Henry Stephenson
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.
Known For
Credits
- 1949 · Challenge to Lassie as Sir Charles Loring
- 1948 · Enchantment as General Fitzgerald
- 1948 · Julia Misbehaves as Lord Pennystone
- 1948 · Oliver Twist as Mr. Brownlow
- 1947 · Song of Love as King Albert
- 1947 · Ivy as Judge
- 1947 · Dark Delusion as Evans Biddle
- 1947 · The Homestretch as Don Humberto Balcares
- 1947 · Time Out of Mind as Wellington Drake
- 1946 · The Locket as Lord Wyndham
- 1946 · The Return of Monte Cristo as Prof. Duval
- 1946 · Her Sister's Secret as Mr. DuBois
- 1946 · Of Human Bondage as Dr. Tyrell
- 1946 · The Green Years as Blakely
- 1946 · Night and Day as Omar Cole
- 1946 · Heartbeat as Minister
- 1945 · Tarzan and the Amazons as Sir Guy Henderson, the Archeologist
- 1944 · Reckless Age as J. H. Wadsworth
- 1944 · Secrets of Scotland Yard as Sir Reginald Meade
- 1944 · Two Girls and a Sailor as John Dyckman Brown I
- 1944 · The Hour Before the Dawn as Gen. Hetherton
- 1943 · Mr. Lucky as Mr. Bryant
- 1943 · The Mantrap as Sir Humphrey Quilp
- 1942 · Half Way to Shanghai as Col. Algernon Blimpton
- 1942 · This Above All as General Cathaway
- 1942 · Rings on Her Fingers as Colonel Prentiss
- 1941 · Lady from Louisiana as General Anatole Mirbeau
- 1941 · The Man Who Lost Himself as Frederick Collins
- 1940 · Down Argentine Way as Don Diego Quintana
- 1940 · Spring Parade as Emperor Franz Joseph
- 1940 · It's a Date as Capt. Andrew
- 1940 · Little Old New York as Robert R. Livingston
- 1939 · The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex as Lord Burghley
- 1939 · The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as Sir Ronald Ramsgate
- 1939 · Tarzan Finds a Son! as Sir Thomas Lancing
- 1938 · Dramatic School as Pasquel Sr.
- 1938 · Suez as Count Mathieu de Lesseps
- 1938 · Marie Antoinette as Count de Mercey
- 1938 · The Young in Heart as Felix Anstruther
- 1938 · The Baroness and the Butler as Count Albert Sandor
- 1937 · Wise Girl as Mr. Fletcher
- 1937 · Conquest as Count Anastas Walewski
- 1937 · The Emperor's Candlesticks as Prince Johann
- 1937 · The Prince and the Pauper as Duke of Norfolk
- 1937 · When You're in Love as Walter Mitchell
- 1936 · Beloved Enemy as Lord Athleigh
- 1936 · The Charge of the Light Brigade as Sir Charles Macefield
- 1936 · Give Me Your Heart as Edward, Lord Farrington
- 1936 · Walking on Air as Mr. Horace Bennett
- 1936 · Hearts Divided as Charles Patterson
- 1936 · Half Angel as Prof. Jerome Hargraves
- 1936 · Little Lord Fauntleroy as Havisham
- 1935 · Captain Blood as Lord Willoughby
- 1935 · Mutiny on the Bounty as Joseph Banks
- 1935 · The Perfect Gentleman as Bishop
- 1935 · Rendezvous as Russian Ambassador Gregory
- 1935 · O'Shaughnessy's Boy as Maj. Winslow
- 1935 · The Flame Within as Dr. Jock Frazier
- 1935 · Reckless as Colonel Harrison Sr.
- 1935 · Vanessa: Her Love Story as Barney Newmark
- 1935 · The Night Is Young as Emperor Franz Josef
- 1934 · What Every Woman Knows as Charles Venables
- 1934 · Outcast Lady as Sir Maurice
- 1934 · The Richest Girl in the World as John Connors
- 1934 · She Loves Me Not as Dean Mercer
- 1934 · One More River as Sir Laurence Mont
- 1934 · Stingaree as Mr. Hugh Clarkson
- 1934 · Thirty Day Princess as King Anatol XII
- 1934 · All Men Are Enemies as
- 1934 · The Mystery of Mr. X as Frensham
- 1934 · Man of Two Worlds as Sir Basil Pemberton
- 1933 · If I Were Free as Hector Stribling
- 1933 · Little Women as Mr. Laurence
- 1933 · My Lips Betray as De Conti
- 1933 · Blind Adventure as Major Thorne
- 1933 · Double Harness as Colonel Sam Colby
- 1933 · Tomorrow at Seven as Thornton Drake
- 1932 · The Animal Kingdom as Rufus Collier
- 1932 · Cynara as John Tring
- 1932 · A Bill of Divorcement as Doctor Alliot
- 1932 · Guilty as Hell as Dr. Ernest S. Tindal
- 1932 · Red-Headed Woman as Charles B. 'Charlie' / 'C.B.' Gaerste
- 1925 · Wild, Wild Susan as Peter Van Dusen
- 1925 · Men and Women as Arnold Kirke
- 1919 · A Society Exile as Sir Howard Furnival