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Ernest Thesiger

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Years active
  
1916–61

Name
  
Ernest Thesiger


Role
  
Film actor

Education
  

Born
  
15 January 1879 (
1879-01-15
)
Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom

Died
  
January 14, 1961, London, United Kingdom

Spouse
  
Janette Mary Fernie Ranken (m. 1917–1961)

Movies
  
Bride of Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Ghoul, The Man in the White Suit, The Robe

Similar People
  
James Whale, T Hayes Hunter, Alexander Mackendrick, Maurice Elvey, Lothar Mendes

The monster meets his bride bride of frankenstein 10 10 movie clip 1935 hd


Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, CBE (15 January 1879 – 14 January 1961) was an English stage and film actor. He is especially well-remembered for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Contents

Ernest thesiger expert embroiderer 1944


Early life and career

Ernest Thesiger Ernest Thesiger Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

The grandson of the 1st Lord Chelmsford, Thesiger was born in London, England and was the first cousin once removed of the explorer and author Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003), and the nephew of 2nd Lord Chelmsford, who, exactly a week after Ernest's birth, famously led his troops in battle against — and suffered a defeat at the hands of — a Zulu army at the Battle of Isandlwana.

Ernest Thesiger wwwclassichorrorfreeonlinecoukernest7jpg

Thesiger attended Marlborough College and the Slade School of Art with aspirations of becoming a painter, but quickly switched to drama, making his professional debut in a production of Colonel Smith in 1909.
After the outbreak of World War I, on 31 August 1914 Thesiger volunteered as Rifleman No.2546 with the 2nd Battalion of the 9th London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles), T.F. at its Regimental Headquarters in London's West End. After training in England for 3 months he was sent to the Western Front in late 1914, and was wounded in the trenches on 1 January 1915, and medically evacuated back to England. At a dinner party shortly after his return, someone asked him what it had been like in France, to which he is supposed to have responded "Oh, my dear, the noise! and the people!"

In 1917, he married Janette Mary Fernie Ranken (1877-1970), sister of his close friend and fellow Slade graduate William Bruce Ellis Ranken. In her biography of Thesiger's friend, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Hilary Spurling suggests that Thesiger and Janette wed largely out of their mutual adoration of William, who shaved his head when he learned of the engagement. Another source states more explicitly that Thesiger made no secret of his homosexuality.

Thesiger moved in several artistic, literary and theatrical circles. At various times, he frequented the studio of John Singer Sargent, befriended Mrs. Patrick Campbell, visited and corresponded with Percy Grainger and worked closely with George Bernard Shaw, who wrote the role of the Dauphin in Saint Joan for him. Somerset Maugham, on the other hand, responded to Thesiger's inquiry as to why he wrote no parts for him with the quip, "But I am always writing parts for you, Ernest. The trouble is that somebody called Gladys Cooper will insist on playing them." Thesiger was part of the cast of Maugham's highly successful 1921 place The Circle, produced at the Haymarket Theatre (also with Fay Compton and Leon Quartermaine).

Film career

Thesiger made his film debut in 1916 in The Real Thing at Last, a spoof presenting Macbeth as it might be done by an American company, in which he did a drag turn as one of the Witches. Thesiger also played the First Witch in a 1941 production of Macbeth directed by John Gielgud. He performed more small roles in films during the silent era, but worked mainly on the stage.

In 1925, Thesiger appeared in Noël Coward's On with the Dance, again in drag, and later played the Dauphin in Shaw's Saint Joan. He wrote an autobiography Practically True, published in 1927, which covers his stage career. An unpublished memoir written near the end of his life is housed in the Ernest Thesiger Collection at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection.

Work with James Whale

When he appeared in a Christmas production of The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1919, Thesiger met and befriended James Whale. After Whale had moved to Hollywood and found success with the films Journey's End (1930) and Frankenstein (1931), the director was commissioned to direct the screen adaptation of J. B. Priestley's Benighted as The Old Dark House (1932), starring Charles Laughton in his first American film, together with Boris Karloff and Raymond Massey. Whale immediately cast Thesiger in the film as Horace Femm, launching his Hollywood career. The following year Thesiger appeared (as a Scottish butler) with Karloff in a British film The Ghoul.

