Henry DeWitt Carey II (January 16, 1878 - September 21, 1947) was an American actor and one of silent film's earliest superstars, usually cast as a Western hero. One of his best known performances is as the president of the United States Senate in the drama film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He was the father of Harry Carey Jr., who was also a prominent actor. Born in New York City to a Judge of Special Sessions who was also president of a sewing machine company. Grew up on City Island, New York. Attended Hamilton Military Academy and turned down an appointment to West Point to attend New York University, where his law school classmates included future New York City mayor James J. Walker. After a boating accident which led to pneumonia, Carey wrote a play while recuperating and toured the country in it for three years, earning a great deal of money, all of which evaporated after his next play was a failure.
In 1911, his friend Henry B. Walthall introduced him to director D.W. Griffith, for whom Carey was to make many films. Carey married twice, the second time to actress Olive Fuller Golden (aka Olive Carey, who introduced him to future director John Ford. Carey influenced Universal Studios head Carl Laemmle to use Ford as a director, and a partnership was born that lasted until a rift in the friendship in 1921. During this time, Carey grew into one of the most popular Western stars of the early motion picture, occasionally writing and directing films as well. In the '30s he moved slowly into character roles and was nominated for an Oscar for one of them, the President of the Senate in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). He worked once more with Ford, in The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), and appeared once with his son, Harry Carey Jr., in Howard Hawks' Red River (1948). He died after a protracted bout with emphysema and cancer. Ford dedicated his remake of 3 Godfathers (1948) "To Harry Carey--Bright Star Of The Early Western Sky."
Known For
Red River
(1948)
Mr. Melville
Angel and the Badman
(1947)
Marshal Wistful McClintock
Duel in the Sun
(1946)
Lem Smoot
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939)
President of the Senate
Beyond Tomorrow
(1940)
George Vale Melton
Barbary Coast
(1935)
Jed Slocum
The Shepherd of the Hills
(1941)
Daniel Howitt
The Spoilers
(1942)
Dextry
Full Filmography
Acting
Bill Sharkey's Last Game
(1910)
Gentleman Joe
(1910)
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
(1912)
Snapper's Sidekick
An Unseen Enemy
(1912)
The Safecracker
So Near, Yet So Far
(1912)
A Thief
Friends
(1912)
Bob Kyne - the Prospector
The Burglar’s Dilemma
(1912)
Older Crook
The Painted Lady
(1912)
At Ice Cream Festival
The Informer
(1912)
The Confederate Corporal
The One She Loved
(1912)
The Neighbor's Friend
A Feud in the Kentucky Hills
(1912)
2nd Clan Member
Two Daughters of Eve
(1912)
In Audience
In the Aisles of the Wild
(1912)
Bob Cole
A Cry for Help
(1912)
The Thief
Heredity
(1912)
The White Renegade Father
Brutality
(1912)
At Theatre
My Hero
(1912)
Indian
Black and White
(1913)
The Strong Man's Burden
(1913)
Bob - the Younger Brother
Broken Ways
(1913)
The Sheriff
The Unwelcome Guest
(1913)
The Sheriff
The Telephone Girl and the Lady
(1913)
The Thief
Oil and Water
(1913)
The Stage Manager / At Dinner
Olaf—An Atom
(1913)
Olaf, an Atom
The Stolen Bride
(1913)
The Husband
A Tender-Hearted Crook
(1913)
The Thief
The Sheriff's Baby
(1913)
Second Bandit
Pirate Gold
(1913)
The Left-Handed Man
