James Stephenson
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)
Filmography (37 titles)
6.3MovieInternational Squadron
Squadron Leader Charles Wyatt · 1941
6.1MovieShining Victory
Dr. Paul Venner · 1941
5.8MovieFlight from Destiny
Dr. Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens · 1941
7.3MovieThe Letter
Howard Joyce · 1940
4.6MovieSouth of Suez
Inspector Thornton · 1940
6.3MovieA Dispatch from Reuters
Carew · 1940
7.2MovieThe Sea Hawk
Abbott · 1940
6.6MovieRiver's End
McDowell · 1940
5.1MovieMurder in the Air
Joe Garvey · 1940
6.0MovieCalling Philo Vance
Philo Vance · 1940
Wolf of New York
Hiram Rogers · 1940
6.9MovieWe Are Not Alone
Sir William Clintock · 1939
6.3MovieThe Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Sir Thomas Egerton · 1939
7.0MovieThe Monroe Doctrine
Senor De La Torre · 1939
6.3MovieEspionage Agent
Dr. Anton Rader · 1939
7.1MovieThe Old Maid
Jim Ralston · 1939
7.0MovieBeau Geste
Major Henri de Beaujolais · 1939
6.3MovieSons of Liberty
Colonel Tillman · 1939
6.1MovieConfessions of a Nazi Spy
British Military Intelligence Agent · 1939
8.0MovieWanted by Scotland Yard
Fingers · 1939
6.1MovieOn Trial
Gerald Trask · 1939
6.3MovieThe Adventures of Jane Arden
Dr. George Vanders · 1939
6.1MovieSecret Service of the Air
Jim Cameron · 1939
6.8MovieTorchy Blane in Chinatown
Dr. Mansfield · 1939
6.5MovieKing of the Underworld
Bill Stevens · 1939
5.7MovieDevil's Island
Col. Armand Lucien · 1939
5.2MovieHeart of the North
Stephen Gore · 1938
6.5MovieNancy Drew… Detective
Challon · 1938
6.9MovieBoy Meets Girl
Major Thompson · 1938
7.0MovieCowboy from Brooklyn
Prof. Landis · 1938