Editing Eric Blore

{{Short description|English actor (1887–1959)}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Eric Blore
| image              = Eric Blore It's Love I'm After trailer.jpg
| caption            = Blore in the [[trailer (promotion)|trailer]] for ''[[It's Love I'm After]]'' (1937)
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1887|12|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Finchley]], [[Middlesex]], England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1959|03|02|1887|12|23}}
| death_place        = [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], [[California]], U.S.
| occupation         = Actor
| years_active       = 1920&ndash;1955
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Violet Winter|1917|1919|reason=died}}
* {{marriage|Clara Blore<br>|1926}}
}}
}}

'''Eric Blore Sr.''' (23 December 1887 – 2 March 1959) was an English actor and writer. His early stage career, mostly in the [[West End theatre|West End]] of London, centred on [[revue]] and [[Edwardian musical comedy|musical comedy]], but also included straight plays. He wrote sketches for and appeared in [[variety show|variety]]. 

In the 1930s Blore acted mostly in [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] productions. He made his last London appearance in 1933 in the [[Fred Astaire]] hit ''[[Gay Divorce]]''. Between 1930 and 1955 he made more than 60 [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Hollywood]] films, becoming particularly well known for playing butlers and other superior domestic servants. He retired in 1956 for health reasons, and died in [[Hollywood (California)|Hollywood]] in 1959 at the age of 71.

==Life and career==
===Early years===
Blore was born in [[Finchley]], a north London suburb, on 23 December 1887, son of Henry Blore and his wife Mary, ''née'' Newton.<ref name=ww>Parker, p. 77</ref> He was educated at Mills School, Finchley,<ref name=ww/> and after leaving school he worked for an insurance company.<ref name=to>"Mr Eric Blore", ''The Times'', London, 3 March 1959, p. 12</ref> He was drawn to a theatrical career, and in 1908 he made his first appearance on the stage at the [[Bridlington Spa|Spa Theatre, Bridlington]] in the [[Edwardian musical comedy|musical comedy]] ''[[The Girl from Kays]]''.<ref name=ww/> In the same year he went to [[Australia]], where he appeared with a [[Concert party (entertainment)|concert party]], "The Merrymakers". In the English provinces he appeared in the musical comedy ''[[The Arcadians (musical)|The Arcadians]]'' (1910), the [[pierrot]] show ''The March Hares'' (1911) and [[Barry Jackson (director)|Barry Jackson]] and [[Basil Dean]]'s ''Fifinella'' (1912).<ref name=ww/>

In April 1913 Blore made his first appearance in London, at the [[Empire, Leicester Square]] in [[C.H. Bovill]]'s [[revue]] ''All the Winners'',<ref name=ww/> in which he was praised by ''[[The Observer]]''.<ref>"All the Winners", ''The Observer'', London, 13 April 1913, p. 9</ref> He also appeared at the Empire in Bovill's and [[P.G. Wodehouse]]'s revue ''Nuts and Wine'' (1914).<ref name=ww/><ref>"At the Play", ''The Observer'', 28 December 1913, p. 4</ref> During the [[First World War]], Blore enlisted and served in the [[South Wales Borderers]] and later joined the [[Royal Flying Corps]], before being assigned to run the [[38th (Welsh) Infantry Division|38th Divisional Concert Party]] in France ("The Welsh Wails") 1917–1919.<ref name=ww/>

Blore wrote several sketches for revue and [[variety show|variety]], 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]]", written while he was in the army, and first given in London by [[Stanley Holloway]], [[Tom Walls]], [[Leslie Henson]], [[Jack Buchanan]] and the author. It was taken up by [[Tommy Handley]] who starred in it in [[music hall]]s around the country and on [[BBC]] radio in the 1920s and 30s.<ref>Holloway and Richards, pp. 23, 60 and 190</ref><ref name=bfib>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160702193024/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba128a68c "Eric Blore"], British Film Institute. Retrieved 13 June 2020</ref>

===West End and Broadway===
In the early 1920s Blore toured in variety and appeared in the [[West End theatre|West End]] in ''Angel Face'' (1922), a "musical farce" with music by [[Victor Herbert]], heading a cast that included [[Sylvia Cecil]] and the young [[Miles Malleson]],<ref>"Plays of the Year", ''The Play Pictorial'', October 1922, p. 131</ref> and ''[[The Cabaret Girl]]'', joining the cast in mid-run.<ref name=p78>Herbert, p. 231</ref>