(1913)
The Left-Handed Thief
A Modest Hero
(1913)
Madonna of the Storm
(1913)
An Adventure in the Autumn Woods
(1913)
Third Thief
A Misappropriated Turkey
(1913)
The Bartender
Brothers
(1913)
The Mother's Favorite Son
A Chance Deception
(1913)
Raffles
Love in an Apartment Hotel
(1913)
The Thief
The Wrong Bottle
(1913)
The Hero of Little Italy
(1913)
Tony
A Frightful Blunder
(1913)
The Superintendent
If We Only Knew
(1913)
The Sailor
The Tenderfoot's Money
(1913)
The Gambler
Near To Earth
(1913)
The Stolen Loaf
(1913)
The Butler
A Dangerous Foe
(1913)
The 'Bull'
The Ranchero's Revenge
(1913)
The Schemer
Red Hicks Defies the World
(1913)
In Crowd (uncredited)
The Well
(1913)
Giuseppe, the Farmhand
The Switchtower
(1913)
In Diplomatic Circles
(1913)
The Butler
A Gamble with Death
(1913)
The Cowpuncher
The Sorrowful Shore
(1913)
The Widowed Father
The Enemy's Baby
(1913)
Miller
A Gambler's Honor
(1913)
The Gambler
The Mirror
(1913)
First Tramp
The Vengeance of Galora
(1913)
A Prospector
When Love Forgives
(1913)
Second Criminal
Under the Shadow of the Law
(1913)
The Convict
I Was Meant for You
(1913)
Luke
The Work Habit
(1913)
The Son-in-Law
The Crook and the Girl
(1913)
The Crook
The Stolen Treaty
(1913)
The Detective
The Law and His Son
(1913)
Manning
The Van Nostrand Tiara
(1913)
Society Detective
The Stopped Clock
(1913)
The Detective
The Detective's Stratagem
(1913)
Keene, the Detective
All for Science
(1913)
The Young Man
For Her Government
(1913)
The Abandoned Well
(1913)
The Adopted Son
McVeagh of the South Seas
(1914)
Cyril Bruce McVeagh
Brute Force
(1914)
In Womanless Tribe (The Old Days) (uncredited)
Concentration
(1914)
First Son
Waifs
(1914)
His Fireman's Conscience
(1914)
Engineer Daily
A Nest Unfeathered
(1914)
The Foreman
Her Father's Silent Partner
(1914)
Judith of Bethulia
(1914)
Assyrian Traitor
Her Hand
(1914)
Ivan
The Master Cracksman
(1914)
Gentleman Joe, the Cracksman
Judge Not; or The Woman of Mona Diggings
(1915)
Miles Rand
Just Jim
(1915)
Jim
The Heart of a Bandit
(1915)
Texas Pete - the Bandit
His Desperate Deed
(1915)
Burleigh
The Love Transcendent
(1915)
The Prospector
The Sheriff's Dilemma
(1915)
The Sheriff
The Miser's Legacy
(1915)
Jackson - The Crook
The Gambler's I.O.U.
(1915)
Dave Dawson
A Double Winning
(1915)
2nd Sportsman
A Day's Adventure
(1915)
Hogan - Leader of the Crooks
The Canceled Mortgage
(1915)
1st Road Agent
Truth Stranger Than Fiction
(1915)
Crook
Her Dormant Love
(1915)
Dandy Dick - The Fugitive
The Way Out
(1915)
The Bandit
Her Convert
(1915)
The Converted Cracksman
Old Offenders
(1915)
Norris
As It Happened
(1915)
The New Foreman
Graft
(1915)
Tom Larnigan (Episodes 4-12)
The Three Godfathers
(1916)
Bob Sangster
Behind the Lines
(1916)
Dr. Ralph Hamlin
Love's Lariat
(1916)
Sky High
Secret Love
(1916)
Fergus Derrick
The Committee on Credentials
(1916)
Ballaret Bill
The Power of the People
(1916)
Tom Larnigan
Grinding Life Down
(1916)
Tom Larnigan
The Railroad Monopoly
(1916)
Tom Larnigan
America Saved from War
(1916)
Tom Larnigan
Old King Coal
(1916)
Tom Larnigan
The Insurance Swindlers
(1916)
Tom Larnigan
A Knight of the Range
(1916)
Cheyenne Harry
The Harbor Transportation Trust
(1916)
Tom Larnigan
The Passing of Hell's Crown
(1916)
Blaze
The Wedding Guest
(1916)
The Squarest Sheriff Alive
The Jackals of a Great City
(1916)
Tom Wayne
For the Love of a Girl
(1916)
Black La Rue
A Woman's Eyes
(1916)
Tom Horn
The Devil's Own
(1916)
Shifty
The Conspiracy
(1916)
Dick Olney
Guilty
(1916)
Ramon Valentine
Bucking Broadway
