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