Eric Blore Sr. (23 December 1887 – 2 March 1959) was an English actor and writer. His early stage career, mostly in the West End of London, centred on

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

and

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, but also included straight plays. He wrote sketches for and appeared in

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

. In the 1930s Blore acted mostly in

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

productions. He made his last London appearance in 1933 in the

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

hit '' Gay Divorce''. Between 1930 and 1955 he made more than 60

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

films, becoming particularly well known for playing butlers and other superior domestic servants. He retired in 1956 for health reasons, and died in Hollywood in 1959 at the age of 71.

Life and career

Early years

Blore was born in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill a ...

, a north-London suburb on 23 December 1887, son of Henry Blore and his wife Mary, ''née'' Newton.Parker, p. 77 He was educated at Mills School, Finchley, and after leaving school he worked for an insurance company."Mr Eric Blore", ''The Times'', London, 3 March 1959, p. 12 He was drawn to a theatrical career, and in 1908 he made his first appearance on the stage at the Spa Theatre, Bridlington in the

The Girl from Kays ''The Girl from Kays'' is a musical comedy in three acts, with music by Ivan Caryll and book and lyrics by Owen Hall. Additional songs were by Paul Rubens, Howard Talbot, Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and others. The farcical story concerns a m ...

''. In the same year he went to Australia, where he appeared with a concert party, "The Merrymakers". In the English provinces he appeared in the musical comedy '' The Arcadians'' (1910), the pierrot show ''The March Hares'' (1911) and Barry Jackson and Basil Dean's ''Fifinella'' (1912). In April 1913 Blore made his first appearance in London, at the Empire, Leicester Square in C.H. Bovill's

''All the Winners'', in which he was praised by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

''. He also appeared at the Empire in Bovill's and

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

's revue ''Nuts and Wine'' (1914). During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Blore enlisted and served in the South Wales Borderers and later joined the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, before being assigned to run the 38th Divisional Concert Party in France ("The Welsh Wails") 1917–1919. Blore wrote several sketches for revue and

, including "Violet and Pink" (1913); "A Burlington Arcadian" (1914); "The Admirable Fleming" (1917); "Yes, Papa" (1921); "French Beans" (1921) and his most enduring sketch, "

The Disorderly Room ''The Disorderly Room'' is a musical comedy sketch written by the actor and writer Eric Blore during the First World War. It was first performed at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London, in 1919 and starred Blore, Stanley Holloway, Tom Walls, Leslie ...

", written while he was in the army, and first given in London by Stanley Holloway,

Tom Walls Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adapt ...

Leslie Henson Leslie Lincoln Henson (3 August 1891 – 2 December 1957) was an English comedian, actor, producer for films and theatre, and film director. He initially worked in silent films and Edwardian musical comedy and became a popular music hall comed ...

, Jack Buchanan and the author. It was taken up by

Tommy Handley Thomas Reginald Handley (17 January 1892 – 9 January 1949) was an English comedian, best known for the BBC radio programme ''It's That Man Again'' ("''ITMA''") which ran between 1939 and 1949. Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Handley went ...

who starred in it in

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

s around the country and on BBC radio in the 1920s and 30s."Eric Blore"
British Film Institute. Retrieved 13 June 2020

West End and Broadway

In the early 1920s Blore toured in variety and appeared in the West End in ''Angel Face'' (1922) a "musical farce" with music by

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is bes ...

, heading a cast that included

Sylvia Cecil Sylvia Cecil (c. 1898 – c. 1983) was an English singer and actress. She began her career in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, with whom she performed, off and on, from 1918 until 1937. She also performed in ...

and the young Miles Malleson, and '' The Cabaret Girl'', joining the cast in mid-run.Herbert, p. 231 In August 1923 Blore appeared for the first time on

, playing the Hon. Bertie Bird in ''Little Miss Bluebeard'', and on his return to London he appeared in the same part at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

. After the death of his first wife, Violet (''née'' Winter), Blore married Clara Macklin in 1926. In the same year he returned to New York, playing Teddie Deakin in '' The Ghost Train''. The play, which ran in London for 655 performances did less well on Broadway, and closed after 61 performances. Blore remained in the US for the next seven years; his Broadway roles were Reggie Ervine in ''Mixed Doubles'', Sir Calverton Shipley in ''Just Fancy'', Sir Basil Carraway in ''

Here's Howe ''Here's Howe'' is a musical in two acts with music by Roger Wolfe Kahn and Joseph Meyer and lyrics by Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer w ...

'', the King of Arcadia in ''Angela'', Captain Robert Holt in ''Meet the Prince'', Lieutenant Cooper in ''Roar China'', Bertie Capp in ''Give Me Yesterday'' and Roddy Trotwood in ''Here Goes the Bride''. In 1932 he toured as Cosmo Perry in ''The Devil Passes'', before returning to Broadway to play the waiter in

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's '' Gay Divorce'', which starred

and Claire Luce. ''Gay Divorce'' ran for 248 performances, closing in July 1933, to allow Astaire and Luce to go to London to play in the piece at the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia * Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, M ...

. Blore and Erik Rhodes from the Broadway cast also appeared in the London production, which ran for five months. This was Blore's last London stage show. As ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' put it, he joined "the select company of English actors who were persuaded to journey to California" to appear in

films, along with the likes of C. Aubrey Smith and

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Cinema of the United States, ...

Hollywood

Blore made more than 60 films between 1930 and 1955. He was particularly known for playing superior butlers, valets and gentlemen's gentlemen. ''The Times'' commented that he and another English actor, Arthur Treacher, "made a virtual corner in butler parts … no study of an upper class English or American household was complete without one or other of them". Treacher was tall and thin with a haughty and austere manner; Blore was "shorter and slightly tubby … a trifle more eccentric in manner but equally capable of registering eloquent but unspoken disapproval". His less lofty air enabled him to deliver the line, "If I were not a gentleman's gentleman I could be such a cad's cad." In 1943 Blore returned to Broadway, replacing Treacher during the run of ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

'',"Ziegfeld Follies of 1943"
IBDB. Retrieved 13 June 2020 and made his final stage appearance at

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in September 1945, playing Charles Mannering in the unsuccessful

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

-based musical ''Song Without Words''. Blore retired after suffering a

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

in 1956. Taken ill in February 1959 he was moved from his Hollywood home to the

Motion Picture Country Hospital The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as tempo ...

, where he died of a heart attack on 1 March, aged 71."Eric Blore, Perfect Film Butler Dies", ''The Knoxville News-Sentinel'', 2 March 1959, p. 2 He was survived by his widow, Clara, a son, Eric Jr., and one grandchild.

Film roles

Source:

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Notes and references

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blore, Eric 1887 births 1959 deaths Male actors from London English male film actors South Wales Borderers officers Artists' Rifles soldiers People from Finchley English expatriates in the United States 20th-century English male actors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) British expatriate male actors in the United States British Army personnel of World War I Royal Flying Corps soldiers South Wales Borderers soldiers