Henry Travers

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Henry Travers as Horace P. Bogardus in the film The Bells of St. Mary (1945)

Henry Travers , actually Travers John Heagerty , (born March 5, 1874 in Prudhoe , Northumberland , † October 18, 1965 in Hollywood , California ) was a British film and stage actor . His best-known role is the guardian angel Clarence from Isn't Life Beautiful? . Above all, the character actor embodied somewhat eccentric but good-natured older men.

life and career

Travers John Heagerty was born in the northern English town of Prudhoe, but grew up most of the time in Berwick-upon-Tweed . The son of an Irish doctor initially trained as an architect . But in 1894 he switched to acting, taking the stage name Henry Travers . Even at a young age, he embodied character roles that were usually much older than himself. Travers had a long and successful stage career in his home country. In 1917, Travers emigrated entirely to the United States , after having performed on Broadway in New York in 1901 . Between November 1917 and December 1938 he played in over 30 plays on Broadway, although only his last play, You Can't Take It With You , would become his most successful. It was performed around 830 times over a period of two years and Frank Capra made the successful film The Life Artist (1938) , in which Lionel Barrymore Travers took on the role.

Like many other theater actors, Travers did not make his first films until the beginning of the sound film. He made his first appearance in 1933 with a supporting role in the romantic drama Rendez-vous in Vienna by Sidney Franklin . In the same year he played the father of Gloria Stuart in the horror classic The Invisible . Travers specialized in his films on the impersonation of slightly eccentric or confused, but good-natured and amiable older men. Several times in his film career he played doctors, judges and fathers of the main characters in larger supporting roles. He played in the successful films Found Years with Greer Garson and The Bells of St. Mary with Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman . In Alfred Hitchcock's feature film In the Shadow of Doubt , he played as Comic Relief a bank clerk with a penchant for mystery magazines. During the war years, the British station master, Mr. Ballard, played the role of Mrs. Miniver , who as a passionate flower grower finally won the rose beauty contest in his hometown, shortly before he was killed in a bomb attack. For this performance, Travers received a 1943 Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category . However, Henry Travers had probably his most famous role alongside James Stewart in Frank Capras Isn't Life Beautiful? (1946). In this film he played the weird guardian angel Clarence, who saves Stewart's main character from suicide and shows him how beautiful his life is. The film was a financial failure when it was released, but is now considered one of the greatest Christmas classics.

The life is wonderful, is not it? was already one of Travers last films, as he retired from the business in 1949 with the comedy Venus am Strand after 52 films. His first marriage was with Amy Forrest-Rhodes (1881-1954) until her death. He later married the nurse Ann G. Morse (1899-1983), the marriage lasted until his death. After many years of retirement, Travers died of arteriosclerosis in 1965 at the age of 91 . He is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale next to his second wife Ann.

Filmography

Award

Web links

Commons : Henry Travers  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Did you know one of the most famous Christmas angels was born in Prudhoe?"
  2. ^ Henry Travers at the New York Times
  3. ↑ Henry Travers in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
  4. ^ Henry Travers in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved September 4, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Travers, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heagerty, Travers John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British film and stage actor
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Berwick-upon-Tweed , Northumberland , England
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 1965
Place of death Hollywood , California