Editing Henry Travers

{{Short description|British-American actor (1874-1965)}}
{{for|the New Zealand naturalist|Henry Travers (naturalist)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name            = Henry Travers
| image           = HenryTraversTheBellsofSaintMarysTrailerScreenshot1945.jpg
| caption         = Travers in ''[[The Bells of St. Mary's]]'' (1945)
| birth_name      = Travers John Heagerty 
| birth_date      = {{birth date|1874|3|5|df=y}}  
| birth_place     = [[Prudhoe]], [[Northumberland]], England 
| death_date      = {{death date and age|1965|10|18|1874|3|5|df=y}}
| death_place     = [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], [[California]], U.S. 
| resting_place   = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale|Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California]]
| occupation      = Actor 
| years_active    = 1894–1949
| spouse          = {{plainlist|
*{{marriage|Amy Forrest-Rhodes|1931|1954|end=died}}
*{{marriage|Anna (Ann) Glud Murphy|1955}}
}}
}}
'''Travers John Heagerty'''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Room |first1=Adrian |title=Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins, 5th ed. |date=2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-5763-2 |page=480 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSIhzKnNUf4C&q=%22Travers+John+Heagerty%22&pg=PA480 |access-date=20 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref> (5 March 1874<ref name="samp">{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Dr Roger L. |title=Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures |date=2018 |publisher=Dorrance Publishing |isbn=978-1-4809-4499-2 |pages=18–19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwZTDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Travers+John+Heagerty%22+intitle%3ASupporting+intitle%3AActors+intitle%3Ain+intitle%3AMotion+intitle%3APictures&pg=PA18 |access-date=20 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref> – 18 October 1965), known professionally as '''Henry Travers''', was an English film and stage character [[actor]] who specialised in portraying slightly bumbling but amiable and likeable older men. 

His best known role was the guardian angel [[Clarence Odbody]] in the 1946 film ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]''. He also received an [[Academy Award]] nomination for his supporting role in ''[[Mrs. Miniver]]'' (1942). Other notable films include ''[[The Invisible Man (1933 film)|The Invisible Man]]'' (1933), ''[[Dark Victory]]'' (1939), and ''[[High Sierra (film)|High Sierra]]'' (1941).

==Early life==
Travers was born in [[Prudhoe]], [[Northumberland]], and was the son of Daniel Heagerty,<ref name="samp" /> a doctor originally from Ireland, and Ellen Gillman Hornibrook, also a native of Ireland (County Cork). She was previously married to William H. Belcher, a merchant seaman. He died in 1869. Travers had a half-brother, Samuel William Belcher, by his mother's previous marriage. He had a brother, Daniel George Belsaigne Heagerty, and a sister, Mary Sophia Maude Heagerty. Travers grew up in [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]], and many biographies wrongly report him as being born there.<ref>GRO Register of Births, Marriages and Death and 1881 Census for England & Wales</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/you-know-one-most-famous-10655045| title=Did you know one of the most famous Christmas angels was born in Prudhoe?| first=Jeremy| last=Armstrong| date=27 December 2015| newspaper=[[Evening Chronicle]]| location=Newcastle Upon Tyne| access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref>

The Travers family lived in Prudhoe for a couple of years before moving from [[West Woodburn|Woodburn]], on the [[A68 road]] near [[Corsenside]], Northumberland, in about 1866, to [[Tweedmouth]], Berwick-upon-Tweed, in about 1876. Initially, he trained as an [[architect]]<ref name="samp" /> at Berwick, before taking to the stage under the name Henry Travers.

