Henry Stephenson

Born: 1871-04-15

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.


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Oliver Twist

as Mr. Brownlow
Released: 1948-06-28

When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second...

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Mutiny on the Bounty

as Joseph Banks
Released: 1935-11-22

Fletcher Christian successfully leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS...

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Captain Blood

as Lord Willoughby
Released: 1935-12-26

Dr. Peter Blood, unjustly convicted of treason and exiled from England, becomes a notorious pirate.

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The Animal Kingdom

as Rufus Collier
Released: 1932-12-28

Tom Collier has had a great relationship with Daisy, but when he decides to marry, it is not...

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Little Women

as Mr. Laurence
Released: 1933-11-24

Four sisters come of age during the American Civil War. With their father away fighting, the...

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Little Lord Fauntleroy

as Havisham
Released: 1936-03-06

An American boy turns out to be the heir of a wealthy British earl. He is sent to live with the...

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The Charge of the Light Brigade

as Sir Charles Macefield
Released: 1936-10-20

In 1853, as the British and Russian empires compete to gain and maintain their place in the...

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The Prince and the Pauper

as Duke of Norfolk
Released: 1937-04-30

Two boys – the prince Edward and the pauper Tom – are born on the same day. Years later, when...

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Night and Day

as Omar Cole
Released: 1946-07-02

When his first stage show fails, songwriter Cole Porter goes off to fight in WWI until, injured,...

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

as Sir Ronald Ramsgate
Released: 1939-09-01

Having once again avoided criminal conviction, Professor Moriarity develops a murderous plan to...

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The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

as Lord Burghley
Released: 1939-11-11

This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would...

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Tarzan and the Amazons

as Sir Guy Henderson, the Archeologist
Released: 1945-04-29

A group of archaeologists asks Tarzan to help them find an ancient city in a hidden valley of...

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Tarzan Finds a Son!

as Sir Thomas Lancing
Released: 1939-06-16

A young couple die in a plane crash in the jungle. Their son is found by Tarzan and Jane who...

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Mr. Lucky

as Mr. Bryant
Released: 1943-07-01

A conman poses as a war relief fundraiser, but when he falls for a charity worker, his...

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Marie Antoinette

as Count de Mercey
Released: 1938-08-26

The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of...

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Down Argentine Way

as Don Diego Quintana
Released: 1940-10-11

The story—in which an American heiress on holiday in South America falls in love with an...

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One More River

as Sir Laurence Mont
Released: 1934-08-06

A young lady leaves her brutal husband and meets another man on board a ship.

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Heartbeat

as Minister
Released: 1946-05-01

A female escapee from a reform school joins a pickpocket academy in Paris.

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Song of Love

as King Albert
Released: 1947-10-09

Composer Robert Schumann struggles to compose his symphonies while his loving wife Clara offers...

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The Locket

as Lord Wyndham
Released: 1946-12-20

A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.

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The Emperor's Candlesticks

as Prince Johann
Released: 1937-07-02

Spies on opposite sides fall in love in pre-revolutionary Russia.

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Stingaree

as Mr. Hugh Clarkson
Released: 1934-05-24

A young lady named Hilda who works as a servant for the wealthy Clarksons, sheep farmers, and...

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Of Human Bondage

as Dr. Tyrell
Released: 1946-07-05

A medical student with a club foot falls for a beautiful but ambitious waitress. She soon leaves...

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Reckless

as Colonel Harrison Sr.
Released: 1935-04-19

A theatrical star, born on the wrong side of the tracks, marries a drunken blue-blood millionaire.

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The Flame Within

as Dr. Jock Frazier
Released: 1935-05-17

Psychiatrist finds herself falling for her patient.

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Red-Headed Woman

as Charles B. 'Charlie' / 'C.B.' Gaerste
Released: 1932-06-25

Lil works for the Legendre Company and causes Bill to divorce Irene and marry her. She has an...

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Beloved Enemy

as Lord Athleigh
Released: 1936-12-25

In 1921, British Lord Athleigh arrives in Dublin with his daughter, Helen, to engage in peace...

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This Above All

as General Cathaway
Released: 1942-05-12

In 1940 England, aristocratic Prudence Cathaway alarms her snobbish parents by joining the WAF...

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A Bill of Divorcement

as Doctor Alliot
Released: 1932-09-28

A World War I veteran returns home after fifteen years in an asylum and finds that everything...

