04/1931
Fighting Caravans
Character:Bill Jackson
Release Date:01/02/1931
Sweet Kitty Bellairs
Character:Sir Jasper Standish
Release Date:05/09/1930
Call of the Flesh
Character:Esteban
Release Date:16/08/1930
Strictly Unconventional
Character:Lord Porteous
Release Date:03/05/1930
Officer O'Brien
Character:John Patrick O'Brien
Release Date:15/02/1930
Untamed
Character:Uncle Ben Murchison
Release Date:23/11/1929
Speedway
Character:Jim MacDonald
Release Date:07/10/1929
The Unholy Night
Character:Dr. Ballou
Release Date:13/09/1929
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Character:Uncle Pio
Release Date:30/03/1929
Desert Nights
Character:Steve
Release Date:09/03/1929
The Cossacks
Character:Ivan
Release Date:23/06/1928
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Character:William 'Steamboat Bill' Canfield Sr.
Release Date:09/05/1928
Across to Singapore
Character:Captain Mark Shore
Release Date:07/04/1928
Twelve Miles Out
Character:Red McCue
Release Date:08/07/1927
Captain Salvation
Character:Captain of the 'Panther'
Release Date:14/05/1927
The King of Kings
Character:Peter
Release Date:19/04/1927
The Lady of the Harem
Character:Hassan
Release Date:01/11/1926
Mantrap
Character:Joe Easter
Release Date:24/07/1926
The Rainmaker
Character:Mike
Release Date:10/05/1926
The Blind Goddess
Character:Mr. Clayton
Release Date:04/04/1926
North of 36
Character:Jim Nabours
Release Date:20/03/1926
The American Venus
Character:King Neptune
Release Date:31/01/1926
The Pony Express
Character:'Ascension' Jones
Release Date:03/09/1925
The Wanderer
Character:Tola
Release Date:19/08/1925
Night Life of New York
Character:John Bentley
Release Date:02/08/1925
The Dressmaker from Paris
Character:Angus McGregor
Release Date:30/03/1925
Peter Pan
Character:Captain James Hook
Release Date:29/12/1924
The Side Show of Life
Character:Andrew Lackady
Release Date:21/07/1924
The Fighting Coward
Character:Gen. Orlando Jackson
Release Date:14/03/1924
The Heritage of the Desert
Character:August Naab
Release Date:23/01/1924
West of the Water Tower
Character:Rev. Adrian Plummer
Release Date:06/01/1924
Ruggles of Red Gap
Character:Cousin Egbert Floud
Release Date:07/10/1923
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Character:Clopin
Release Date:06/09/1923
The Brass Bottle
Character:Fakresh-el-Aamash
Release Date:22/07/1923
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Character:'Devil' Jud Tolliver
Release Date:15/04/1923
The Covered Wagon
Character:Jackson
Release Date:15/03/1923
The Kingdom Within
Character:Kreig
Release Date:24/12/1922
Broken Chains
Character:Boyan Boone
Release Date:10/12/1922
Singed Wings
Character:Emilio
Release Date:26/11/1922
The Prodigal Judge
Character:Solomon Mahaffy
Release Date:19/02/1922
Tol'able David
Character:Luke Hatburn
Release Date:31/12/1921
A Dangerous Affair
Character:Abner (as Ernest Torrance)
Release Date:15/06/1919
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