== Acting career ==
[[File:Henry Travers Heartbreak House 1920.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Henry Travers as the Burglar in the [[Theatre Guild]]'s Broadway production of ''[[Heartbreak House]]'' (1920)]]
[[File:Pygmalion-Fontanne-Travers-1926.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lynn Fontanne]] (Eliza) and Henry Travers (Alfred Doolittle) in the Theatre Guild production of ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'' (1926)]]
[[File:guardian angel clarence.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Travers in his most memorable role, as guardian angel [[Clarence Odbody]] in ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' (1946)]]
Travers gained early experience acting in [[repertory theatre]] in England.<ref name="sw">{{cite book |last1=Monush |first1=Barry |title=Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965 |year=2003 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-1-5578-3551-2 |page=741 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=toTIb1Ek2WwC&q=%22Henry+Travers%22+actor&pg=PA741 |access-date=20 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref> He was billed as '''Travers Heagerty''' for a December 1895 production.<ref>{{cite news |title=Berwick |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34059128/henry_travers/ |access-date=20 July 2019 |newspaper=[[The Era (newspaper)|The Era]] |date=21 December 1895 |location=London |page=20 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He played character roles almost from the beginning of his acting career in 1894, often figures who were much older than himself.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/movies| title=Movie Reviews| newspaper=The New York Times| date=18 July 2019| access-date=20 July 2019| archive-date=4 July 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704174954/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/77329/Lana-Wood| url-status=dead}}</ref> He made his [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] debut in ''The Price of Peace'' (1901)<ref>{{cite web |title=("Henry Travers" search results) |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/henry-travers-62596 |website=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=20 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720183512/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/henry-travers-62596 |archive-date=20 July 2019}}</ref> but returned to England. Travers settled in the United States and played frequently from November 1917 until December 1938 on Broadway in over 30 plays, and was described in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' as 'one of the most consistent performers now in the American theatre, and at the same time one of its least appreciated'.<ref>Review:''[[Androcles]]''. ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 5 December 1925. p 14.</ref> His last play on Broadway ''[[You Can't Take It with You (play)|You Can't Take It with You]]'' was his best known, where he acted in over 380 performances in two years. In the Oscar-winning movie ''[[You Can't Take It With You (film)|You Can't Take It With You]]'', [[Lionel Barrymore]] played the role which Travers had portrayed on Broadway.

His first film was ''[[Reunion in Vienna]]''<ref name=sw/> in 1933. In the same year, he played the father of [[Gloria Stuart]] in the horror film ''[[The Invisible Man (1933 film)|The Invisible Man]]''.  He often portrayed doctors, judges, and fathers of the main figures in supporting roles. Travers specialized on portraying slightly wry and bumbling but friendly and lovable older men. He appeared with [[Greer Garson]] and [[Ronald Colman]] in ''[[Random Harvest (film)|Random Harvest]]'' (1942) and with [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Ingrid Bergman]] in ''[[The Bells of St. Mary's]]'' (1945). [[Alfred Hitchcock]] used Travers as a [[Comic relief]] in ''[[Shadow of a Doubt]]'' (1943), where he played a bank clerk with a passion for criminal magazines. The character actor also portrayed the Railway Station Master Mr. Ballard with a love for roses who finally wins the annual flower show in his village shortly before dying in a bombardment in ''[[Mrs. Miniver]]''. He received an [[Academy Award]]-nomination as [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] for this appearance.

Travers's best remembered role was as [[James Stewart]]'s somewhat befuddled but kind-hearted [[guardian angel]] [[Clarence Odbody]] in [[Frank Capra]]'s 1946 film ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]''. Travers plays the guardian angel who saves Stewart from committing suicide, and then shows him how wonderful his life really is. Though the film was a financial flop, it later became a Christmas perennial.

Travers retired in 1949 after his supporting role in ''[[The Girl from Jones Beach]]''. Overall, he acted in 52 films.

== Personal life and death ==
Travers' first wife was actress Amy Forrest-Rhodes. They were married from 1931 until her death in 1954. In 1955, he married Ann G. Murphy, who survived him.<ref name="samp" />

After several years in retirement, Travers died as a result of [[arteriosclerosis]] in 1965, at the age of 91. He is interred with his second wife in [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in [[Glendale, California|Glendale]], [[California]].{{cn|date=December 2022}}

