AllMovie

Leading man Colin Clive was born in France to a British colonel and his wife. Clive's own military career was cut short by a knee injury, which fortunately did not prevent him from becoming an actor. Clive was brought to Hollywood on the strength of his stage performance in Journey's End, duly committed to film in 1930. He spent the rest of his movie career hopscotching between England and America, his most significant work emanating from Hollywood. Clive has earned a niche in cinematic valhalla for his feverish, driven performance as Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), both directed by his Journey's End mentor James Whale. He was also seen as Rochester in the first talkie version of Jane Eyre (1934). Never a well man, Colin Clive died of tuberculosis at the age of 39.