Eric Blore

Eric Blore was an English actor and writer born in Finchley, a north London suburb, on 23 December 1887, to Henry Blore and his wife Mary, née Newton. After completing his education at Mills School, Finchley, he worked for an insurance company before pursuing a theatrical career. His stage debut came in 1908 at the Spa Theatre, Bridlington, in the musical comedy The Girl from Kays. That same year he traveled to Australia, where he performed with a concert party called The Merrymakers. Back in England, he appeared in the musical comedy The Arcadians in 1910, the pierrot show The March Hares in 1911, and Barry Jackson and Basil Dean's Fifinella in 1912.

Blore made his first London appearance in April 1913 at the Empire, Leicester Square, in C. H. Bovill's revue All the Winners, earning praise from The Observer. He returned to the Empire the following year for Bovill's and P. G. Wodehouse's revue Nuts and Wine. During the First World War he enlisted and served in the South Wales Borderers, later transferring to the Royal Flying Corps, before being assigned to lead the 38th Divisional Concert Party in France, known as The Welsh Wails, from 1917 to 1919. Throughout his early career he also wrote sketches for revue and variety, among them Violet and Pink in 1913, A Burlington Arcadian in 1914, The Admirable Fleming in 1917, Yes Papa in 1921, and French Beans in 1921. His most enduring sketch, The Disorderly Room, was written during his Army service and first performed in London by Stanley Holloway, Tom Walls, Leslie Henson, Jack Buchanan, and Blore himself. Comedian Tommy Handley later performed the sketch in music halls across the country and on BBC radio through the 1920s and 1930s.

In the early 1920s Blore toured in variety and appeared in the West End in the Victor Herbert musical farce Angel Face in 1922, alongside Sylvia Cecil and Miles Malleson, and joined the cast of The Cabaret Girl during its run. His Broadway career began in August 1923, when he played the Hon. Bertie Bird in the play Little Miss Bluebeard, a role he subsequently reprised at Wyndham's Theatre in London. He appeared in the revue Andre Charlot's Revue of 1924 and the Charlot Revue. After the death of his first wife, Violet, née Winter, Blore married Clara Macklin in 1926, the same year he returned to New York to play Teddie Deakin in The Ghost Train, which closed after 61 Broadway performances despite having run for 655 performances in London.

Blore remained in the United States for the following seven years, accumulating an extensive list of Broadway credits. He played Reggie Ervine in Mixed Doubles, Sir Calverton Shipley in the musical 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 the play Give Me Yesterday, and Roddy Trotwood in Here Goes the Bride. 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 and ran for 248 performances, closing in July 1933. Blore and Erik Rhodes then joined Astaire and Luce in the London production at the Palace Theatre, which ran for five months and marked Blore's final appearance on the London stage.

Following Gay Divorce, Blore transitioned to Hollywood, where he made more than 60 films between 1930 and 1955. He became particularly associated with roles as condescending butlers, valets, and gentlemen's gentlemen. He co-starred with Fred Astaire in six films: Flying Down to Rio in 1933, The Gay Divorcee in 1934, Top Hat in 1935, Swing Time in 1936, Shall We Dance in 1937, and The Sky's the Limit in 1943. In 1943 he also returned to Broadway, replacing Arthur Treacher during the run of Ziegfeld Follies. His final stage appearance came in September 1945 in Los Angeles, playing Charles Mannering in the Tchaikovsky-based musical Song Without Words. Blore retired in 1956 after suffering a stroke. Taken ill in February 1959, he was moved from his Hollywood home to the Motion Picture Country Hospital, where he died of a heart attack on 1 March 1959 at the age of 71. He was survived by his widow Clara, a son Eric Jr., and one grandchild.