Old Photograph Ernest Torrence Scotland

Old photograph of actor Ernest Torrence who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was born Ernest Torrance Thomson to Colonel Henry Torrence Thayson and Jessie, née Bryce, on June 26, 1878, in Edinburgh, and as a child was an exceptional pianist and operatic baritone and graduated from the Stuttgart Conservatory, Edinburgh Academy before earning a scholarship at London's Royal Academy of Music. Sometime prior to 1900, he changed the spelling of Torrance to Torrence and dropped the name Thomson. Both Ernest and his actor brother David Torrence went to America, in March 1911, directly from Scotland prior to World War I. Focusing instead on a purely acting career, Ernest and his brother developed into experienced players on the Broadway New York stage. He appeared in many Hollywood films, including Broken Chains in 1922 with Colleen Moore, Mantrap in 1926 with Clara Bow, and Fighting Caravans in 1931 with Gary Cooper and Lili Damita. A towering figure, Torrence frequently played cold eyed and imposing villains. Filming for I Cover the Waterfront in 1933, in which he starred as a smuggler opposite Claudette Colbert in New York, USA, had just been completed when he died suddenly on May 15, 1933, at the relatively young age of 54. While en route to Europe by ship, Torrence suffered an acute attack of gall stones and was rushed back to a New York hospital but died later of complications following surgery. Blog post of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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