Ernest Torrence
Ernest Torrence Thayson - Thompson ( born June 26, 1878 in Edinburgh, Scotland, † May 13, 1933 in New York City ) was a British actor.
Life
Ernest Torrence was born in Scotland. He was as a child pianist and baritone. He attended the Conservatory of Music in Stuttgart and the Edinburgh Academy and then received a scholarship to London's Royal Academy of Music. He toured with the D' Oyly Carte Opera Company and played among others in The Emerald Isle ( 1901) and The Talk of the Town (1905 ). Vocal problems forced him to give up his profession later. Together with his older brother, actor David Torrence, he went before the First World War from Scotland to the USA, where they focused on a pure acting career. They performed at New York's Broadway theaters. 1912 Torrence received praise for his role in Modest Suzanne and his appearance in the theater production of The Night Boat ( 1920) brought him to the attention of Hollywood filmmakers.
1921 played the tall, heavy-weight Torrence in Kings Henry David Tol'able the rogue Luke Hatburn as an opponent of Richard Barthelmess. He was so convincing in this role that he should henceforth usually embody rough, often not very likeable secondary characters. 1923 Ernest Torrence appeared as an old man on in The Covered Wagon by James Cruze and as king of the beggars in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In the film version of Peter Pan in 1924 he took over the role of Captain Hook. Other important roles were those of the Apostle Peter in The King of Kings (1927 ) and the steamboat captain and father in Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill classics, Jr. (1928 ). Torrence had no problems with the introduction of sound. He starred alongside Gary Cooper and Lili Damita in Fighting Caravans ( 1931) and mimed Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes film from the year 1932. His last role was a smuggler in I Cover the Waterfront (1933 ) next to Claudette Colbert.
Shortly after completing the shooting of this film suffered Ernest Torrence on a ship crossing to Europe an acute biliary colic and was transported back to New York hospital, where he died of complications due to the necessary surgery. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame remembers him today.