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
Straight Shooting
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
Cheyenne's Pal
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
The Secret Man
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
A Marked Man
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
The Soul Herder
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
The Fighting Gringo
(1917)
William 'Red' Saunders
Blood Money
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
The Bad Man of Cheyenne
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
The Outlaw and the Lady
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
The Drifter
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
Goin' Straight
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
Hair-Trigger Burke
(1917)
Hair Trigger Burke
The Honor of an Outlaw
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
A 44-Calibre Mystery
(1917)
Sheriff Cheyenne Harry
The Almost Good Man
(1917)
Dick Glenning
Six-Shooter Justice
(1917)
Cheyenne Harry
The Mysterious Outlaw
(1917)
Buck Lessen
The Golden Bullet
(1917)
Jack
The Wrong Man
(1917)
Jack Wilson
Hell Bent
(1918)
Cheyenne Harry
The Phantom Riders
(1918)
Cheyenne Harry
Wild Women
(1918)
Cheyenne Harry
The Scarlet Drop
(1918)
Harry Ridge
Thieves' Gold
(1918)
Cheyenne Harry
Three Mounted Men
(1918)
Cheyenne Harry
A Woman's Fool
(1918)
Lin McLean
A Gun Fightin' Gentleman
(1919)
Cheyenne Harry
Roped
(1919)
Cheyenne Harry
Bare Fists
(1919)
Cheyenne Harry
A Fight For Love
(1919)
Cheyenne Harry
Riders of Vengeance
(1919)
Cheyenne Harry
Marked Men
(1919)
Cheyenne Harry
The Ace of the Saddle
(1919)
Cheyenne Harry Henderson
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
(1919)
Square Shootin' Harry Lanyon / John Oakhurst
Rider of the Law
(1919)
Jim Kyneton
West Is West
(1920)
Dick Rainboldt
Blue Streak McCoy
(1920)
Job McCoy
Sundown Slim
(1920)
Sundown Slim
Bullet Proof
(1920)
Pierre Winton
Human Stuff
(1920)
James 'Jim' Pierce
'If Only' Jim
(1920)
Jim Golden
Overland Red
(1920)
Overland Red
The Wallop
(1921)
John Wesley Pringle
Hearts Up
(1921)
David Brent
Desperate Trails
(1921)
Bart Carson
The Freeze-Out
(1921)
Ohio, the Stranger
The Fox
(1921)
Ol' Santa Fe
The Kickback
(1922)
White Horse Harry
Man to Man
(1922)
Steve Packard
Good Men and True
(1922)
J. Wesley Pringle
Canyon of the Fools
(1923)
Bob
Crashin' Thru
(1923)
Blake
Desert Driven
(1923)
Bob
The Miracle Baby
(1923)
Neil Allison
The Night Hawk
(1924)
'The Hawk'
Roaring Rails
(1924)
Big Bill Benson
The Flaming Forties
(1924)
Bill Jones
The Lightning Rider
(1924)
Phlip Morgan
Tiger Thompson
(1924)
Tiger Thompson
The Prairie Pirate
(1925)
Brian 'The Yellow Seal' Delaney
Beyond the Border
(1925)
Bob Smith
Soft Shoes
(1925)
Pat Halahan
The Bad Lands
(1925)
Patrick Angus O'Toole
The Man from Red Gulch
(1925)
Alexander 'Sandy' Morton
The Texas Trail
(1925)
Pete Grainger
Silent Sanderson
(1925)
Joel Parsons / Silent Sanderson
Satan Town
(1926)
Bill Scott
The Frontier Trail
(1926)
Jim Cardigan
The Seventh Bandit
(1926)
David Scanlon
Driftin' Thru
(1926)
Daniel Brown
Slide, Kelly, Slide
(1927)
Tom Munson
A Little Journey
(1927)
Alexander Smith
The Trail of '98
(1928)
Jack Locasto
The Border Patrol
(1928)
Bill Storm
Burning Bridges
(1928)
Jim Whitely / Bob Whitely
Trader Horn
(1931)
Aloysius "Trader" Horn
The Vanishing Legion
(1931)
'Happy' Cardigan
Cavalier of the West
(1931)
Captain John Allister
Bad Company
(1931)
McBaine
Without Honors
(1932)
Pete Marlan
Law and Order
(1932)
Ed Brandt
