Henry Stephenson
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 15, 1871
- Died
- April 24, 1956 (aged 85)
- Birthplace
- 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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Challenge to Lassie
Movie · as Sir Charles Loring
Oliver Twist
Movie · as Mr. Brownlow
Julia Misbehaves
Movie · as Lord Pennystone
Enchantment
Movie · as General Fitzgerald
Ivy
Movie · as Judge
The Homestretch
Movie · as Don Humberto Balcares
Dark Delusion
Movie · as Evans Biddle
Time Out of Mind
Movie · as Wellington Drake
Song of Love
Movie · as King Albert
Heartbeat
Movie · as Minister
The Locket
Movie · as Lord Wyndham
The Green Years
Movie · as Blakely
Of Human Bondage
Movie · as Dr. Tyrell
Her Sister's Secret
Movie · as Mr. DuBois
The Return of Monte Cristo
Movie · as Professor Duval
Night and Day
Movie · as Omar Cole
Tarzan and the Amazons
Movie · as Sir Guy Henderson, the Archeologist
Two Girls and a Sailor
Movie · as John Dyckman Brown I
Secrets of Scotland Yard
Movie · as Sir Reginald Meade
The Hour Before the Dawn
Movie · as Gen. Hetherton
Reckless Age
Movie · as J. H. Wadsworth
Mr. Lucky
Movie · as Mr. Bryant
The Mantrap
Movie · as Sir Humphrey Quilp
This Above All
Movie · as General Cathaway
Half Way to Shanghai
Movie · as Col. Algernon Blimpton
Rings on Her Fingers
Movie · as Colonel Prentiss
Lady from Louisiana
Movie · as General Anatole Mirbeau
The Man Who Lost Himself
Movie · as Frederick Collins
Down Argentine Way
Movie · as Don Diego Quintana
It's a Date
Movie · as Capt. Andrew
Spring Parade
Movie · as Emperor Franz Joseph
Little Old New York
Movie · as Robert R. Livingston
Tarzan Finds a Son!
Movie · as Sir Thomas Lancing
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Movie · as Lord Burghley
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Movie · as Sir Ronald Ramsgate
Marie Antoinette
Movie · as Count de Mercey
The Young in Heart
Movie · as Felix Anstruther
The Baroness and the Butler
Movie · as Count Albert Sandor
Dramatic School
Movie · as Pasquel Sr.
Suez
Movie · as Count Mathieu de Lesseps
Conquest
Movie · as Count Anastas Walewski
The Prince and the Pauper
Movie · as Duke of Norfolk
When You're in Love
Movie · as Walter Mitchell
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Movie · as Prince Johann
Wise Girl
Movie · as Mr. Fletcher
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Movie · as Havisham
Beloved Enemy
Movie · as Lord Athleigh
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Movie · as Sir Charles Macefield
Hearts Divided
Movie · as Charles Patterson
Give Me Your Heart
Movie · as Edward, Lord Farrington
Walking on Air
Movie · as Mr. Horace Bennett
Half Angel
Movie · as Professor Jerome Hargraves
Mutiny on the Bounty
Movie · as Joseph Banks
Captain Blood
Movie · as Lord Willoughby
Reckless
Movie · as Colonel Harrison Sr.
Rendezvous
Movie · as Russian Ambassador Gregory
Vanessa: Her Love Story
Movie · as Barney Newmark
The Night Is Young
Movie · as Emperor Franz Josef
O'Shaughnessy's Boy
Movie · as Maj. Winslow
The Flame Within
Movie · as Dr. Jock Frazier
The Perfect Gentleman
Movie · as Bishop
Thirty Day Princess
Movie · as King Anatol XII
She Loves Me Not
Movie · as Dean Mercer
The Richest Girl in the World
Movie · as John Connors
The Mystery of Mr. X
Movie · as Sir Herbert Frensham
Stingaree
Movie · as Mr. Hugh Clarkson
Outcast Lady
Movie · as Sir Maurice
What Every Woman Knows
Movie · as Charles Venables
Man of Two Worlds
Movie · as Sir Basil Pemberton
One More River
Movie · as Sir Laurence Mont
All Men Are Enemies
Movie · as Scrope
Little Women
Movie · as Mr. Laurence
If I Were Free
Movie · as Hector Stribling
Tomorrow at Seven
Movie · as Thornton Drake
Blind Adventure
Movie · as Major Thorne
Double Harness
Movie · as Colonel Sam Colby
My Lips Betray
Movie · as De Conti
A Bill of Divorcement
Movie · as Doctor Alliot
Red-Headed Woman
Movie · as Charles B. 'Charlie' / 'C.B.' Gaerste
The Animal Kingdom
Movie · as Rufus
Guilty as Hell
Movie · as Dr. Ernest S. Tindal
Cynara
Movie · as John Tring
Men and Women
Movie · as Arnold Kirke
Wild, Wild Susan
Movie · as Peter Van Dusen
The Black Panther's Cub
Movie · as Clive, Earl of Maudsley
A Society Exile
Movie · as Sir Howard Furnival
The Tower of Jewels
Movie · as David Parrish
The Spreading Dawn
Movie · as Mr. LeRoy