Ernest Thesiger

Actor

About

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Birth Place

London, England, GB

Born

January 15, 1879

Died

January 14, 1961

Biography

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Gaunt, sharp-featured British character actor whose film appearances were too few but almost invariably delightful. A veteran of the stage, Thesiger brought his rich, fruity delivery and polished timing to a series of eccentric, sometimes menacing, but usually comically haughty character roles. He was perhaps most brilliant in two classic horror films directed by his friend James Whale, ...

Filmography

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Invitation To Murder (1962)

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)

Sons and Lovers (1960)

Mr. [Henry] Hadlock

The Battle of the Sexes (1960)

The Horse's Mouth (1958)

The Truth About Women (1958)

Photos & Videos

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Horse's Mouth, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) Mr. Hickson, Please

Old Dark House, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Not A Very Good Chorus Girl

Biography

Gaunt, sharp-featured British character actor whose film appearances were too few but almost invariably delightful. A veteran of the stage, Thesiger brought his rich, fruity delivery and polished timing to a series of eccentric, sometimes menacing, but usually comically haughty character roles. He was perhaps most brilliant in two classic horror films directed by his friend James Whale, "The Old Dark House" (1932) and "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935). He also graced the unjustly neglected thriller "They Drive By Night" (1938) as a crazed killer, and stole scenes in such satirical films as "The Man in the White Suit" (1951) and "Value for Money" (1955).

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

Invitation To Murder (1962)

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)

Sons and Lovers (1960)

Mr. [Henry] Hadlock

The Battle of the Sexes (1960)

The Horse's Mouth (1958)

The Truth About Women (1958)

Doctor at Large (1957)

An Alligator Named Daisy (1957)

Three Men in a Boat (1956)

Quentin Durward (1955)

Value For Money (1955)

Man with a Million (1954)

The Detective (1954)

Make Me an Offer (1954)

The Robe (1953)

Emperor Tiberius

The Woman's Angle (1952)

A Christmas Carol (1951)

The Magic Box (1951)

The Man in the White Suit (1951)

Sir John Kierlaw

Laughter in Paradise (1951)

The Brass Monkey (1948)

The Bad Lord Byron (1948)

The Winslow Boy (1948)

Beware Of Pity (1946)

Baron Emil Dekekesfalva

Caesar And Cleopatra (1945)

French Ambassador

My Learned Friend (1943)

The Ware Case (1938)

The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1937)

My Heart Is Calling (1935)

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Doctor Pretorius

The Night of the Party (1934)

The Ghoul (1933)

The Old Dark House (1932)

Week-End Wives (1928)

Life Events

1961

Last film, "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone"

Videos

Horse's Mouth, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) Mr. Hickson, Please Painter Gulley Jimson (Alec Guinness) attempts to shake down patron Hickson (Ernest Thesiger) on the phone in The Horse's Mouth, 1958, directed by Ronald Neame from a script by Guinness.

Old Dark House, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Not A Very Good Chorus Girl Strangers waiting out a storm (including Raymond Massey, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart and Ernest Thesiger) learn about Sir William (Charles Laughton) and chorus-girl Gladys (Lillian Bond) in The Old Dark House, 1932.

Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) -- (Movie Clip) She's Alive! A spoiler in that it comes a good 70-minutes into the picture, evil Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) has forced Baron Frankenstein (Colin Clive) to create a bride for the monster (Boris Karloff), and darned if it doesn’t work, Elsa Lanchester in the title role, with mixed result, in James Whale’s electric Bride Of Frankenstein, 1935.

Robe, The (1953) -- (Movie Clip) He Was Made Ill At the Isle of Capri, Diana (Jean Simmons) ward to Roman emperor Tiberius (Ernest Thesiger), lobbies for tribune Gallio (Richard Burton), to whom she is secretly devoted, and who has returned traumatized from overseeing the execution of a Jewish carpenter in Palestine, in The Robe, 1953.

Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Gods And Monsters The doctor (Colin Clive) is persuaded by professor turned blackmailing partner Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) to observe his own work, offering a now famous phrase, then little people (including Joan Woodbury, Pop Byron, Norman Ainsley, Peter Shaw), in James Whale's Bride Of Frankenstein, 1935.

Man in the White Suit, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) New Contract Inventor Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness) meets with Birmley (Cecil Parker), Corland (Michael Gough), Sir John (Ernest Thesiger) to sign a new contract, he smells a rat, in Alexander Mackendrick's The Man in the White Suit, 1951.

Ghoul, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) I Will Come Back! Creepy Egyptologist Professor Morlant (Boris Karloff) instructs his aide Laing (Ernest Thesiger) regarding his burial and shows off fantastic hand make-up in The Ghoul, 1933.

Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, The - (Original Trailer) A fading star (Vivien Leigh) hires a gigolo (Warren Beatty) in Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961).

Bride of Frankenstein - (Re-issue trailer) To save his wife, Baron Frankenstein must build a mate for his monster in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), starring Boris Karloff.

Robe, The - (Original Trailer) A Roman military tribune wins The Robe (1953) of Jesus Christ in the first CinemaScope feature.

Henry V (1944) - (Re-issue Trailer) Shakespeare's tale of the warrior king (Laurence Olivier) who learns the meaning of heroism during a daring invasion of France.

Quentin Durward, The Adventures of - (Original Trailer) Robert Taylor is Sir Walter Scott's medieval hero in The Adventures Of Quentin Durward (1955).

Bibliography

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