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What Every Woman Knows

as Charles Venables
Released: 1934-10-18

Aspiring young Scottish politician John Shand enters into an unusual agreement with the wealthy...

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Blind Adventure

as Major Thorne
Released: 1933-08-18

Richard Bruce, an American in fog bound London stumbles into the midst of international...

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The Young in Heart

as Felix Anstruther
Released: 1938-07-06

A family of confidence tricksters sets their sights on a very rich, very lonely old lady named...

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Time Out of Mind

as Wellington Drake
Released: 1947-05-03

The son of a wealthy Maine family shocks his relatives by announcing he wants to pursue a career...

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Suez

as Count Mathieu de Lesseps
Released: 1938-10-28

Ferdinand de Lesseps, disappointed in love, is sent as a junior diplomat to the Isthmus of Suez,...

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When You're in Love

as Walter Mitchell
Released: 1937-02-12

An Australian opera singer hires a husband so she can work in the U.S. Moore sings "Minnie the...

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Ivy

as Judge
Released: 1947-06-26

When Ivy, an Edwardian belle, begins to like Miles, a wealthy gentleman, she is unsure of what...

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Julia Misbehaves

as Lord Pennystone
Released: 1948-08-08

Julia and William were married and soon separated by his snobbish family. They meet again many...

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Conquest

as Count Anastas Walewski
Released: 1937-10-22

A Polish countess is dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the...

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The Perfect Gentleman

as Bishop
Released: 1935-11-22

A strait-laced country vicar is very embarrassed by his father's naughty exploits with a lively...

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Reckless Age

as J. H. Wadsworth
Released: 1944-08-01

Linda Wadsworth rebels against her millionaire grandfather, J. H. Wadsworth, and runs away from...

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The Richest Girl in the World

as John Connors
Released: 1934-09-21

Millionairess Dorothy Hunter is tired of finding out that her boyfriends love her for her money,...

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Cynara

as John Tring
Released: 1932-12-24

A London barrister's marriage is under strain after his affair with a shopgirl who is out to...

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Double Harness

as Colonel Sam Colby
Released: 1933-07-21

After tricking him into marriage, a woman tries to win the love of her philandering husband.

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The Return of Monte Cristo

as Prof. Duval
Released: 1946-12-19

Louis Hayward, star of 1940's Son of Monte Cristo, returns to Alexandre Dumas territory in...

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Vanessa: Her Love Story

as Barney Newmark
Released: 1935-03-01

The Victorian wife of a mad baron waits years for a British soldier sent to Egypt.

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The Baroness and the Butler

as Count Albert Sandor
Released: 1938-02-18

A Butler gets elected to the Hungarian parliament where he opposes his master's government.

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Challenge to Lassie

as Sir Charles Loring
Released: 1949-10-31

When Lassie's master dies, an old friend tries to convince a judge that the dog's life should be...

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The Hour Before the Dawn

as Gen. Hetherton
Released: 1944-05-10

A beautiful Austrian refugee in England--who is also a Nazi agent--marries a scholarly English...

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Enchantment

as General Fitzgerald
Released: 1948-12-25

Roland Dane finally retires to the house he was brought up in. Lost in thoughts of his lost love...

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O'Shaughnessy's Boy

as Maj. Winslow
Released: 1935-09-27

A circus wild animal trainer searches for the son who was taken away from him by a meddling...

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Rendezvous

as Russian Ambassador Gregory
Released: 1935-10-25

A decoding expert tangles with enemy spies.

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Walking on Air

as Mr. Horace Bennett
Released: 1936-09-11

A strong-willed young woman hires a student to impersonate a boorish French count and brings him...

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Half Way to Shanghai

as Col. Algernon Blimpton
Released: 1942-09-18

A murder occurs on a train bound for Shanghai during World War II.

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All Men Are Enemies

as uncredited
Released: 1934-04-26

A British aristocrat falls in love with an Austrian woman before they are separated with the...

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Her Sister's Secret

as Mr. DuBois
Released: 1946-09-23

A WWII tale of romance that begins during New Orlean's "Mardi Gras" celebration when a soldier...

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Wise Girl

as Mr. Fletcher
Released: 1937-12-31

Snooty heiress decides to track down her dead sister's kids, who are living a Bohemian life with...

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Guilty as Hell

as Dr. Ernest S. Tindal
Released: 1932-08-05

Richard Arlen is the convicted murderer and Adrienne Ames his sister who believes in his...