Border Devils
(1932)
Jim Gray
The Last of the Mohicans
(1932)
Hawkeye
The Night Rider
(1932)
John Brown / Jim Blake
The Devil Horse
(1932)
Bob Norton / Roberts
The Thundering Herd
(1933)
Clark Sprague
Man of the Forest
(1933)
Jim Gayner
Sunset Pass
(1933)
John Hesbitt
The Film Parade
(1933)
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Wagon Trail
(1935)
Sheriff Clay Hartley
The Last of the Clintons
(1935)
Trigger Carson
Barbary Coast
(1935)
Jed Slocum
Wild Mustang
(1935)
Joe 'Wild Mustang' Norton
Powdersmoke Range
(1935)
Tucson Smith
Rustler's Paradise
(1935)
Cheyenne Kincaid
The Prisoner of Shark Island
(1936)
Commandant
The Accusing Finger
(1936)
Sen. Nash
Ghost Town
(1936)
Cheyenne Harry Morgan
Little Miss Nobody
(1936)
John Russell
Aces Wild
(1936)
Cheyenne Harry Morgan
The Last Outlaw
(1936)
Dean Payton
Sutter's Gold
(1936)
Kit Carson
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie
(1936)
Phil Yonne
Souls at Sea
(1937)
Captain of the William Brown
Kid Galahad
(1937)
Silver Jackson
Border Cafe
(1937)
Tex Stevens
Racing Lady
(1937)
Tom Martin
Annapolis Salute
(1937)
Chief Martin
Born Reckless
(1937)
Dad Martin
Danger Patrol
(1937)
Sam Street
You and Me
(1938)
Mr. Morris
Sky Giant
(1938)
Col. Cornelius Stockton
King of Alcatraz
(1938)
Captain Glennan
The Law West of Tombstone
(1938)
William 'Bill' Barker
Port of Missing Girls
(1938)
Captain Josiah Storm
Gateway
(1938)
Commissioner Nelson
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939)
President of the Senate
Burn 'Em Up O'Connor
(1939)
P.G. Delano
Street of Missing Men
(1939)
Charles Putnam
My Son is Guilty
(1939)
Police Officer Tim Kerry
Code of the Streets
(1939)
Detective Lieutenant John Lewis
Inside Information
(1939)
Captain Bill Dugan
Land of Liberty
(1939)
(archive footage)
Beyond Tomorrow
(1940)
George Vale Melton
They Knew What They Wanted
(1940)
The Doctor
Outside the Three-Mile Limit
(1940)
Captain Bailey
Among the Living
(1941)
Dr. Ben Saunders
The Shepherd of the Hills
(1941)
Daniel Howitt
Sundown
(1941)
Dewey
Parachute Battalion
(1941)
Bill Richards
The Spoilers
(1942)
Dextry
Air Force
(1943)
Crew Chief
Happy Land
(1943)
Edward "Gramp" Marsh
The Great Moment
(1944)
Professor John C. Warren
China's Little Devils
(1945)
Doc Temple
Duel in the Sun
(1946)
Lem Smoot
The Sea of Grass
(1947)
Doc J. Reid
Angel and the Badman
(1947)
Marshal Wistful McClintock
Red River
(1948)
Mr. Melville
So Dear to My Heart
(1948)
Head Judge at County Fair
Film Fun
(1955)
(archive footage)
Directed by John Ford
(1971)
(archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
(1972)
Self (archive footage)
Legends of the West
(1992)
Ed Brandt in 'Law and Order'
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
(2000)
(archive footage)
Writing
A Gambler's Honor
(1913)
Writer
Under the Shadow of the Law
(1913)
Screenplay and Story
McVeagh of the South Seas
(1914)
Story
The Master Cracksman
(1914)
Writer
A Knight of the Range
(1916)
Scenario Writer
Stampede in the Night
(1916)
Story
Blood Money
(1917)
Story
The Bad Man of Cheyenne
(1917)
Story
The Outlaw and the Lady
(1917)
Story
Goin' Straight
(1917)
Story
The Gun Packer
(1919)
Story
Riders of Vengeance
(1919)
Story
A Gun Fightin' Gentleman
(1919)
Story
Human Stuff
(1920)
Scenario Writer
Hearts Up
(1921)
Story
The Fox
(1921)
Story
The Kickback
(1922)
Story
Soft Shoes
(1925)
Story
Directing
McVeagh of the South Seas
(1914)
Director
The Master Cracksman
(1914)
Director
Love's Lariat
(1916)
Director
For the Love of a Girl
(1916)
Director
Production
Crew