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.

Filmography

• 1959The Tingler — Luke Hatburn (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1933I Cover the Waterfront — Eli Kirk (Julie's father)
• 1932Hypnotized — Prof. Horace S. Limberly - Hypnotist
• 1932Sherlock Holmes — Professor James Moriarty
• 1931Fighting Caravans — Bill Jackson
• 1931New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford — Blackie Daw
• 1931Shipmates — Chief Bosuns Mate Scotty McTavish
• 1931Sporting Blood — Mr. Jim Rellence
• 1931The Cuban Love Song — Romance
• 1931The Great Lover — Potter
• 1930Call of the Flesh — Esteban
• 1930Officer O'Brien — John Patrick O'Brien
• 1930Strictly Unconventional — Lord Porteous
• 1930Sweet Kitty Bellairs — Sir Jasper Standish
• 1929Desert Nights — Steve
• 1929Speedway — Jim MacDonald
• 1929The Bridge of San Luis Rey — Uncle Pio
• 1929The Unholy Night — Dr. Ballou
• 1929Untamed — Uncle Ben Murchison
• 1928Across to Singapore — Captain Mark Shore
• 1928Steamboat Bill, Jr. — Steamboat Bill Sr.
• 1928The Cossacks — Ivan
• 1927Captain Salvation — Captain of the 'Panther'
• 1927The King of Kings — Peter
• 1927Twelve Miles Out — Red McCue
• 1926Mantrap — Joe Easter
• 1926North of 36 — Jim Nabours
• 1926The American Venus — King Neptune
• 1926The Blind Goddess — Mr. Clayton
• 1926The Lady of the Harem — Hassan
• 1926The Rainmaker — Mike
• 1925Night Life of New York — John Bentley
• 1925The Dressmaker from Paris — Angus McGregor
• 1925The Pony Express — 'Ascension' Jones
• 1925The Wanderer — Tola
• 1924Peter Pan — Captain James Hook
• 1924The Fighting Coward — Gen. Orlando Jackson
• 1924The Heritage of the Desert — August Naab
• 1924The Side Show of Life — Andrew Lackady
• 1924West of the Water Tower — Rev. Adrian Plummer
• 1923Ruggles of Red Gap — Cousin Egbert Floud
• 1923The Brass Bottle — Fakresh-el-Aamash
• 1923The Covered Wagon — Jackson
• 1923The Hunchback of Notre Dame — Clopin
• 1923The Trail of the Lonesome Pine — 'Devil' Jud Tolliver
• 1922Broken Chains — Boyan Boone
• 1922Singed Wings — Emilio
• 1922The Kingdom Within — Kreig
• 1922The Prodigal Judge — Solomon Mahaffy
• 1921Tol'able David — Luke Hatburn
• 1919A Dangerous Affair — Abner (as Ernest Torrance)

Appearances as themselves (2)

• 1999Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl — Self (from Mantrap [1926]) (archive footage)
• 1942Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) — Self (archive footage)