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."
Known For
| Birth Location | The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA |
|---|---|
| Born | 1878-01-15 |
| Died | 1947-09-21 |
Movies
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
as (archive footage)
2000
Legends of the West
as Ed Brandt in 'Law and Order'
1992
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
as Self (archive footage)
1972
Directed by John Ford
as (archive footage)
1971
Film Fun
as (archive footage)
1955
So Dear to My Heart
as Head Judge at County Fair
1948
Red River
as Mr. Melville
1948
The Sea of Grass
as Doc J. Reid
1947
Angel and the Badman
as Marshal Wistful McClintock
1947
Duel in the Sun
as Lem Smoot
1946
China's Little Devils
as Doc Temple
1945
The Great Moment
as Professor John C. Warren
1944
Happy Land
as Edward "Gramp" Marsh
1943
Air Force
as Crew Chief
1943
The Spoilers
as Dextry
1942
Among the Living
as Dr. Ben Saunders
1941
Sundown
as Dewey
1941
Parachute Battalion
as Bill Richards
1941
The Shepherd of the Hills
as Daniel Howitt
1941
They Knew What They Wanted
as The Doctor
1940
Beyond Tomorrow
as George Vale Melton
1940
Outside the Three-Mile Limit
as Captain Bailey
1940
My Son is Guilty
as Police Officer Tim Kerry
1939
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
as President of the Senate
1939
Land of Liberty
as (archive footage)
1939
Inside Information
as Captain Bill Dugan
1939
Street of Missing Men
as Charles Putnam
1939
Code of the Streets
as Detective Lieutenant John Lewis
1939
Burn 'Em Up O'Connor
as P.G. Delano
1939
The Law West of Tombstone
as William 'Bill' Barker
1938
King of Alcatraz
as Captain Glennan
1938
Gateway
as Commissioner Nelson
1938
Sky Giant
as Col. Cornelius Stockton
1938
You and Me
as Mr. Morris
1938
Port of Missing Girls
as Captain Josiah Storm
1938
Danger Patrol
as Sam Street
1937
Annapolis Salute
as Chief Martin
1937
Souls at Sea
as Captain of the William Brown
1937
Born Reckless
as Dad Martin
1937
Border Cafe
as Tex Stevens
1937
Kid Galahad
as Silver Jackson
1937
Racing Lady
as Tom Martin
1937
Aces Wild
as Cheyenne Harry Morgan
1936
The Accusing Finger
as Sen. Nash
1936
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie
as Phil Yonne
1936
The Last Outlaw
as Dean Payton
1936
Little Miss Nobody
as John Russell
1936
Sutter's Gold
as Kit Carson
1936
The Prisoner of Shark Island
as Commandant
1936
Ghost Town
as Cheyenne Harry Morgan
1936
The Last of the Clintons
as Trigger Carson
1935
Wild Mustang
as Joe 'Wild Mustang' Norton
1935
Barbary Coast
as Jed Slocum
1935
Powdersmoke Range
as Tucson Smith
1935
Rustler's Paradise
as Cheyenne Kincaid
1935
Wagon Trail
as Sheriff Clay Hartley
1935
Man of the Forest
as Jim Gayner
1933
Sunset Pass
as John Hesbitt
1933
The Thundering Herd
as Clark Sprague
1933
The Film Parade
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
1933
The Devil Horse
as Bob Norton / Roberts
1932
The Night Rider
as John Brown / Jim Blake
1932
The Last of the Mohicans
as Hawkeye
1932
Border Devils
as Jim Gray
1932
Law and Order
as Ed Brandt
1932
Without Honors
as Pete Marlan
1932
Cavalier of the West
as Captain John Allister
1931
Bad Company
as McBaine
1931
The Vanishing Legion
as 'Happy' Cardigan
1931
Trader Horn
as Aloysius "Trader" Horn
1931
The Border Patrol
as Bill Storm
1928
Burning Bridges
as Jim Whitely / Bob Whitely
1928
The Trail of '98
as Jack Locasto
1928
Slide, Kelly, Slide
as Tom Munson
1927
A Little Journey
as Alexander Smith
1927
Satan Town
as Bill Scott
1926
The Frontier Trail
as Jim Cardigan
1926
The Seventh Bandit
as David Scanlon
1926
Driftin' Thru
as Daniel Brown
1926
The Man from Red Gulch
as Alexander 'Sandy' Morton
1925
The Prairie Pirate
as Brian 'The Yellow Seal' Delaney
1925
The Bad Lands
as Patrick Angus O'Toole
1925
The Texas Trail
as Pete Grainger
1925
Beyond the Border
as Bob Smith
1925
Silent Sanderson
as Joel Parsons / Silent Sanderson
1925
Soft Shoes
as Pat Halahan
1925
The Flaming Forties
as Bill Jones
1924
Roaring Rails
as Big Bill Benson
1924
Tiger Thompson
as Tiger Thompson
1924
The Lightning Rider
as Phlip Morgan
1924
The Night Hawk
as 'The Hawk'
1924
The Miracle Baby
as Neil Allison
1923
Desert Driven
as Bob
1923
Crashin' Thru
as Blake
1923
Canyon of the Fools
as Bob
1923
Good Men and True
as J. Wesley Pringle
1922
The Kickback
as White Horse Harry
1922
Man to Man
as Steve Packard
1922
The Fox
as Ol' Santa Fe
1921
Desperate Trails
as Bart Carson
1921
The Wallop
as John Wesley Pringle
1921
The Freeze-Out
as Ohio, the Stranger
1921
Hearts Up
as David Brent
1921
West Is West
as Dick Rainboldt
1920
Sundown Slim
as Sundown Slim
1920
Blue Streak McCoy
as Job McCoy
1920
