Acting
James Stephenson
EN cinema · 37 credits
Born
13 April 1889
Died
29 July 1941 (aged 52)
Birthplace
Selby, Yorkshire, England, UK
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
Filmography
Flight from Destiny
as Dr. Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens
Shining Victory
as Dr. Paul Venner
International Squadron
as Squadron Leader Charles Wyatt
The Sea Hawk
as Abbott
The Letter
as Howard Joyce
Murder in the Air
as Joe Garvey
Wolf of New York
1940
Wolf of New York
as Hiram Rogers
River's End
as McDowell
Calling Philo Vance
as Philo Vance
South of Suez
as Inspector Thornton
Devil's Island
as Col. Armand Lucien
King of the Underworld
as Bill Stevens
Beau Geste
as Major Henri de Beaujolais
The Old Maid
as Jim Ralston
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
as Sir Thomas Egerton
Espionage Agent
as Dr. Anton Rader
The Monroe Doctrine
as Senor De La Torre
Secret Service of the Air
as Jim Cameron
On Trial
as Gerald Trask
The Adventures of Jane Arden
as Dr. George Vanders
Sons of Liberty
as Colonel Tillman
Wanted by Scotland Yard
as Fingers
Confessions of a Nazi Spy
as British Military Intelligence Agent
We Are Not Alone
as Sir William Clintock
Torchy Blane in Chinatown
as Dr. Mansfield
Nancy Drew… Detective
as Challon
When Were You Born
as Phillip Corey
White Banners
as Thomas Bradford
Cowboy from Brooklyn
as Prof. Landis
Boy Meets Girl
as Major Thompson
Heart of the North
as Stephen Gore
The Dark Stairway
1938
The Dark Stairway
as Inspector Clarke
Mr. Satan
1938
Mr. Satan
as Tim Garnett