When Whale agreed to direct Bride of Frankenstein in 1935, he insisted on casting Thesiger as Dr. Septimus Pretorius, instead of the studio's choice of Claude Rains. Partly inspired by Mary Shelley's friend John Polidori and largely based on the Renaissance physician and botanist Paracelsus, it became Thesiger's most famous role.

Arriving in the United States for the filming of Bride of Frankenstein, Thesiger immediately set up a display in his hotel suite of all his needlework, each with a price tag, and during the making of the film he would work on needlework, one of his hobbies.

After Bride

Originally cast to play the luddite sculptor Theotocopolous in H.G. Wells's Things to Come (1936), Thesiger's performance was deemed unsuitable by the author, and so was replaced by Cedric Hardwicke, although he was retained on the parallel production of Wells's The Man Who Could Work Miracles. Around this same time Thesiger published a book, Adventures in Embroidery, about needlework, which was his expert hobby.

The remainder of Thesiger's career was centered on the theatrical stage, though he did appear in supporting roles in films produced in Britain, prominent among which is The Man in the White Suit (1951), starring Alec Guinness. He plays "Sir John," the most powerful, the richest, and the oldest of the industrialists (jointly with the trade unions) trying to suppress Guinness's invention of a fabric that never wears out and never gets dirty.

Thesiger made several appearances on Broadway, notably as Jacques to Katharine Hepburn's Rosalind in the longest-running production of As You Like It ever produced on Broadway. Later films included The Horse's Mouth (1958) with Alec Guinness, Sons and Lovers (1960), and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, with Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty (1961). That same year he made his final stage appearance—a mere week before his death—in The Last Joke, with John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson.

Later life

In 1960, Thesiger was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). His last film appearance was a small role in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1962). Shortly after completing it, Thesiger died in his sleep from natural causes on the eve of his 82nd birthday, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

Legacy

In the fictionalised James Whale biopic Gods and Monsters (1998), Thesiger was portrayed by Arthur Dignam. And the real Thesiger is seen in the film when Brendan Fraser, as Whale's gardener, sits at a bar watching a televised showing of the original 1935 Bride of Frankenstein.

