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 ...
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Steamboat Bill, Jr.
As William 'Steamboat Bill' Canfield Sr.
A Dangerous Affair
As Abner (as Ernest Torrance)
I Cover the Waterfront
As Eli Kirk (Julie's father)
The Blind Goddess
As Mr. Clayton
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
As 'Devil' Jud Tolliver
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
As Clopin
Mantrap
As Joe Easter
The Lady of the Harem
As Hassan
The Cuban Love Song
As Romance
Across to Singapore
As Captain Mark Shore
Fighting Caravans
As Bill Jackson
Speedway
As Jim MacDonald
Ruggles of Red Gap
As Cousin Egbert Floud
Desert Nights
As Steve
The Prodigal Judge
As Solomon Mahaffy
The Unholy Night
As Dr. Ballou
Sherlock Holmes
As Professor James Moriarty
The Great Lover
As Potter
Untamed
As Uncle Ben Murchison
Shipmates
As Chief Bosuns Mate Scotty McTavish
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
As Uncle Pio
The Cossacks
As Ivan
Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl
As Self (from Mantrap [1926]) (archive footage)
Call of the Flesh
As Esteban
Sporting Blood
As Mr. Jim Rellence
Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)
As Self (archive footage)
Captain Salvation
As Captain of the 'Panther'
New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford
As Blackie Daw
Sweet Kitty Bellairs
As Sir Jasper Standish
The Covered Wagon
As Jackson
Officer O'Brien
As John Patrick O'Brien
Strictly Unconventional
As Lord Porteous
Hypnotized
As Prof. Horace S. Limberly - Hypnotist
North of 36
As Jim Nabours
The King of Kings
As Peter
Peter Pan
As Captain James Hook
Night Life of New York
As John Bentley
Broken Chains
As Boyan Boone
Twelve Miles Out
As Red McCue
The Pony Express
As 'Ascension' Jones
Tol'able David
As Luke Hatburn
The Kingdom Within
As Kreig
The Tingler
As Luke Hatburn (archive footage) (uncredited)
The American Venus
As King Neptune
The Brass Bottle
As Fakresh-el-Aamash
The Wanderer
As Tola
Singed Wings
As Emilio
The Fighting Coward
As Gen. Orlando Jackson
The Heritage of the Desert
As August Naab
The Dressmaker from Paris
As Angus McGregor
The Side Show of Life
As Andrew Lackady
The Rainmaker
As Mike