About

Known credits:
37
Birthday:
1889-04-13
Place of birth:
Selby, Yorkshire, England, UK
Website:
N/A

James Stephenson

Overview

British stage actor James Stephenson made his film debut quite late in life, at the age of 49, in 1937, making four pictures that year. Warner Bros. got a glimpse of this distinguished gent and signed him to a contract where he indulged himself in urbane villainy. Proving a reliable support in such films as Boy Meets Girl (1938), You Can't Get Away with Murder (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), and the classic adventure The Sea Hawk (1940), he was entrusted by director William Wyler and mega-star Bette Davis to play the sympathetic role of the family attorney Howard Joyce in The Letter (1940). It was the role of a lifetime and he didn't let them down for he earned an Oscar nomination in the process. Stephenson was soon on a roll, playing the titular sleuth in Calling Philo Vance (1940) and was first-billed in the above-average "B" movie Shining Victory (1941) when he died suddenly in 1941 of a heart attack at the rather young age of 53.

Date of Death:  29 July 1941, Pacific Palisades, California  (heart attack)

Known for

Acting
1941 International Squadron Actor Squadron Leader Charles Wyatt 59
Average
1941 Shining Victory Actor Dr. Paul Venner 59
Average
1941 Flight from Destiny Actor Dr. Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens 58
Average
1940 The Letter Actor Howard Joyce 63
Fair
1940 South of Suez Actor Inspector Thornton 58
Average
1940 A Dispatch from Reuters Actor Carew 59
Average
1940 The Sea Hawk Actor Abbott 61
Fair
1940 River's End Actor McDowell 59
Average
1940 Murder in the Air Actor Joe Garvey 58
Average
1940 Calling Philo Vance Actor Philo Vance 59
Average
1940 Wolf of New York Actor Hiram Rogers 59
Average
1939 We Are Not Alone Actor Sir William Clintock 58
Average
1939 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex Actor Sir Thomas Egerton 59
Average
1939 The Monroe Doctrine Actor Senor De La Torre 59
Average
1939 Espionage Agent Actor Dr. Anton Rader 59
Average
1939 The Old Maid Actor Jim Ralston 59
Average
1939 Beau Geste Actor Major Henri de Beaujolais 60
Fair
1939 Sons of Liberty Actor Colonel Tillman 59
Average
1939 Confessions of a Nazi Spy Actor British Military Intelligence Agent 58
Average
1939 Wanted by Scotland Yard Actor Fingers N/A
N/A
1939 On Trial Actor Gerald Trask 59
Average
1939 The Adventures of Jane Arden Actor Dr. George Vanders 59
Average
1939 Secret Service of the Air Actor Jim Cameron 59
Average
1939 Torchy Blane in Chinatown Actor Dr. Mansfield 59
Average
1939 King of the Underworld Actor Bill Stevens 59
Average
1939 Devil's Island Actor Col. Armand Lucien 58
Average
1938 Heart of the North Actor Stephen Gore 58
Average
1938 Nancy Drew… Detective Actor Challon 59
Average
1938 Boy Meets Girl Actor Major Thompson 59
Average
1938 Cowboy from Brooklyn Actor Prof. Landis 59
Average
1938 White Banners Actor Thomas Bradford 58
Average
1938 When Were You Born Actor Phillip Corey 58
Average
1938 Mr. Satan Actor Tim Garnett N/A
N/A
1938 The Dark Stairway Actor Inspector Clarke N/A
N/A
1937 The Man Who Made Diamonds Actor Ben N/A
N/A
1937 You Live and Learn Actor Sam Brooks N/A
N/A
1937 Transatlantic Trouble Actor Lewis N/A
N/A