Filmography

Actor
1961
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone as
Stefano
1960
Somerset Maugham Hour (TV Series) as
His Lordship / Sir Edward London
- The Verger (1960) - His Lordship
- The Happy Couple (1960) - Sir Edward London
1957
ITV Television Playhouse (TV Series) as
Calvin Broderick / Sir Walter Stanham / Colonel Gyll / ...
- Night Run to the West (1960) - Calvin Broderick
- The White Sheep of the Family (1959)
- The Touch of Fear (1958) - Sir Walter Stanham
- Do as I Do (1958) - Colonel Gyll
- The Queen's Husband (1957) - Phipps
1960
Sons and Lovers as
Mr. Hadlock
1960
The Battle of the Sexes as
Old Macpherson
1959
Armchair Theatre (TV Series) as
The Dean / Professor Galton / Millionaire
- Lord Arthur Savile's Crime (1960) - The Dean
- Suspicious Mind (1959) - Professor Galton
- Invitation to Murder (1959) - Millionaire
1959
Result of an Accident (TV Movie) as
Mr. Justice Finston
1958
Chaucer's England (Short) as
Death
1958
The Horse's Mouth as
Hickson
1957
The Truth About Women as
Judge
1957
Joyous Errand (TV Series) as
Mr. Skaife
- Episode #1.1 (1957) - Mr. Skaife
1957
Doctor at Large as
First Examiner
1956
ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) as
Ronny Sanctuary / Polonius
- A Man About the House (1957) - Ronny Sanctuary
- Hamlet (1956) - Polonius
1956
Three Men in a Boat as
3rd Old Gentleman
1953
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (TV Series) as
John Cadmus / Montané
- Marching Song (1956) - John Cadmus
- The Public Prosecutor (1953) - Montané
1956
Who Done It? as
Sir Walter
1955
An Alligator Named Daisy as
Notcher (uncredited)
1955
Quentin Durward as
Lord Crawford
1955
Value for Money as
Lord Dewsbury
1955
Make Me an Offer! as
Sir John
1955
Simon and Laura (TV Movie) as
Wilson
1954
The Detective as
The Vicomte
1954
Man with a Million as
Mr. Garrett, Bank Director (uncredited)
1953
Meet Mr. Lucifer as
Mr. Macdonald
1953
Thought to Kill as
Burden Senior
1953
The Robe as
Emperor Tiberius
1953
A Fish in the Family (TV Movie) as
Rev. Philip Hodgson
1953
Rheingold Theatre (TV Series) as
Burdon Sr.
- Thought to Kill (1953) - Burdon Sr.
1952
The Woman's Angle as
Judge
1951
A Christmas Carol as
The Undertaker
1951
The Magic Box as
Earl
1951
The Man in the White Suit as
Sir John Kierlaw
1951
Laughter in Paradise as
Endicott
1950
Last Holiday as
Sir Trevor Lampington
1949
The Bad Lord Byron as
Count Guiccioli
1949
Macbeth/II (TV Movie) as
Weird Sister
1949
Macbeth (TV Movie) as
Witch
1949
Lost Daughter as
Bloomfield (scenes deleted)
1948
Brass Monkey as
Ryder-Harris
1948
Quartet as
Henry Dashwood (segment "The Colonel's Lady")
1948
The Winslow Boy as
Mr. Ridgeley Pierce
1947
The Ghosts of Berkeley Square as
Dr. Cruickshank of Psychical Research Society
1947
Jassy as
Sir Edward Follesmark
1947
The Smugglers as
Farne
1946
Androcles and the Lion (TV Movie) as
Caesar
1946
Beware of Pity as
Baron Emil de Kekesfalva
1945
Caesar and Cleopatra as
1945
A Place of One's Own as
Dr. Marsham
1944
Henry V as
Duke of Berri French Ambassador
1944
Don't Take It to Heart! as
Justices' Clerk
1943
The Lamp Still Burns as
Chairman
1943
My Learned Friend as
Ferris
1939
Geneva (TV Movie) as
Sir Orpheus Midlander
1938
Lightning Conductor as
Professor
1938
They Drive by Night as
Walter Hoover
1938
The Ware Case as
Carter
1936
The Man Who Could Work Miracles as
Maydig
1935
The Bride of Frankenstein as
Doctor Pretorius
1935
My Heart Is Calling as
Fevrier
1934
The Murder Party as
Chiddiatt
1933
The Only Girl as
The Chamberlain
1933
The Ghoul as
Laing
1932
The Old Dark House as
Horace Femm
1930
Ashes (Short) as
Announcer
1929
The Vagabond Queen as
Lidoff
1929
Week-End Wives as
Bertram
1922
Number 13 as
Mr. Peabody
1921
The Adventures of Mr. Pickwick as
Mr. Jingle
1921
The Bachelor's Club as
Israfel Mondego
1919
A Little Bit of Fluff as
Bertram Tully
1918
Nelson as
Wiliam Pitt
1918
The Life Story of David Lloyd George as
Joseph Chamberlain
1916
The Real Thing at Last (Short) as
Witch
Archive Footage
2019
Carl Laemmle (Documentary) as
Self
2017
Daughter of Frankenstein: A Conversation with Sara Karloff (Video documentary short) as
Horace Femm (uncredited)
2009
Cinemassacre's Monster Madness (TV Series documentary) as
Dr. Pretorius / Horace Femm
- The Bride of Frankenstein (2011) - Dr. Pretorius
- The Old Dark House (2009) - Horace Femm
2010
A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss (TV Mini Series documentary) as
Doctor Pretorius
- Frankenstein Goes to Hollywood (2010) - Doctor Pretorius (uncredited)
1998
Universal Horror (TV Movie documentary)
1994
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein (TV Movie documentary)
1986
Moonlighting (TV Series) as
Doctor Pretorius
- The Bride of Tupperman (1986) - Doctor Pretorius (uncredited)
1984
Terror in the Aisles (Documentary) as
Dr. Septimus Pretorius (uncredited)
1979
The Horror Show (TV Movie documentary)

References

Ernest Thesiger Wikipedia


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