James Stephenson
James Stephenson ( born April 14, 1889 in Selby, North Yorkshire, † July 29, 1941 in Pacific Palisades, California ) was an American theater and film actor of British origin.
Life and career
James Stephenson was born the son of a Drogeristen and spent his youth with his two brothers in England. He worked as a banker and businessman, before he got into the acting business. He worked initially exclusively as a theater actor. Only after Stephenson emigrated in the 1930s in the U.S., he gave in 1937 at the age of 48 years his film debut. Overall, he turned over the next four years, a total of 39 films, most of them for Warner Brothers. Mostly he played supporting roles in elegant rogues and gentleman. He has played in The Devil's Island at the side of Boris Karloff as well as in The Lord of the seven seas with Errol Flynn. 1940 Stephenson was for The Secret of Malampur committed in the role of a lawyer. For this role he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He received the lead role in the film Shining Victory on the side of Geraldine Fitzgerald and was well on the road to stardom, but he suffered a heart attack in July 1941, where he died at the age of 53 years.