Biography
Henry DeWitt Carey II (January 16, 1878 - September 21, 1947) was an American actor and one of silent film's earliest superstars, usually cast as a Western hero. One of his best known performances is as the president of the United States Senate in the drama film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was the father of Harry Carey Jr., who was also a prominent actor. Born in New York City to a Judge of Special Sessions who was also president of a sewing machine company. Grew up on City Island, New York. Attended Hamilton Military Academy and turned down an appointment to West Point to attend New York University, where his law school classmates included future New York City mayor James J. Walker. After a boating accident which led to pneumonia, Carey wrote a play while recuperating and toured the country in it for three years, earning a great deal of money, all of which evaporated after his next play was a failure. In 1911, his friend Henry B. Walthall introduced him to director D.W. Griffith, for whom Carey was to make many films. Carey married twice, the second time to actress Olive Fuller Golden (aka Olive Carey, who introduced him to future director John Ford. Carey influenced Universal Studios head Carl Laemmle to use Ford as a director, and a partnership was born that lasted until a rift in the friendship in 1921. During this time, Carey grew into one of the most popular Western stars of the early motion picture, occasionally writing and directing films as well. In the '30s he moved slowly into character roles and was nominated for an Oscar for one of them, the President of the Senate in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). He worked once more with Ford, in The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), and appeared once with his son, Harry Carey Jr., in Howard Hawks' Red River (1948). He died after a protracted bout with emphysema and cancer. Ford dedicated his remake of 3 Godfathers (1948) "To Harry Carey--Bright Star Of The Early Western Sky."
Acted in 176
2000s
- 2000
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
(archive footage)
1990s
- 1992
Legends of the West
Ed Brandt in 'Law and Order' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1970s
- 1971
Directed by John Ford
(archive footage)
1940s
- 1948
So Dear to My Heart
Head Judge at County Fair
- 1947
- 1946
- 1945
China's Little Devils
Doc Temple
- 1944
The Great Moment
Professor John C. Warren
- 1943
Happy Land
Edward "Gramp" Marsh
Air Force
Crew Chief
- 1942
- 1941
Among the Living
Dr. Ben Saunders
Parachute Battalion
Bill Richards
- 1940
They Knew What They Wanted
The Doctor
Outside the Three-Mile Limit
Captain Bailey
1930s
- 1939
My Son Is Guilty
Police Officer Tim Kerry
Land of Liberty
(archive footage)
Inside Information
Captain Bill Dugan
Street of Missing Men
Charles Putnam
Code of the Streets
Detective Lieutenant John Lewis
Burn 'Em Up O'Connor
P.G. Delano
- 1938
The Law West of Tombstone
William 'Bill' Barker
King of Alcatraz
Captain Glennan
Gateway
Commissioner Nelson
Sky Giant
Col. Cornelius Stockton
You and Me
Mr. Morris
Port of Missing Girls
Captain Josiah Storm
- 1937
Danger Patrol
Sam "Easy" Street
Annapolis Salute
Chief Martin
Born Reckless
Dad Martin
Border Cafe
Tex Stevens
Kid Galahad
Silver Jackson
Racing Lady
Tom Martin
- 1936
Aces Wild
Cheyenne Harry Morgan
The Accusing Finger
Sen. Nash
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie
Phil Yonne
The Last Outlaw
Dean Payton
Little Miss Nobody
John Russell
Sutter's Gold
Kit Carson
Ghost Town
Cheyenne Harry Morgan
- 1935
The Last of the Clintons
Trigger Carson
Wild Mustang
Joe 'Wild Mustang' Norton
Powdersmoke Range
Tucson Smith
Rustler's Paradise
Cheyenne Kincaid
Wagon Trail
Sheriff Clay Hartley
- 1933
Sunset Pass
John Hesbitt
The Film Parade
(archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1932
The Devil Horse
Bob Norton / Roberts
Border Devils
Jim Gray
The Movie Album
(archive footage)
Law and Order
Ed Brandt
Without Honor
Pete Marlan
- 1931
Cavalier of the West
Captain John Allister
Bad Company
McBaine
The Vanishing Legion
'Happy' Cardigan
Trader Horn
Aloysius "Trader" Horn
1920s
- 1928
The Border Patrol
Bill Storm
