James Stephenson
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 13, 1889
- Died
- July 29, 1941 (aged 52)
- Birthplace
- Selby, Yorkshire, England, UK
Biography
British stage actor James Stephenson made his film debut quite late in life, at the age of 49, in 1937, making four pictures that year. Warner Bros. got a glimpse of this distinguished gent and signed him to a contract where he indulged himself in urbane villainy. Proving a reliable support in such films as Boy Meets Girl (1938), You Can't Get Away with Murder (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), and the classic adventure The Sea Hawk (1940), he was entrusted by director William Wyler and mega-star Bette Davis to play the sympathetic role of the family attorney Howard Joyce in The Letter (1940). It was the role of a lifetime and he didn't let them down for he earned an Oscar nomination in the process. Stephenson was soon on a roll, playing the titular sleuth in Calling Philo Vance (1940) and was first-billed in the above-average "B" movie Shining Victory (1941) when he died suddenly in 1941 of a heart attack at the rather young age of 53. Date of Death: 29 July 1941, Pacific Palisades, California (heart attack)
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Flight from Destiny
Movie · as Dr. Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens
Shining Victory
Movie · as Dr. Paul Venner
International Squadron
Movie · as Squadron Leader Charles Wyatt
The Sea Hawk
Movie · as Abbott
The Letter
Movie · as Howard Joyce
Murder in the Air
Movie · as Joe Garvey
Wolf of New York
Movie · as Hiram Rogers
River's End
Movie · as McDowell
Calling Philo Vance
Movie · as Philo Vance
South of Suez
Movie · as Inspector Thornton
A Dispatch from Reuters
Movie · as Carew
Devil's Island
Movie · as Col. Armand Lucien
King of the Underworld
Movie · as Bill Stevens
Beau Geste
Movie · as Major Henri de Beaujolais
The Old Maid
Movie · as Jim Ralston
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Movie · as Sir Thomas Egerton
Espionage Agent
Movie · as Dr. Anton Rader
The Monroe Doctrine
Movie · as Senor De La Torre
Secret Service of the Air
Movie · as Jim Cameron
On Trial
Movie · as Gerald Trask
The Adventures of Jane Arden
Movie · as Dr. George Vanders
Sons of Liberty
Movie · as Colonel Tillman
Wanted by Scotland Yard
Movie · as Fingers
Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Movie · as British Military Intelligence Agent
We Are Not Alone
Movie · as Sir William Clintock
Torchy Blane in Chinatown
Movie · as Dr. Mansfield
Nancy Drew… Detective
Movie · as Challon
When Were You Born
Movie · as Phillip Corey
White Banners
Movie · as Thomas Bradford
Cowboy from Brooklyn
Movie · as Prof. Landis
Boy Meets Girl
Movie · as Major Thompson
Heart of the North
Movie · as Stephen Gore
The Dark Stairway
Movie · as Inspector Clarke
Mr. Satan
Movie · as Tim Garnett
You Live and Learn
Movie · as Sam Brooks
Transatlantic Trouble
Movie · as Lewis
The Man Who Made Diamonds
Movie · as Ben