Henry Travers

Henry Travers
Travers in The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Born	Travers John Heagerty (1874-03-05)5 March 1874 Prudhoe, Northumberland, England
Died	18 October 1965(1965-10-18) (aged 91) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1894–1949
Spouse(s)	Amy Forrest-Rhodes (?-1954) (her death) Anna (Ann) Glud Murphy (second marriage)

Travers John Heagerty, known by the stage name Henry Travers (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), was an English film and stage character actor. His most famous role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film classic It's a Wonderful Life. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in Mrs. Miniver (1942). Travers specialized in portraying slightly bumbling but friendly and lovable old men.

Travers was born in Prudhoe, Northumberland, and was the son of Daniel Heagerty, a doctor originally from Ireland. Travers grew up in Berwick-upon-Tweed, and many biographies wrongly report him as being born there.

The Travers family lived in Prudhoe for a couple of years before moving from Woodburn, on the A68 road near Corsenside, Northumberland, in about 1866, to Tweedmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, in about 1876.

Initially, he trained as an architect at Berwick, before taking to the stage under the name Henry Travers.

Travers played character roles almost from the beginning of his acting career in 1894, often figures who were much older than himself. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, but returned to England. Travers again went to the United States in 1917 after a long and successful theatre career in his homeland. He played frequently from November 1917 until December 1938 on Broadway in over 30 plays. However, his last play on Broadway You Can't Take It with You was his most famous, where he acted in over 380 performances in two years. In the Oscar-winning movie You Can't Take It With You, Lionel Barrymore played the role which Travers had portrayed on Broadway.