Henry Stephenson

Henry Stephenson
in the trailer for Little Women (1933)
Born	Harry Stephenson Garraway (1871-04-16)16 April 1871 Grenada, British West Indies
Died	24 April 1956(1956-04-24) (aged 85) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Resting place	Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York
Years active	1901–52
Spouse(s)	Ann Shoemaker (19??-1956; his death); 1 child
Children	Anne Hall

Henry Stephenson (16 April 1871 – 24 April 1956) was a British stage and film actor. He portrayed friendly and wise gentlemen in many films of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his roles were Sir Joseph Banks in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Mr. Brownlow in Oliver Twist (1948).

Harry Stephenson Garraway was born to British parents in Grenada, British West Indies and educated in England. He 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 performed in more than 30 Broadway plays.

Stephenson made his film debut in 1917 and appeared in a few silent films, but made his mark mostly as an elderly man in sound films. Between 1931 and 1932, he appeared in the successful Broadway play Cynara with over 200 performances. He came to Hollywood for the film version of Cynara, starring Ronald Colman and with Stephenson reprising his role of John Tring. In the same year, he played the tycoon C.B. Gaerste in Red-Headed Woman, Leslie Howard's father Rufus Collier in The Animal Kingdom and Doctor Alliot in A Bill of Divorcement. In 1933, he appeared as Mr. Laurence in Little Women. He specialized in portraying wise, dignified and friendly British gentlemen in supporting roles.

He appeared overall in 90 films from 1917 to 1951. He often played historical figures like Sir Joseph Banks in the Oscar-winning adventure film Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau in Marie Antoinette (1938).