Henry Stephenson
Henry Stephenson
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
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
85
Gender
Male
Birthday
1871-04-15 (154 years old)
Place of Birth
Granada, British West Indies
Acting

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

Ivy as Judge

1947

Song of Love as King Albert

1947

Dark Delusion as Evans Biddle

1947

Time Out of Mind as Wellington Drake

1947

The Homestretch as Don Humberto Balcares

1946

Night and Day as Omar Cole

1946

The Locket as Lord Wyndham

1946

The Green Years as Blakely

1946

Heartbeat as Minister

1946

Of Human Bondage as Dr. Tyrell

1946

Her Sister's Secret as Mr. DuBois

1946

The Return of Monte Cristo as Prof. Duval

1945

Tarzan and the Amazons as Sir Guy Henderson, the Archeologist

1944

Two Girls and a Sailor as John Dyckman Brown I

1944

Reckless Age as J. H. Wadsworth

1944

The Hour Before the Dawn as Gen. Hetherton

1944

Secrets of Scotland Yard as Sir Reginald Meade

1943

Mr. Lucky as Mr. Bryant

1943

The Mantrap as Sir Humphrey Quilp

1942

Rings on Her Fingers as Colonel Prentiss

1942

This Above All as General Cathaway

1942

Half Way to Shanghai as Col. Algernon Blimpton

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

Little Old New York as Robert R. Livingston

1940

Spring Parade as Emperor Franz Joseph

1940

It's a Date as Capt. Andrew

1939

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as Sir Ronald Ramsgate

1939

Tarzan Finds a Son! as Sir Thomas Lancing

1938

Marie Antoinette as Count de Mercey

1938

The Young in Heart as Felix Anstruther

1938

Dramatic School as Pasquel Sr.

1938

The Baroness and the Butler as Count Albert Sandor

1938

Suez as Count Mathieu de Lesseps

1937

The Prince and the Pauper as Duke of Norfolk

1937

Conquest as Count Anastas Walewski

1937

The Emperor's Candlesticks as Prince Johann

1937

When You're in Love as Walter Mitchell

1937

Wise Girl as Mr. Fletcher

1936

Little Lord Fauntleroy as Havisham

1936

The Charge of the Light Brigade as Sir Charles Macefield

1936

Beloved Enemy as Lord Athleigh

1936

Walking on Air as Mr. Horace Bennett

1936

Give Me Your Heart as Edward, Lord Farrington

1936

Hearts Divided as Charles Patterson

1936

Half Angel as Prof. Jerome Hargraves

1935

The Perfect Gentleman as Bishop

1935

Reckless as Colonel Harrison Sr.

1935

Mutiny on the Bounty as Joseph Banks

1935

Rendezvous as Russian Ambassador Gregory

1935

The Night Is Young as Emperor Franz Josef

1935

Captain Blood as Lord Willoughby

1935

Vanessa: Her Love Story as Barney Newmark

1935

O'Shaughnessy's Boy as Maj. Winslow

1935

The Flame Within as Dr. Jock Frazier

1934

What Every Woman Knows as Charles Venables

1934

One More River as Sir Laurence Mont

1934

Stingaree as Mr. Hugh Clarkson

1934

The Richest Girl in the World as John Connors

1934

Thirty Day Princess as King Anatol XII

1934

Man of Two Worlds as Sir Basil Pemberton

1934

The Mystery of Mr. X as Frensham

1934

Outcast Lady as Sir Maurice

1934

She Loves Me Not as Dean Mercer

1934

All Men Are Enemies as Not available

1933

Little Women as Mr. Laurence

1933

Blind Adventure as Major Thorne

1933

Double Harness as Colonel Sam Colby

1933

My Lips Betray as De Conti

1933

Tomorrow at Seven as Thornton Drake

1933

If I Were Free as Hector Stribling

1932

Red-Headed Woman as Charles B. 'Charlie' / 'C.B.' Gaerste

1932

The Animal Kingdom as Rufus Collier

1932

A Bill of Divorcement as Doctor Alliot

1932

Guilty as Hell as Dr. Ernest S. Tindal

1932

Cynara as John Tring

1925

Men and Women as Arnold Kirke

1925

Wild, Wild Susan as Peter Van Dusen

1919

A Society Exile as Sir Howard Furnival