Ernest Clark

Acting

Ernest Clark

Born 1912-02-12 · Paddington, London, England, UK

A distinguished stage actor, Ernest Clark was best known to British television viewers for his role as the crusty "Sir Geoffrey Loftus" in the long running "Doctor" comedy series during the 1970s. Born in Maida Vale, Clark was the son of a master builder and was educated at Marylebone Grammar School. His first job was as a reporter on a local newspaper and he was also a keen amateur actor. He made his first professional appearance at the Festival Theatre, Cambridge in 1937 and, throughout the 1930s and 40s, was rarely off the West End stage. In New York in 1950, he garnered rave reviews for his appearance in T.S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party". A prolific screen character actor, he was usually cast in cold, tight-lipped roles in British war films. He was vice-president of Equity, the British actor's union, from 1964-69 and president from 1970-73. An articulate, outspoken and often witty commentator for the acting profession, he always argued on the side of regulated entry into what he described as "an overcrowded industry". Clark's first two marriages were dissolved. His third wife was 'Julia Lockwood', the daughter of the British film star Margaret Lockwood. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Patrick Newley

Acting credits

Gandhi poster
7.6

In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.

Gandhi

1982

Arabesque poster
6.3

When a plot against a prominent Middle Eastern politician is uncovered, David Pollock, a professor of ancient hieroglyphics at Oxford University, is recruited to help expose the scheme. Pollock must find information believed to be in hieroglyphic code and must also contend with a mysterious man called Beshraavi. Meanwhile, Beshraavi's lover, Yasmin Azir, seems willing to aid Pollock -- but is she really on his side?

Arabesque

1966

1984 poster
6.5

In a totalitarian future society, a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.

1984

1956

Sink the Bismarck! poster
6.8

The story of the breakout of the German battleship Bismarck—accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen—during the early days of World War II. The Bismarck and her sister ship, Tirpitz, were the most powerful battleships in the European theater of World War II. The British Navy must find and destroy Bismarck before it can escape into the convoy lanes to inflict severe damage on the cargo shipping which was the lifeblood of the British Isles. With eight 15 inch guns, it was capable of destroying every ship in a convoy while remaining beyond the range of all Royal Navy warships.

Sink the Bismarck!

1960

The Dam Busters poster
6.9

The story of the conception of a new British weapon for smashing the German dams in the Ruhr industrial complex and the execution of the raid by 617 Squadron 'The Dam Busters'.

The Dam Busters

1955

It! poster
6.2

After a warehouse fire, museum director Grove and assistant Pimm find everything destroyed, only one statue withstood the fire mysteriously undamaged. Suddenly Grove is lying dead on the ground, killed by the statue? Pimm finds out that the cursed statue has been created by Rabbi Loew in 16th century and will withstand every human attempt to destroy it. Pimm decides to use it to his own advantage.

It!

1967

Eye of the Devil poster
6.1

A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret.

Eye of the Devil

1966

Billy Liar poster
6.8

A young Englishman dreams of escaping from his working class family and dead-end job as an undertaker's assistant. A number of indiscretions cause him to lie in order to avoid the penalties. His life turns into a mess and he has an opportunity to run away and leave it all behind.

Billy Liar

1963

The Executioner poster
5.9

A British intelligence agent must track down a fellow spy suspected of being a double agent.

The Executioner

1970

Doctor in the House poster
6.5

The first of the seven "Doctor" films, based on Richard Gordon's novels and released between 1954 and 1970. Simon Sparrow is a newly arrived medical student at St Swithin's hospital in London. Falling in with three longer-serving hopefuls he is soon immersed in the wooing, imbibing and fast sports-car driving that constitute 1950s medical training. There is, however, always the looming and formidable figure of chief surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt to remind them of their real purpose.

Doctor in the House

1954

Time Without Pity poster
6.5

Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”

Time Without Pity

1957

Salt & Pepper poster
5.3

After discovering the body of a murdered female agent in their trendy Soho, London nightclub, groovy owners Charles Salt and Christopher Pepper partake in a fumbling investigation and uncover an evil plot to overthrow the government. Can our cool, yet inept duo stop the bad guys in time?

