James Stephenson
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 13, 1889
- Died
- July 29, 1941
- 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)
Filmography
International Squadron 1941
as Squadron Leader Charles Wyatt
Shining Victory 1941
as Dr. Paul Venner
Flight from Destiny 1941
as Dr. Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens
The Letter 1940
as Howard Joyce
South of Suez 1940
as Inspector Thornton
A Dispatch from Reuters 1940
as Carew
River's End 1940
as McDowell
The Sea Hawk 1940
as Abbott
Murder in the Air 1940
as Joe Garvey
Calling Philo Vance 1940
as Philo Vance
- Wolf of New York
Wolf of New York 1940
as Hiram Rogers
We Are Not Alone 1939
as Sir William Clintock
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex 1939
as Sir Thomas Egerton
The Monroe Doctrine 1939
as Senor De La Torre
Espionage Agent 1939
as Dr. Anton Rader
The Old Maid 1939
as Jim Ralston
Beau Geste 1939
as Major Henri de Beaujolais
Sons of Liberty 1939
as Colonel Tillman
Confessions of a Nazi Spy 1939
as British Military Intelligence Agent
Wanted by Scotland Yard 1939
as Fingers
On Trial 1939
as Gerald Trask
The Adventures of Jane Arden 1939
as Dr. George Vanders
Secret Service of the Air 1939
as Jim Cameron
Torchy Blane in Chinatown 1939
as Dr. Mansfield
King of the Underworld 1939
as Bill Stevens
Devil's Island 1939
as Col. Armand Lucien
Heart of the North 1938
as Stephen Gore
Nancy Drew… Detective 1938
as Challon
Boy Meets Girl 1938
as Major Thompson
Cowboy from Brooklyn 1938
as Prof. Landis
White Banners 1938
as Thomas Bradford
When Were You Born 1938
as Phillip Corey
- Mr. Satan
Mr. Satan 1938
as Tim Garnett
- The Dark Stairway
The Dark Stairway 1938
as Inspector Clarke
- The Man Who Made Diamonds
The Man Who Made Diamonds 1937
as Ben
- You Live and Learn
You Live and Learn 1937
as Sam Brooks
- Transatlantic Trouble
Transatlantic Trouble 1937
as Lewis
Credits from TMDB.