Volume III: Biographies

 

GLENDINNING, Ernest *

Actor (1915)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Ernest Glendinning appeared in a film made in the Thanhouser studio and released under the Mutual name, titled The Seventh Noon.

Biographical Notes: Ernest Glendinning was born in Ulverston, England on February 19, 1884. His father, John Glendinning, was a well-known British stage figure. Ernest and his sister, Jessie, who later went on to become a leading lady on the stage, were brought to America in their youth by their parents, who came to the United States with Mr. and Mrs. Kendall. The two children were raised in America and became naturalized citizens. However, he spent at least part of his teenage years in England and for a time went to Margate College there. Following his education, which was completed circa 1900, Ernest Glendinning was an accountant with the Standard Oil Company offices at 26 Broadway, New York City. Dissatisfied with his career, he decided to go into acting. His stage debut occurred on to the West Coast but in New York City on January 17, 1903, at the Garrick Theatre, in Mice and Men, in Annie Russell's company, a play in which his parents were players. Soon thereafter, on the advice of his father he went to San Francisco, where he landed a job in juvenile roles at the Alcazar Theatre, where he remained for three years, after which he went to Los Angeles for a brief period.

Among his early plays were The Passion Play, with Nazimova in 1909, the road show of Jim the Penman in 1909-1910, and the road company of Baby Mine the following season. He was in Prunella at the Hudson Theatre, New York City, in 1913, and in The Song of Songs at the Eltinge Theatre in 1914. While he was on tour earning $18 per week on stage in A Modern Eve, he was seen at the Casino Theatre in New York by George V. Hobart, who signed him at $500 per week for the role of Youth in the morality play, Experience, which toured from 1915 to 1917. At the time, Glendinning was 37 years old.

On May 14, 1915, a writer for The New York Mail speculated that Ernest Glendinning, who at the time was in A Modern Eve, would someday become a matinee idol. In the same year he worked at the Thanhouser studio briefly and had an important role in the Mutual Film Corporation production of The Seventh Noon. In later years, although he was primarily known as a stage actor, he appeared in several films for various studios, including When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922) and the short subject, Grounds for Murder (1930).

In 1918 he joined the United States Marines. In 1919, he married Mrs. Marie Julie Horne, widow of English actor C. Morton Horne. After his brief hitch with the military, Ernest Glendinning went back on stage, and over a period of years was seen in such plays as Caesar's Wife, Anathema, Top Hole, Little Old New York, Moonlight, She Stoops to Conquer, The Man Who Changed His Name, Flight, The Admirable Crichton, Strange Interlude, The Greeks Had a Word for It, and Uncle Tom's Cabin. His last New York City role was in Seven Keys to Baldpate in May 1935, after which he was in summer stock at the Stony Creek Theatre in Private Lives. His death occurred in South Coventry, Connecticut on May 17, 1936, at the home of his sister, Mrs. Jessie Clayes. He was survived by his wife and sister.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1915: The Seventh Noon (Mutual 11-4-1915)

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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.