A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... ERIC BLORE (December 23, 1887 – March 2, 1959)...
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Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? Well let’s not mull it over without a little refreshment, ok? I’ll just ring this little bell, and summon one of the best butler-types Hollywood ever produced. Here he comes, Mr. Eric Blore.
Blore was born in Finchley, Middlesex, England. At age eighteeen, he worked as an insurance agent for two years. He gained theatre experience while touring Australia. Originally enlisting into the Artists Rifles he was commissioned in the South Wales Borderers in World War I. Eventually he appeared in several shows and revues in England. In 1923 he went to the United States and began playing character roles on Broadway beginning with LITTLE MISS BLUEBEARD, which ran 175 performances. After the death of his first wife, Violet Winter, he married Clara Mackin in 1926, and had one son, Eric Jr. His stage work as a waiter in the musical GAY DIVORCE (1932) with Fred Astaire earned him a role in the filmed remake GAY DIVORCEE (1934). He then concentrated his time more in Hollywood, and appeared in over eighty Hollywood films. Blore, in his roles as an English butler, dance school owner, or valet appeared more frequently than any other supporting player in the series of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals at RKO Radio Pictures, five of the ten! Unforgettable for his shameless mugging, bulging eyes, over-the-top grimaces, and triple-takes, and for the exaggerated intonations and sibilant s’s, some of his most memorable on-screen moments took place in TOP HAT (1935) and SHALL WE DANCE (1937). He reprised the role with Astaire for a final time in THE SKY’S THE LIMIT (1943), delivering the line: "If I were not such a gentleman's gentleman, I could be such a cad's cad". Other memorable roles included Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith in the Preston Sturges film THE LADY EVE (1941) with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda, a small part as Charles Kimble in the second of the seven Bing Crosby- Bob Hope "Road" film THE ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (1941), and from 1940 to 1947 in eleven LONE WOLF films as Jamison the butler. Although he appeared in many dramas, and even a few suspenseful adventure films, his legacy will always remain in screwball and musical comedies. Blore died of a heart attack at age 71 on March 2,1959 in Hollywood, California. He was entombed in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Ironically, his death caused an unexpected stir, quite independent of his fame. The British critic Kenneth Tynan, writing for The New Yorker, had recently made a mistaken reference to "the late Eric Blore", and this error passed by the normally vigilant checking department. When Blore’s lawyer demanded a retraction, the editor had no choice other than to refer this demand to Tynan, pointing out in a fury that this was the first retraction ever to appear in that usually authoritative magazine. In disgrace, Tynan prepared a major apology, to appear prominently in the next issue. On the eve of publication, when the edition was printed and ready for delivery, Blore dropped dead. And on the next morning, the daily papers announced Blore’s death, while The New Yorker apologized for any insult to Mr. Blore’s feelings through their erroneous report of his demise. Blore might have found the incident wryly amusing.
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