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Henry Travers

Henry Travers

Highest Rated: 100% Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Lowest Rated: 67% The Rains Came (1939)

Birthday: Mar 5, 1874

Birthplace: Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England, UK

A veteran of the English stage, actor Henry Travers came to Hollywood in the early 1930s and is best known as Clarence the guardian angel from Frank Capra's classic film "It's a Wonderful Life." The relaxed demeanor and bemused whimsy of Travers's angel, who hopes to earn his wings by helping a depressed and suicidal James Stewart to find the true worth of being alive, helped make the film a beloved holiday favorite. That approach to the role was not relegated only to Capra's film; many of Travers's performances are similar in tone, though serious drama was not outside of his reach. Some of his finest acting can be seen in the William Wyler drama "Mrs. Miniver," playing the postman Mr. Ballard, for which he received his only Oscar nomination. Travers also starred in the Errol Flynn Western "Dodge City," as Doc Irving; Alfred Hitchcock's thriller "Shadow of a Doubt," playing Teresa Wright's mystery story-obsessed father; and the drama "The Bells of St. Mary's," as businessman Horace P. Bogardus. Travers died from artery disease at age 91.

Highest rated movies

100% The Yearling
100% Shadow of a Doubt
100% Ball of Fire
100% Dodge City
95% The Invisible Man 94% It's a Wonderful Life
93% Mrs. Miniver
92% High Sierra

Photos

THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, Corky the dog, on-set, 1945 MADAME CURIE, Dame May Whitty, Henry Travers, on-set, 1943 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, James Stewart, Henry Travers, 1946. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Henry Travers, James Stewart, 1946 MRS. MINIVER, Henry Travers, Greer Garson, 1942 BALL OF FIRE, on stairs from left: Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper; foreground from left: Leonid Kinskey, Richard Haydn (nightcap), Oscar Homolka (dark hair), Aubrey Mather (bald), Henry Travers, S.Z. Sakall, 1941 SHADOW OF A DOUBT, Patricia Collinge, Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Henry Travers, Charles Bates, Edna May Wonacott, 1943 SHADOW OF A DOUBT, Patricia Collinge, Henry Travers, Charles Bates, Teresa Wright, Edna May Wonacott, Joseph Cotten, 1943 BALL OF FIRE, Richard Haydn, Henry Travers, Tully Marshall, Leonid Kinskey, Aubrey Mather, S.Z. Sakall, Oscar Homolka, Barbara Stanwyck, 1941 BEYOND GLORY, Alan Ladd, Donna Reed, Henry Travers, 1948 THE MOON IS DOWN, Peter Van Eyck, John Banner, Henry Rowland, Ernest Dorian, E.J. Ballantine, Cedric Hardwicke, director Irving Pichel, Henry Travers, Lee J. Cobb, Margaret Wycherly, Dorris Dowden, William Post, Helene Thimig, Ian Wolfe on set, 1943, TM & BALL OF FIRE, clockwise from foreground left at table: Leonid Kinskey, Oscar Homolka, S.Z. Sakall, Aubrey Mather, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Tully Marshall, Richard Haydn, Henry Travers, 1941 BALL OF FIRE, Henry Travers, Oscar Homolka, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Aubrey Mather, Tully Marshall, 1941 HIGH SIERRA, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Travers, Joan Leslie, Henry Hull, Elizabeth Risdon, 1941 MRS. MINIVER, Henry Travers, Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, 1942 ANNE OF WINDY POPLARS, Henry Travers, Anne Shirley, 1940 AFTER OFFICE HOURS, Clark Gable, Constance Bennett, Henry Travers, 1935 MADAME CURIE, Henry Travers, Dame May Whitty, 1943 ANOTHER LANGUAGE, front from left: Robert Montgomery, Helen Hayes, rear from left: Hal K. Dawson, Maidel Turner, Henry Travers, Louise Closser Hale, Margaret Hamilton, Willard Robertson, John Beal, 1933 THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S, from left: Henry Travers, Bing Crosby, 1945
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet 36% The Girl From Jones Beach Judge Bullfinch (Character) - 1949
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Flame Dr. Mitchell (Character) - 1947
100% 76% The Yearling Mr. Boyles (Character) - 1946
94% 95% It's a Wonderful Life Clarence Oddbody (Character) $3.3M 1946
No Score Yet No Score Yet Gallant Journey Thomas Logan (Character) - 1946
No Score Yet 54% Thrill of a Romance Hobart Glenn (Character) - 1945
85% 77% The Bells of St. Mary's Horace P. Bogardus (Character) - 1945
No Score Yet 40% Dragon Seed Third Cousin (Character) - 1944
No Score Yet 67% None Shall Escape Unknown (Character) - 1944
No Score Yet 78% The Very Thought of You Pop Wheeler (Character) - 1944
No Score Yet 80% The Moon Is Down Mayor Orden (Character) - 1943
88% 68% Madame Curie Eugene Curie (Character) - 1943
100% 89% Shadow of a Doubt Joseph Newton (Character) - 1943
82% 89% Random Harvest Dr. Sims (Character) - 1942
93% 84% Mrs. Miniver Mr. Ballard, Station-master and Bell-ringer (Character) - 1942
No Score Yet No Score Yet I'll Wait for You Mr. Miller (Character) - 1941
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Bad Man Mr. Jasper Hardy (Character) - 1941
100% 89% Ball of Fire Prof. Jerome (History) (Character) - 1941
92% 78% High Sierra Pa Goodhue (Character) - 1941
No Score Yet 33% A Girl, a Guy and a Gob Abel Martin (Character) - 1941
No Score Yet 67% Primrose Path Gramp (Character) - 1940
80% 62% Edison, the Man Ben Els (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet 55% Anne of Windy Poplars Matey (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet No Score Yet Wyoming Sheriff (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet No Score Yet Remember? Judge Milliken (Character) - 1939
No Score Yet 54% Stanley and Livingstone John Kingsley (Character) - 1939
No Score Yet No Score Yet You Can't Get Away With Murder Pop (Character) - 1939
67% 65% The Rains Came Rev. Homer Smiley (Character) - 1939
No Score Yet 100% On Borrowed Time Dr. Evans (Character) - 1939
85% 81% Dark Victory Dr. Parsons (Character) - 1939
100% 75% Dodge City Dr. Irving (Character) - 1939
No Score Yet 56% The Sisters Ned Elliott (Character) - 1938
No Score Yet 57% After Office Hours Cap (Character) - 1935
No Score Yet No Score Yet Maybe It's Love Mr. Halevy (Character) - 1935
No Score Yet No Score Yet Escapade Concierge (Character) - 1935
No Score Yet No Score Yet Pursuit Thomas "Tom" Reynolds (Character) - 1935
88% 78% Death Takes a Holiday Baron Cesarea (Character) - 1934
No Score Yet 24% Born to Be Bad Fuzzy (Character) - 1934
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Party's Over Unknown (Character) - 1934
No Score Yet No Score Yet Another Language Pop Hallam (Character) - 1933
95% 85% The Invisible Man Dr. Cranley (Character) - 1933
No Score Yet No Score Yet My Weakness Ellery Gregory (Character) - 1933