Clancey was born on 9 November 1881 in St. Louis, Missouri to John Clancy and Lucy Lumpkins.

He is best known for playing the character of a restaurant owner nicknamed Alexander the Great in the 1916 Arthur Maude movie Lord Loveland Discovers America.

He also played the character Hook Barnacle in several of the 15 episodes of the adventure serial The Secret of the Submarine.

He married May Cornell, and died on 13 November 1921 in Cairo, Illinois.

This article about a United States film actor born in the 1880s is a stub.