In August 1923 Blore appeared for the first time on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], 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]]. After the death of his first wife, Violet (''née'' Winter), Blore married Clara Macklin in 1926.<ref name=p78/> In the same year he returned to New York, playing Teddie Deakin in ''[[The Ghost Train (play)|The Ghost Train]]''. The play, which ran in London for 655 performances did less well on Broadway, and closed after 61 performances.<ref>Gaye, p. 1532; and [https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-ghost-train-10103 "The Ghost Train"], IMDB. Retrieved 13 June 2020</ref> 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]]'', 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''.<ref name=p78/> In 1932 he toured as Cosmo Perry in ''The Devil Passes'', before returning to Broadway to play the waiter in [[Cole Porter]]'s ''[[Gay Divorce]]'', which starred [[Fred Astaire]] and [[Claire Luce]].<ref name=p78/><ref>[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/gay-divorce-11688#OpeningNightCast"Gay Divorce"], IMDB. Retrieved 13 June 2020</ref>

''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, London|Palace Theatre]]. Blore and [[Erik Rhodes (actor, born 1906)|Erik Rhodes]] from the Broadway cast also appeared in the London production,<ref>"Palace Theatre", ''The Times'', London, 3 November 1933, p. 12</ref> which ran for five months.<ref>"Theatres", ''The Times'', 7 April 1934, p. 8</ref> This was Blore's last London stage show.<ref name=p78/> As ''[[The Times]]'' put it, he joined "the select company of English actors who were persuaded to journey to California" to appear in [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Hollywood]] films, along with the likes of [[C. Aubrey Smith]] and [[Ronald Colman]].<ref name=to/>

===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".<ref name=to/> 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".<ref name=to/> 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."<ref name=to/>

In 1943 Blore returned to Broadway, replacing Treacher during the run of ''[[Ziegfeld Follies]]'',<ref>[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/ziegfeld-follies-of-1943-1286 "Ziegfeld Follies of 1943"], IBDB. Retrieved 13 June 2020</ref> and made his final stage appearance at [[Los Angeles]] in September 1945, playing Charles Mannering in the unsuccessful [[Tchaikovsky]]-based musical ''Song Without Words''.<ref name=p78/>

Blore retired after suffering a [[stroke]] in 1956. Taken ill in February 1959 he was moved from his Hollywood home to the [[Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital|Motion Picture Country Hospital]], where he died of a heart attack on 1 March, aged 71.<ref name=kns>"Eric Blore, Perfect Film Butler Dies", ''The Knoxville News-Sentinel'', 2 March 1959, p. 2</ref> He was survived by his widow, Clara, a son, Eric Jr., and one grandchild.<ref name=kns/>

