He toured with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in such productions as The Emerald Isle (1901), Little Hans Andersen (1903)[2] and The Talk of the Town (1905) before disarming vocal problems set in and he was forced to abandon this career path.

Ernest received significant acclaim with Modest Suzanne in 1912, and a prominent role in The Night Boat in 1920 brought him to the attention of the early Hollywood filmmakers.

Torrence played the despicable adversary Luke Hatburn in Tol'able David (1921) opposite Richard Barthelmess and immediately settled into films for the rest of his career and life.

He played an old codger in the acclaimed classic western The Covered Wagon (1923) and gained attention from his roles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) as Clopin, king of the beggars, and with Betty Bronson in Peter Pan (1924) as the dastardly Captain Hook.

While en route to Europe by ship, Torrence suffered an acute attack of gall stones and was rushed back to a New York City hospital.