CINEFILER

Henry Stephenson

Born
April 15, 1871
Died
April 24, 1956
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
Oliver Twist
(1948)
Mr. Brownlow
Captain Blood
(1935)
Lord Willoughby
Mutiny on the Bounty
(1935)
Joseph Banks
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(1939)
Lord Burghley
The Prince and the Pauper
(1937)
Duke of Norfolk
Red-Headed Woman
(1932)
Charles B. 'Charlie' / 'C.B.' Gaerste
Little Women
(1933)
Mr. Laurence
Tarzan and the Amazons
(1945)
Sir Guy Henderson, the Archeologist
Tarzan Finds a Son!
(1939)
Sir Thomas Lancing
Marie Antoinette
(1938)
Count de Mercey
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
(1939)
Sir Ronald Ramsgate
Full Filmography
Acting
A Society Exile
(1919)
Sir Howard Furnival
Men and Women
(1925)
Arnold Kirke
Wild, Wild Susan
(1925)
Peter Van Dusen
A Bill of Divorcement
(1932)
Doctor Alliot
The Animal Kingdom
(1932)
Rufus Collier
Guilty as Hell
(1932)
Dr. Ernest S. Tindal
Cynara
(1932)
John Tring
Red-Headed Woman
(1932)
Charles B. 'Charlie' / 'C.B.' Gaerste
Little Women
(1933)
Mr. Laurence
If I Were Free
(1933)
Hector Stribling
Tomorrow at Seven
(1933)
Thornton Drake
Blind Adventure
(1933)
Major Thorne
Double Harness
(1933)
Colonel Sam Colby
My Lips Betray
(1933)
De Conti
Thirty Day Princess
(1934)
King Anatol XII
She Loves Me Not
(1934)
Dean Mercer
The Richest Girl in the World
(1934)
John Connors
The Mystery of Mr. X
(1934)
Frensham
Stingaree
(1934)
Mr. Hugh Clarkson
Outcast Lady
(1934)
Sir Maurice
What Every Woman Knows
(1934)
Charles Venables
Man of Two Worlds
(1934)
Sir Basil Pemberton
One More River
(1934)
Sir Laurence Mont
All Men Are Enemies
(1934)
Mutiny on the Bounty
(1935)
Joseph Banks
Captain Blood
(1935)
Lord Willoughby
Reckless
(1935)
Colonel Harrison Sr.
Rendezvous
(1935)
Russian Ambassador Gregory
Vanessa: Her Love Story
(1935)
Barney Newmark
The Night Is Young
(1935)
Emperor Franz Josef
O'Shaughnessy's Boy
(1935)
Maj. Winslow
The Flame Within
(1935)
Dr. Jock Frazier
The Perfect Gentleman
(1935)
Bishop
Little Lord Fauntleroy
(1936)
Havisham
The Charge of the Light Brigade
(1936)
Sir Charles Macefield
Beloved Enemy
(1936)
Lord Athleigh
Hearts Divided
(1936)
Charles Patterson
Give Me Your Heart
(1936)
Edward, Lord Farrington
Walking on Air
(1936)
Mr. Horace Bennett
Half Angel
(1936)
Prof. Jerome Hargraves
Conquest
(1937)
Count Anastas Walewski
The Prince and the Pauper
(1937)
Duke of Norfolk
When You're in Love
(1937)
Walter Mitchell
The Emperor's Candlesticks
(1937)
Prince Johann
Wise Girl
(1937)
Mr. Fletcher
Marie Antoinette
(1938)
Count de Mercey
The Young in Heart
(1938)
Felix Anstruther
The Baroness and the Butler
(1938)
Count Albert Sandor
Dramatic School
(1938)
Pasquel Sr.
Suez
(1938)
Count Mathieu de Lesseps
Tarzan Finds a Son!
(1939)
Sir Thomas Lancing
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(1939)
Lord Burghley
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
(1939)
Sir Ronald Ramsgate
Down Argentine Way
(1940)
Don Diego Quintana
It's a Date
(1940)
Capt. Andrew
Little Old New York
(1940)
Robert R. Livingston
Spring Parade
(1940)
Emperor Franz Joseph
Lady from Louisiana
(1941)
General Anatole Mirbeau
The Man Who Lost Himself
(1941)
Frederick Collins
This Above All
(1942)
General Cathaway
Half Way to Shanghai
(1942)
Col. Algernon Blimpton
Rings on Her Fingers
(1942)
Mr. Lucky
(1943)
Mr. Bryant
The Mantrap
(1943)
Sir Humphrey Quilp
Two Girls and a Sailor
(1944)
John Dyckman Brown I
Secrets of Scotland Yard
(1944)
Sir Reginald Meade
The Hour Before the Dawn
(1944)
Gen. Hetherton
Reckless Age
(1944)
J. H. Wadsworth
Tarzan and the Amazons
(1945)
Sir Guy Henderson, the Archeologist
Heartbeat
(1946)
Minister
The Locket
(1946)
Lord Wyndham
The Green Years
(1946)
Blakely
Of Human Bondage
(1946)
Dr. Tyrell
Her Sister's Secret
(1946)
Mr. DuBois
The Return of Monte Cristo
(1946)
Prof. Duval
Night and Day
(1946)
Omar Cole
Ivy
(1947)
Judge
The Homestretch
(1947)
Don Humberto Balcares
Dark Delusion
(1947)
Evans Biddle
Time Out of Mind
(1947)
Wellington Drake
Song of Love
(1947)
King Albert
Oliver Twist
(1948)
Mr. Brownlow
Julia Misbehaves
(1948)
Lord Pennystone
Enchantment
(1948)
General Fitzgerald
Challenge to Lassie
(1949)
Sir Charles Loring
Data provided by TMDB