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Two Girls and a Sailor

as John Dyckman Brown I
Released: 1944-06-14

A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with...

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It's a Date

as Capt. Andrew
Released: 1940-03-22

An aspiring actress is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a...

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Hearts Divided

as Charles Patterson
Released: 1936-06-20

Napoleon Bonaparte's younger brother, visiting the United States, falls madly in love with a...

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Tomorrow at Seven

as Thornton Drake
Released: 1933-06-01

People in an old, dark mansion are menaced by a maniac called "The Black Ace".

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If I Were Free

as Hector Stribling
Released: 1933-12-01

A recently divorced interior decorator falls in love with a married barrister.

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Spring Parade

as Emperor Franz Joseph
Released: 1940-09-27

In this light and lovely romantic musical, a Hungarian woman attends a Viennese fair and buys a...

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The Green Years

as Blakely
Released: 1946-07-04

An orphaned young boy is guided by his great-grandfather and strives to go to university to...

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Secrets of Scotland Yard

as Sir Reginald Meade
Released: 1944-07-26

Secrets of Scotland Yard is Republic's spin on a plotline first elucidated in the old E....

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The Man Who Lost Himself

as Frederick Collins
Released: 1941-03-21

John Evans encounters his lookalike, Malcolm Scott. When Scott is killed in an accident, Evans...

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Dark Delusion

as Evans Biddle
Released: 1947-06-24

Spoiled socialite Cynthia Grace is suffering from a blood clot. Not unexpectedly, Tommy Coalt...

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The Mantrap

as Sir Humphrey Quilp
Released: 1943-04-13

Henry Stephenson stars as a retired Scotland Yard detective. He is regarded as an icon because...

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Give Me Your Heart

as Edward, Lord Farrington
Released: 1936-09-17

An American lawyer's wife is reunited with her child and his father, an English nobleman.

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Men and Women

as Arnold Kirke
Released: 1925-03-23

Will Prescott (Richard Dix) is a bank cashier whose assistant, Ned Seabury (Neil Hamilton), has...

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Rings on Her Fingers

as Colonel Prentiss
Released: 1942-03-20

Susan Miller works behind the girdle counter in a department store and dreams about the...

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Little Old New York

as Robert R. Livingston
Released: 1940-02-09

Inventor Robert Fulton receives support from a tavern owner and a shipyard worker to help...

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Lady from Louisiana

as General Anatole Mirbeau
Released: 1941-04-22

Northern lawyer John Reynolds travels to New Orleans to try and clean up the local crime...

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She Loves Me Not

as Dean Mercer
Released: 1934-08-31

A cabaret dancer witnesses a murder and is forced to hide from gangsters by disguising herself...

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Dramatic School

as Pasquel Sr.
Released: 1938-12-09

Aspiring actress Louise Muban attends the prestigious Paris School of Drama during the day and...

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The Night Is Young

as Emperor Franz Josef
Released: 1935-01-11

Young Austrian Archduke Paul "Gustl" Gustave is in an arranged engagement but his uncle, the...

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Thirty Day Princess

as King Anatol XII
Released: 1934-05-18

A European princess arrives in New York City to secure a much-needed loan for her country. She...

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The Mystery of Mr. X

as Frensham
Released: 1934-02-23

A sophisticated jewel thief tries to prove himself innocent of a string of cop murders.

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Outcast Lady

as Sir Maurice
Released: 1934-09-28

A woman's dubious past proves to be a stumbling block when she becomes engaged to marry.

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Man of Two Worlds

as Sir Basil Pemberton
Released: 1934-01-13

A British explorer brings an Eskimo hunter to London, where he misreads a woman.

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A Society Exile

as Sir Howard Furnival
Released: 1919-10-07

Nora Shard, a young American girl living in England, is ostracized from society for her presumed...

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My Lips Betray

as De Conti
Released: 1933-11-04

In a make-believe, mittleuropean kingdom, a vivacious but dim country girl sings in a beer...

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Wild, Wild Susan

as Peter Van Dusen
Released: 1925-08-04

Wealthy New York girl, Susan Van Dusen, in search of thrills and laughter, leaves home and finds...

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Half Angel

as Prof. Jerome Hargraves
Released: 1936-05-22

Allison Long is acquitted on charges of poisoning her father but then her benefactor is...

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The Homestretch

as Don Humberto Balcares
Released: 1947-05-04

A young couple's marriage is threatened by the husband's love of horses and the racetrack circuit.

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