Burning Bridges
Jim Whitely / Bob Whitely
The Trail of '98
Jack Locasto
- 1927
Slide, Kelly, Slide
Tom Munson
A Little Journey
Alexander Smith
- 1926
Satan Town
Bill Scott
The Frontier Trail
Jim Cardigan
The Seventh Bandit
David Scanlon
Driftin' Thru
Daniel Brown
- 1925
The Man from Red Gulch
Alexander 'Sandy' Morton
The Prairie Pirate
Brian 'The Yellow Seal' Delaney
The Bad Lands
Patrick Angus O'Toole
The Texas Trail
Pete Grainger
Beyond the Border
Bob Smith
Silent Sanderson
Joel Parsons / Silent Sanderson
Soft Shoes
Pat Halahan
- 1924
The Flaming Forties
Bill Jones
Roaring Rails
Big Bill Benson
Tiger Thompson
Tiger Thompson
The Lightning Rider
Phlip Morgan
The Night Hawk
'The Hawk'
- 1923
The Miracle Baby
Neil Allison
Desert Driven
Bob
Crashin' Thru
Blake
Canyon of the Fools
Bob
- 1922
Good Men and True
J. Wesley Pringle
The Kickback
White Horse Harry
Man to Man
Steve Packard
- 1921
The Fox
Ol' Santa Fe
Desperate Trails
Bart Carson
The Wallop
John Wesley Pringle
The Freeze-Out
Ohio, the Stranger
- 1920
West Is West
Dick Rainboldt
Sundown Slim
Sundown Slim
Blue Streak McCoy
Job McCoy
'If Only' Jim
Jim Golden
Human Stuff
James 'Jim' Pierce
Bullet Proof
Pierre Winton
Overland Red
Overland Red
1910s
- 1919
Marked Men
Cheyenne Harry
A Gun Fightin' Gentleman
Cheyenne Harry
Rider of the Law
Jim Kyneton
The Ace of the Saddle
Cheyenne Harry Henderson
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Square Shootin' Harry Lanyon / John Oakhurst
Riders of Vengeance
Cheyenne Harry
A Fight For Love
Cheyenne Harry
Roped
Cheyenne Harry
- 1918
Three Mounted Men
Cheyenne Harry
A Woman's Fool
Lin McLean
The Scarlet Drop
Harry Ridge
Thieves' Gold
Cheyenne Harry
Wild Women
Cheyenne Harry
The Phantom Riders
Cheyenne Harry
- 1917
Bucking Broadway
Cheyenne Harry
A Marked Man
Cheyenne Harry
The Secret Man
Cheyenne Harry
Straight Shooting
"Cheyenne" Harry
Cheyenne's Pal
Cheyenne Harry
The Soul Herder
Cheyenne Harry
The Golden Bullet
Jack
The Almost Good Man
Dick Glenning
A 44-Calibre Mystery
Sheriff Cheyenne Harry
The Fighting Gringo
William 'Red' Saunders
The Outlaw and the Lady
Cheyenne Harry
- 1916
Behind the Lines
Dr. Ralph Hamlin
Love's Lariat
Sky High
The Committee on Credentials
Ballaret Bill
The Three Godfathers
Bob Sangster
The Night Riders
The Apache Kid
A Knight of the Range
Cheyenne Harry
- 1915
Just Jim
Jim
The Canceled Mortgage
1st Road Agent
The Heart of a Bandit
Texas Pete - the Bandit
- 1914
McVeagh of the South Seas
Cyril Bruce McVeagh
The Master Cracksman
Gentleman Joe, the Cracksman
Brute Force
In Womanless Tribe (The Old Days) (uncredited)
Her Father's Silent Partner
Movie
Concentration
First Son
- 1913
The Strong Man's Burden
Bob - the Younger Brother
The Switchtower
Movie
Olaf—An Atom
Olaf, an Atom
The Tenderfoot's Money
The Gambler
If We Only Knew
The Sailor
The Sheriff's Baby
Second Bandit
Near To Earth
Movie
The Unwelcome Guest
The Sheriff
Broken Ways
The Sheriff
Oil and Water
The Stage Manager / At Dinner
The Telephone Girl and the Lady
The Thief
- 1912
A Cry for Help
The Thief
The Burglar’s Dilemma
Older Crook
Brutality
At Theatre
The Informer
The Confederate Corporal
Heredity
The White Renegade Father
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
Snapper's Sidekick
The Painted Lady
At Ice Cream Festival
In the Aisles of the Wild
Bob Cole
A Feud in the Kentucky Hills
2nd Clan Member
So Near, Yet So Far
A Thief
Friends
Bob Kyne - the Prospector
Two Daughters of Eve
In Audience
An Unseen Enemy
The Safecracker
Wrote 13
1920s
- 1925
Soft Shoes
Story
- 1922
The Kickback
Story
- 1921
The Fox
Story
- 1920
Human Stuff
Scenario Writer
1910s
- 1919
A Gun Fightin' Gentleman
Story
Riders of Vengeance
Story
The Gun Packer
Story
- 1918
- 1917
The Outlaw and the Lady
Story
- 1916
A Knight of the Range
Scenario Writer
- 1914
McVeagh of the South Seas
Story
The Master Cracksman
Writer
Directed 3
1910s
- 1916
Love's Lariat
Director
- 1914
McVeagh of the South Seas
Director
The Master Cracksman
Director
Produced 3
1910s
- 1918
Wild Women
Producer
The Phantom Riders
Producer
- 1917
Bucking Broadway
Producer
Other crew 1
1940s
- 1948
Appearances2
1970s
- 1972
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
1930s
- 1937
Lest We Forget
Himself