Salt & Pepper

1968

Memed My Hawk poster
6.0

In 1920s Turkey, a young peasant is smitten with a beautiful young girl, who has been promised in marriage to the fat, dullard cousin of the province's powerful and corrupt governor. When an assassination attempt is made against the official, the young man flees his village and joins up with a group of outlaws fighting against the wealthy and powerful landowners who control the lives of the locals and make life miserable for them. The outlaws' successes prompt the governor to call in the Turkish army to capture or kill them.

Memed My Hawk

1984

Song of Norway poster
5.3

Like the play from which it derived, the film tells of the early struggles of composer Edvard Grieg and his attempts to develop an authentic Norwegian national music. It stars Toralv Maurstad as Grieg and features an international cast including Florence Henderson, Christina Schollin, Robert Morley, Harry Secombe, Oskar Homolka, Edward G. Robinson and Frank Porretta (as Rikard Nordraak). Filmed in Super Panavision 70 by Davis Boulton and presented in single-camera Cinerama in some countries, it was an attempt to capitalise on the success of The Sound of Music.

Song of Norway

1970

The Pope Must Die poster
5.0

A less-than-qualified and far-from-perfect priest is mistakenly named the new pope. As the pontiff, he must deal with Vatican corruption, the Mob and the reappearance of his old lover.

The Pope Must Die

1991

Masquerade poster
5.0

The British send an American and a war hero to kidnap and hide an oil-country prince.

Masquerade

1965

Reach for the Sky poster
6.9

The true story of airman Douglas Bader who overcame the loss of both legs in a 1931 flying accident to become a successful fighter pilot and wing leader during World War II.

Reach for the Sky

1956

The Devil-Ship Pirates poster
5.8

A pirate ship, fighting in 1588 on the side of the Spanish Armada, suffers damage and must put into a village on the British coast for repairs. The village is small and isolated and the Spanish convince the villagers that the English fleet has been defeated and that they, the Spanish, are now their masters. This results in the villagers' sullen cooperation, but rumors and unrest begin to spread and soon the Spanish pirates find themselves facing a revolt.

The Devil-Ship Pirates

1964

A Tale of Two Cities poster
6.8

Set against the conditions leading up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, French doctor Alexandre Manette serves an 18-year imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, followed by his release to live in London with the daughter he has never met.

A Tale of Two Cities

1958

Beau Brummell poster
6.5

Captain George Bryan Brummell is a British soldier who appreciates fine clothing and innovative dress. Although he initially alienates the Prince of Wales with insulting comments about the prince's uniform designs, he eventually becomes his close confidant. Brummel also falls in love with the beautiful Lady Patricia Belham. However, his outspoken manner eventually leads to his being exiled to France.

Beau Brummell

1954

Obsession poster
6.8

A British psychiatrist devises a devilish revenge plot against his wife's lover.

Obsession

1949

A Touch of Larceny poster
6.0

After falling in love with an American woman, Virginia Killain, who is engaged to another man, British Naval Commander Max Easton, hatches a plan that will get him enough money to support Virginia in the lifestyle she is accustomed to. Easton's plan is to disappear for a time making it seem that he has defected to the Soviets taking important Naval secrets from his job at the Admiralty and to return and sue the newspapers for slander. Not everything goes as planned for Commander Easton.

A Touch of Larceny

1960

Father Brown poster
6.5

Works of art are disappearing, stolen by a master thief, a master of disguise. Father Brown has two goals: to catch the thief and to save his soul.

Father Brown

1954

I Accuse! poster
6.6

Alfred Dreyfus, a German-Jewish captain serving in the French Army, is falsely accused of treason and made a scapegoat for military espionage in an act of institutional anti-Semitism. Sent to prison, he becomes a cause célèbre for the novelist Émile Zola, who dubs it the "Dreyfus Affair." Eventually, Dreyfus is pardoned when the military cover-up is made public, and he returns to France. But his name is forever tarnished by the accusations of treason.

I Accuse!

1958