The [[The Maltings Theatre & Cinema|Maltings Theatre]] in Berwick-upon-Tweed has a performance space, ''The Henry Travers Studio'', named after him.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.maltingsberwick.co.uk/about-us/our-venues/ |title=Our Venues |website=The Maltings |accessdate=7 December 2021}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{{div col}}
* ''[[Reunion in Vienna]]'' (1933) as Father Krug
* ''[[Another Language]]'' (1933) as Pop Hallan
* ''[[My Weakness (film)|My Weakness]]'' (1933) as Ellery Gregory
* ''[[The Invisible Man (1933 film)|The Invisible Man]]'' (1933) as Dr. Cranley
* ''[[Death Takes a Holiday]]'' (1934) as Baron Cesarea
* ''[[Born to Be Bad (1934 film)|Born to Be Bad]]'' (1934) as Fuzzy
* ''[[The Party's Over (1934 film)|The Party's Over]]'' (1934) as Theodore
* ''[[Ready for Love (1934 film)|Ready for Love]]'' (1934) as Judge Pickett
* ''[[Maybe It's Love (1935 film)|Maybe It's Love]]'' (1935) as Mr. Halevy
* ''[[After Office Hours]]'' (1935) as Cap
* ''[[Captain Hurricane]]'' (1935) as Capt. Ben
* ''[[Four Hours to Kill!]]'' (1935) as Mac Mason
* ''[[Escapade (1935 film)|Escapade]]'' (1935) as Concierge
* ''[[Pursuit (1935 film)|Pursuit]]'' (1935) as Thomas 'Tom' Reynolds
* ''[[Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935 film)|Seven Keys to Baldpate]]'' (1935) as Adalbert 'Lem' Peters / The Hermit
* ''[[Too Many Parents]]'' (1936) as Wilkins
* ''[[The Sisters (1938 film)|The Sisters]]'' (1938) as Ned Elliott
* ''[[You Can't Get Away with Murder]]'' (1939) as Pop
* ''[[Dodge City (film)|Dodge City]]'' (1939) as Dr. Irving
* ''[[Dark Victory]]'' (1939) as Dr. Parsons
* ''[[On Borrowed Time]]'' (1939) as Dr. Evans
* ''[[Stanley and Livingstone]]'' (1939) as John Kingsley
* ''[[The Rains Came]]'' (1939) as Rev. Homer Smiley
* ''[[Remember? (1939 film)|Remember?]]'' (1939) as Judge Milliken
* ''[[Primrose Path (1940 film)|Primrose Path]]'' (1940) as Gramp
* ''[[Edison, the Man]]'' (1940) as Ben Els
* ''[[Anne of Windy Poplars (film)|Anne of Windy Poplars]]'' (1940) as Matey
* ''[[Wyoming (1940 film)|Wyoming]]'' (1940) as Sheriff
* ''[[High Sierra (film)|High Sierra]]'' (1941) as Pa
* ''[[A Girl, a Guy and a Gob]]'' (1941) as Abel Martin
* ''[[The Bad Man (1941 film)|The Bad Man]]'' (1941) as Mr. Hardy
* ''[[I'll Wait for You (film)|I'll Wait for You]]'' (1941) as Mr. Miller
* ''[[Ball of Fire]]'' (1941) as Prof. Jerome
* ''[[Mrs. Miniver]]'' (1942) as Mr. Ballard
* ''[[Pierre of the Plains (1942 film)|Pierre of the Plains]]'' (1942) as Percival Wellsby
* ''[[Random Harvest (film)|Random Harvest]]'' (1942) as Dr. Sims
* ''[[Shadow of a Doubt]]'' (1943) as Joseph Newton
* ''[[The Moon Is Down (film)|The Moon Is Down]]'' (1943) as Mayor Orden
* ''[[Madame Curie (film)|Madame Curie]]'' (1943) as Eugene Curie
* ''[[None Shall Escape]]'' (1944) as Father Warecki
* ''[[Dragon Seed (film)|Dragon Seed]]'' (1944) as Third Cousin
* ''[[The Very Thought of You (film)|The Very Thought of You]]'' (1944) as Pop Wheeler
* ''[[Thrill of a Romance]]'' (1945) as Hobart Glenn
* ''[[The Naughty Nineties]]'' (1945) as Capt. Sam Jackson
* ''[[The Bells of St. Mary's]]'' (1945) as Horace P. Bogardus
* ''[[Gallant Journey]]'' (1946) as Thomas Logan
* ''[[The Yearling (film)|The Yearling]]'' (1946) as Mr. Boyles
* ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' (1946) as guardian angel [[Clarence Odbody]]
* ''[[The Flame (1947 film)|The Flame]]'' (1947) as Dr. Mitchell
* ''[[Beyond Glory]]'' (1948) as Pop Dewing
* ''[[The Accused (1949 film)|The Accused]]'' (1949) as Blakely, Romley's Assistant (uncredited)
* ''[[The Girl from Jones Beach|The Girl From Jones Beach]]'' (1949) as Judge Bullfinch (final film role)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Henry Travers}}
*{{IMDb name|id=0871287}}
*[http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/henry-travers/153714 Henry Travers] on television
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{Find a Grave|2071}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Travers, Henry}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:Deaths from arteriosclerosis]]
[[Category:English emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:People from Berwick-upon-Tweed]]
[[Category:People from Prudhoe]]
[[Category:Male actors from Northumberland]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players]]