Ernest Thesiger

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

Early life Ernest Thesiger was born 15 January 1879 in London. He was the third of four children of Hon. Sir Edward Peirson Thesiger (1842–1928), KCB, Clerk Assistant to Parliament, and Georgina Mary, daughter of William Bruce Stopford Sackville, of Drayton House, Thrapston, Northamptonshire, of the family of the Earl of Courtown. He was the grandson of the 1st Lord Chelmsford, first cousin once removed of the explorer and author Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003), and the nephew of the 2nd Lord Chelmsford.

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. He also processed with the Men's League for Women's Suffrage at the mass rally in 1909. and medically evacuated back to England. His interest in needlework had begun with buying and repairing pieces of historical embroidery with his brother in law William Ranken while in France. After the incident in a barn explosion, his hands had been damaged and on return home, despite the Ministry of Pensions declaring it "too effeminate an occupation for men", Thesiger developed small sewing kits for soldiers similarly injured to provide activity and pain relief. This became The Disabled Soldiers' Embroidery Industry, 42 Ebury Street, London. As Honorary Secretary Cross-Stitch, Thesiger was convinced that needlework could improve injured men's morale and earn some money, as he also obtained commissions, including an altar frontal for private use in Buckingham Palace.

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 bisexuality.

Thesiger moved in several artistic, literary and theatrical circles, and is reported to have spent time with Queen Mary, both doing needlework and commenting on the sexuality of proposed honours nominees.

Early stage career Thesiger first came to public notice in the farce A Little Bit of Fluff by Walter W. Ellis at the Criterion Theatre in 1915–18. He played the comic hero Bertrand Tully over 1,200 times, and received very favourable reviews. The London Standard wrote, "The character of Bertram Tully...is one of the happiest seen on the stage for a decade past...Mr. Ernest Thesiger achieved a real triumph." He reprised the role in the 1919 film version, and in a 1923 revival at the Ambassadors Theatre. 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. He had a larger role in an early film for director Alfred Hitchcock, the silent Number 13 (1922), but this was never completed due to lack of funds.

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 moved to Hollywood and had 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 top-billed Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart, Raymond Massey and Lillian Bond. 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 of all his needlework in his hotel suite, 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 centred on the theatrical stage, though he did appear in supporting roles in films, 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. He also made a notable appearance in 1953 in the Golden Globe-winning The Robe as the Emperor Tiberius.

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 appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was Vice Patron of the Embroiderers Guild.

Legacy In the fictionalised James Whale biopic Gods and Monsters (1998), Thesiger was portrayed by Arthur Dignam. 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

The Real Thing at Last (1916) – Witch Nelson (1918) – William Pitt, the Younger The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918) – Joseph Chamberlain A Little Bit of Fluff (1919) – Bertram Tully The Bachelor's Club (1921) – Israfel Mondego The Adventures of Mr. Pickwick (1921) – Mr. Jingle Number 13 (1922, Unfinished) – Mr. Peabody Weekend Wives (1928) – Bertram The Vagabond Queen (1929) – Lidoff The Old Dark House (1932) – Horace Femm The Ghoul (1933) – Laing The Only Girl (1933) – The Chamberlain My Heart Is Calling (1935) – Fevrier Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – Dr. Pretorius The Night of the Party (1935) – Chiddiatt The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) – Maydig They Drive by Night (1938) – Walter Hoover The Ware Case (1938) – Carter Lightning Conductor (1938) – Professor My Learned Friend (1943) – Ferris The Lamp Still Burns (1943) – Chairman Don't Take It to Heart (1944) – Justices' Clerk Henry V (1944) – Duke of Berri – French Ambassador. A Place of One's Own (1945) – Dr. Marsham Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) – Theodotus Beware of Pity (1946) – Baron Emil de Kekesfalva The Man Within (1947) – Farne Jassy (1947) – Sir Edward Follesmark The Ghosts of Berkeley Square (1947) – Dr. Cruickshank of Psychical Research Society The Winslow Boy (1948) – Mr. Ridgeley Pierce Quartet (1948) – Henry Dashwood (segment "The Colonel's Lady") Brass Monkey (1948) – Ryder-Harris The Bad Lord Byron (1949) – Count Guiccioli Last Holiday (1950) – Sir Trevor Lampington Laughter in Paradise (1951) – Endicott The Man in the White Suit (1951) – Sir John Kierlaw Scrooge (1951) – The Undertaker The Magic Box (1951) – Earl The Woman's Angle (1952) – Judge The Robe (1953) – Emperor Tiberius Meet Mr Lucifer (1953) – Mr. Macdonald The Million Pound Note (1954) – Mr. Garrett, Bank Director (uncredited) Father Brown (1954) – Vicomte de Verdigris Make Me an Offer (1954) – Sir John Value for Money (1955) – Lord Dewsbury Quentin Durward (1955) – Lord Crawford An Alligator Named Daisy (1955) – Notcher Who Done It? (1956) – Sir Walter Finch Three Men in a Boat (1956) – 3rd Old Gentleman Doctor at Large (1957) – First Examiner The Truth About Women (1958) – Judge The Horse's Mouth (1958) – Hickson The Battle of the Sexes (1959) – Old Macpherson Armchair Theatre; Lord Arthur Savile's Crime (TV, 1960, TV Series) The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) – Stefano (posthumous release; final film role)