Henry Stephenson

Acting · 0.8 popularity

Age

155

Movies

Born: April 15, 1871 – April 24, 1956
From: Granada, British West Indies

Biography

From Wikipedia Henry Stephenson Garraway (16 April 1871 – 24 April 1956), sometimes credited as Harry Stephenson, was a British stage and film actor. He portrayed friendly and wise Gentleman in many films of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his roles was Sir Joseph Banks in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Mr. Brownlow in Oliver Twist. Stephenson was educated in Rugby in Warwickshire and started acting in his twenties. He appeared on British and American stages and made his Broadway debut in 1901, playing the messenger in A Message from Mars. In the following decades, he appeared in over 30 Broadway plays. Henry Stephenson made his film debut in 1917 and appeared in a few silent films, but made his mark mostly as an elder man in sound films. Between 1931 and 1932, he appeared in the successful Broadway play Cyanara with over 200 performances. He came to Hollywood for the film version of Cyanara, starring Ronald Colman and with Henry Stephenson in a supporting role. In the same year year, he played the tycoon C.B. Gaerste in Red-Headed Woman and Doctor Alliott in A Bill of Divorcement. The following year, the English-born actor appeared as the intimidating yet warm-hearted Mr. Laurence in Little Women. The tall, white-haired actor specialized in portraying wise, dignified and friendly British gentlemans in supporting roles. He could be "both imposing and benevolent in his patrician portrayals, usually expounding words of wisdom or offering gentlemanly aid." He appeared overall in 90 films from 1917 to 1951, often as a doctor or professor, general, judge or aristocrat. He often played historical figures like Sir Joseph Banks in the oscar-winnig adventure film Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau in Marie Antoinette (1938). Stephenson worked with film star Errol Flynn in the films Captain Blood, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Prince and the Pauper, and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex; often as Flynn's paternal friend and superior. He portrayed Sir Thomas Lancing in Tarzan Finds a Son! in 1939 and playing an entirely different role as Sir Guy Henderson in Tarzan and the Amazons in 1945. He seldom played dark figures, among the exceptions was the snobbish Mr. Bryant in Mr. Lucky in 1943. Stephenson also appeared in literature adaptions, for example as the friendly lawyer Havisham in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) and as Mr. Brownlow in David Lean's literature adaption Oliver Twist (1948). He made his last film in 1949, but appeared in two TV-series in 1951 before the end of his career. In 1950, after finishing his role of Cardinal Gaspar de Quiroga in the drama play, That Lady, Stephenson retired from the stage. He married actress Ann Shoemaker. They had one daughter. Henry Stephenson died in 1956 at the age of 85 years. He was survived by Ann and his daughter.

Works

88 films

Oliver Twist

19487.6

Mutiny on the Bounty

19357.4

Captain Blood

19357.2

The Charge of the Light Brigade

19366.5

Little Women

19336.8

Night and Day

19466.1

The Baroness and the Butler

19385.3

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

19396.9

Mr. Lucky

19437.0

The Prince and the Pauper

19376.8

Tarzan and the Amazons

19456.3

Two Girls and a Sailor

19445.8

Little Lord Fauntleroy

19366.8

The Locket

19466.3

The Emperor's Candlesticks

19374.9

Tarzan Finds a Son!

19396.2

Marie Antoinette

19386.6

Stingaree

19346.1

Wise Girl

19377.1

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

19396.3

The Animal Kingdom

19325.6

Ivy

19476.6

Enchantment

19486.8

Red-Headed Woman

19326.6

Conquest

19376.6

A Bill of Divorcement

19326.3

She Loves Me Not

19346.0

Of Human Bondage

19466.8

Her Sister's Secret

19467.2

The Young in Heart

19386.6

When You're in Love

19376.9

One More River

19345.2

This Above All

19426.8

Beloved Enemy

19366.3

Suez

19385.5

The Return of Monte Cristo

19466.3

Rings on Her Fingers

19426.8

Rendezvous

19354.9

Down Argentine Way

19406.3

Hearts Divided

19365.5

Julia Misbehaves

19486.7

What Every Woman Knows

19347.6

Song of Love

19476.8

Reckless

19355.1

Thirty Day Princess

19346.8

The Richest Girl in the World

19345.8

Heartbeat

19465.2

The Man Who Lost Himself

19415.4

Little Old New York

19405.3

The Green Years

19466.4

Lady from Louisiana

19415.4

The Black Panther's Cub

19217.0

Dramatic School

19386.5

Blind Adventure

19336.3

The Perfect Gentleman

19356.3

Time Out of Mind

19475.6

Vanessa: Her Love Story

19356.2

Cynara

19325.1

The Night Is Young

19356.0

It's a Date

19406.4

O'Shaughnessy's Boy

19356.2

Dark Delusion

19476.8

The Homestretch

19478.0

My Lips Betray

193310.0

The Hour Before the Dawn

19446.4

Double Harness

19336.5

Half Angel

19367.5

Challenge to Lassie

19495.3

Outcast Lady

19347.3

If I Were Free

19335.0

The Mystery of Mr. X

19346.8

Walking on Air

19366.3

The Tower of Jewels

19198.0

Reckless Age

19449.0

Secrets of Scotland Yard

19446.3

The Flame Within

19355.0

The Spreading Dawn

1917

Spring Parade

19406.9

Man of Two Worlds

19346.5

Tomorrow at Seven

19336.2

All Men Are Enemies

19349.0

The Mantrap

19438.0

Half Way to Shanghai

19426.0

Wild, Wild Susan

19257.0

Give Me Your Heart

19365.9

Guilty as Hell

19326.7

A Society Exile

19199.0

Men and Women

19258.0