==Filmography==
Source: [[British Film Institute]].<ref name=bfib/>
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: left; margin-right: 0;"
! scope="col" |Film
! scope="col" |Role
|-
| ''[[Laughter (1930 film)|Laughter]]'' (1930)
| angel in party scene
|-
| ''[[Tarnished Lady]]'' (1931)
| jewellery counter clerk
|-
| ''[[Flying Down to Rio]]'' (1933)
| Butterbass, Hammerstein's assistant
|-
| ''[[The Gay Divorcee]]'' (1934)
| waiter
|-
| ''[[Behold My Wife! (1934 film)|Behold My Wife!]]'' (1934)
| Benson
|-
| ''[[Limehouse Blues (film)|Limehouse Blues]]'' (1934)
| slummer
|-
| ''[[Folies Bergère de Paris]]'' (1935)
| François
|-
| ''[[The Good Fairy (1935 film)|The Good Fairy]]'' (1935)
| Dr. Metz
|-
| ''[[Old Man Rhythm]]'' (1935)
| Phillips
|-
| ''[[Top Hat]]'' (1935) 
|Bates, Hardwick's valet
|-
| ''[[Diamond Jim]]'' (1935)
| Sampson Fox
|-
| ''[[I Dream Too Much (1935 film)|I Dream Too Much]]'' (1935)
| Roger Briggs
|-
| ''[[Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935 film)|Seven Keys to Baldpate]]'' (1935)
| Prof. Harrison Boulton
|-
| ''[[The Ex-Mrs. Bradford]]'' (1936)
| Stokes
|-
| ''[[Sons O' Guns (film)|Sons o' Guns]]'' (1936)
| Hobson
|-
| ''[[Piccadilly Jim (1936 film)|Piccadilly Jim]]'' (1936)
| Bayliss
|-
| ''[[Swing Time (film)|Swing Time]]'' (1936)
| Gordon
|-
| ''[[Smartest Girl in Town]]'' (1936)
| Lucius Philbean, Dick's valet
|-
| ''[[Quality Street (1937 film)|Quality Street]]'' (1937)
| recruiting sergeant
|-
| ''[[The Soldier and the Lady]]'' (1937)
| Blount
|-
| ''[[Shall We Dance (1937 film)|Shall We Dance]]'' (1937)
| Cecil Flintridge
|-
| ''[[It's Love I'm After]]'' (1937)
| Digges
|-
| ''[[Breakfast for Two]]'' (1937)
| Butch, blair's valet
|-
| ''[[Hitting a New High]]'' (1937)
| Cedric Cosmo, aka Captain Braceridge Hemingway
|-
| ''[[Joy of Living]]'' (1938)
| Potter, the butler
|-
| ''[[Swiss Miss (film)|Swiss Miss]]'' (1938)
| Edward Morton
|-
| ''[[A Gentleman's Gentleman]]'' (1939)
| Heppelwhite
|-
| ''[[Island of Lost Men]]'' (1939)
| Herbert
|-
| ''[[The Lone Wolf Strikes]]'' (1940)
| Jamison
|-
| ''[['Til We Meet Again]]'' (1940)
| Sir Harold Pinchard
|-
| ''[[The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady]]'' (1940)
| Jamison
|-
| ''[[The Boys from Syracuse (film)|The Boys from Syracuse]]'' (1940)
| Pinch
|-
| ''[[Earl of Puddlestone]]'' (1940)
| Horatio Bottomley
|-
| ''[[The Lady Eve]]'' (1941)
| Sir Alfred Mcglennan Keith
|-
| ''[[The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance]]'' (1941)
| Jamison
|-
| ''[[Road to Zanzibar]]'' (1941)
| Charles Kimble
|-
| ''[[Redhead (1941 film)|Redhead]]'' (1941)
| Digby
|-
| ''[[Lady Scarface]]'' (1941)
| Mr. Hartford
|-
| ''[[Confirm or Deny]]'' (1941)
| Mr. Hobbs
|-
| ''[[Sullivan's Travels]]'' (1941)
| Sullivan's valet
|-
| ''[[The Shanghai Gesture]]'' (1941)
| Caesar Hawkins, the bookkeeper
|-
| ''[[Counter-Espionage]]'' (1942)
| Jamison
|-
| ''[[The Moon and Sixpence (film)|The Moon and Sixpence]]'' (1942)
| Captain Nichols
|-
| ''[[Happy Go Lucky (1943 film)|Happy Go Lucky]]'' (1943)
| Betsman
|-
| ''[[One Dangerous Night]]'' (1943)
| jamison
|-
| ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'' (1943)
| Sir Anthony's butler
|-
| ''[[Heavenly Music]]'' (1943 short)
| Mr. Frisbie
|-
| ''[[The Sky's the Limit (1943 film)|The Sky's the Limit]]'' (1943)
| Jackson, the butler
|-
| ''[[Passport to Suez]]'' (1943, part of the Lone Wolf series)
| Llewellyn Jameson
|-
| ''[[Holy Matrimony (1943 film)|Holy Matrimony]]'' (1943)
| Henry Leek
|-
| ''[[Submarine Base (film)|Submarine Base]]'' (1943)
| Spike
|-
| ''[[San Diego, I Love You]]'' (1944)
| Nelson, butler
|-
| ''[[Easy to Look At]]'' (1945)
| Billings
|-
| ''[[Men in Her Diary]]'' (1945)
| florist
|-
| ''[[Kitty (1945 film)|Kitty]]'' (1945)
| Dobson
|-
| ''[[I Was a Criminal]]'' (1945)
| Obermüller, the mayor
|-
| ''[[The Notorious Lone Wolf]]'' (1946)
| Jameson
|-
| ''[[Winter Wonderland (film)|Winter Wonderland]]'' (1946)
| Luddington
|-
| ''[[Abie's Irish Rose (1946 film)|Abie's Irish Rose]]'' (1946)
| Stubbins
|-
| ''[[The Lone Wolf in Mexico]]'' (1947)
| Jamison
|-
| ''[[The Lone Wolf in London]]'' (1947)
| Jamison
|-
| ''[[Romance on the High Seas]]'' (1948)
| ship's doctor
|-
| ''[[The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad]]'' (1949, Short)
| J. Thaddeus Toad (voice)
|-
| ''[[Love Happy]]'' (1949)
| Mackinaw
|-
| ''[[Fancy Pants (film)|Fancy Pants]]'' (1950)
| Sir Wimbley
|-
| ''[[Babes in Bagdad]]''
| cast member
|-
| ''[[Bowery to Bagdad]]'' (1955)
| genie of the lamp
|-
| ''[[Once Upon a Studio]]'' (2023, Short)
| J. Thaddeus Toad (voice, archival recordings)
|}

==Notes and references==
===References===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book|editor-last= Herbert|editor-first=Ian  |year= 1978|title=Whos Was Who in the Theatre |location=London and Detroit|publisher= Pitman Publishing and Gale Research |oclc=297602028}}
* {{cite book | title = Wiv a Little Bit o' Luck: The Life Story of Stanley Holloway | last1 = Holloway | first1 = Stanley | authorlink = Stanley Holloway | last2 = Richards | first2 = Dick | year = 1967 | publisher = Frewin | location = London | oclc = 3647363 }}
* {{cite book | editor-last = Parker | editor-first = John  | year = 1922 | title = Who's Who in the Theatre | location = London |edition = fourth| publisher = Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons | oclc = 473894893}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*{{IMDb name|id=0089314|name=Eric Blore}}
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{Find a Grave|6740}}

{{Authority control}}

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