'If Only' Jim
as Jim Golden
1920
Human Stuff
as James 'Jim' Pierce
1920
Bullet Proof
as Pierre Winton
1920
Overland Red
as Overland Red
1920
Marked Men
as Cheyenne Harry
1919
A Gun Fightin' Gentleman
as Cheyenne Harry
1919
Rider of the Law
as Jim Kyneton
1919
The Ace of the Saddle
as Cheyenne Harry Henderson
1919
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
as Square Shootin' Harry Lanyon / John Oakhurst
1919
Riders of Vengeance
as Cheyenne Harry
1919
Bare Fists
as Cheyenne Harry
1919
A Fight For Love
as Cheyenne Harry
1919
Roped
as Cheyenne Harry
1919
Three Mounted Men
as Cheyenne Harry
1918
A Woman's Fool
as Lin McLean
1918
Hell Bent
as Cheyenne Harry
1918
The Scarlet Drop
as Harry Ridge
1918
Thieves' Gold
as Cheyenne Harry
1918
Wild Women
as Cheyenne Harry
1918
The Phantom Riders
as Cheyenne Harry
1918
Bucking Broadway
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
A Marked Man
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
The Secret Man
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
Straight Shooting
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
Cheyenne's Pal
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
The Soul Herder
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
Six-Shooter Justice
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
The Wrong Man
as Jack Wilson
1917
The Golden Bullet
as Jack
1917
The Mysterious Outlaw
as Buck Lessen
1917
The Almost Good Man
as Dick Glenning
1917
A 44-Calibre Mystery
as Sheriff Cheyenne Harry
1917
The Honor of an Outlaw
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
Hair-Trigger Burke
as Hair Trigger Burke
1917
The Fighting Gringo
as William 'Red' Saunders
1917
Goin' Straight
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
The Drifter
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
The Outlaw and the Lady
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
The Bad Man of Cheyenne
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
Blood Money
as Cheyenne Harry
1917
Guilty
as Ramon Valentine
1916
The Conspiracy
as Dick Olney
1916
Behind the Lines
as Dr. Ralph Hamlin
1916
The Devil's Own
as Shifty
1916
A Woman's Eyes
as Tom Horn
1916
Love's Lariat
as Sky High
1916
For the Love of a Girl
as Black La Rue
1916
The Committee on Credentials
as Ballaret Bill
1916
The Jackals of a Great City
as Tom Wayne
1916
The Three Godfathers
as Bob Sangster
1916
The Wedding Guest
as The Squarest Sheriff Alive
1916
The Passing of Hell's Crown
as Blaze
1916
The Harbor Transportation Trust
as Tom Larnigan
1916
A Knight of the Range
as Cheyenne Harry
1916
The Insurance Swindlers
as Tom Larnigan
1916
Secret Love
as Fergus Derrick
1916
Old King Coal
as Tom Larnigan
1916
America Saved from War
as Tom Larnigan
1916
The Railroad Monopoly
as Tom Larnigan
1916
Grinding Life Down
as Tom Larnigan
1916
The Power of the People
as Tom Larnigan
1916
Graft
as Tom Larnigan (Episodes 4-12)
1915
Judge Not; or The Woman of Mona Diggings
as Miles Rand
1915
Just Jim
as Jim
1915
As It Happened
as The New Foreman
1915
Old Offenders
as Norris
1915
Her Convert
as The Converted Cracksman
1915
The Way Out
as The Bandit
1915
Her Dormant Love
as Dandy Dick - The Fugitive
1915
Truth Stranger Than Fiction
as Crook
1915
The Canceled Mortgage
as 1st Road Agent
1915
A Day's Adventure
as Hogan - Leader of the Crooks
1915
A Double Winning
as 2nd Sportsman
1915
The Gambler's I.O.U.
as Dave Dawson
1915
The Miser's Legacy
as Jackson - The Crook
1915
The Sheriff's Dilemma
as The Sheriff
1915
The Love Transcendent
as The Prospector
1915
His Desperate Deed
as Burleigh
1915
The Heart of a Bandit
as Texas Pete - the Bandit
1915
McVeagh of the South Seas
as Cyril Bruce McVeagh
1914
The Master Cracksman
as Gentleman Joe, the Cracksman
1914
Brute Force
as In Womanless Tribe (The Old Days) (uncredited)
1914
Her Hand
as Ivan
1914
Judith of Bethulia
as Assyrian Traitor
1914
A Nest Unfeathered
as The Foreman
1914
His Fireman's Conscience
as Engineer Daily
1914
1914
Concentration
as First Son
1914
The Abandoned Well
as The Adopted Son
1913
1913
All for Science
as The Young Man
1913
The Detective's Stratagem
as Keene, the Detective
1913
The Stopped Clock
as The Detective
1913
1913
The Van Nostrand Tiara
as Society Detective
1913
A Tender-Hearted Crook
as The Thief
1913
The Law and His Son
as Manning
1913
The Stolen Treaty
as The Detective
1913
1913
The Strong Man's Burden
as Bob - the Younger Brother
1913
1913
The Crook and the Girl
as The Crook
1913
The Work Habit
as The Son-in-Law
1913
Under the Shadow of the Law
as The Convict
1913
When Love Forgives
as Second Criminal
1913
I Was Meant for You
as Luke
1913
The Vengeance of Galora
as A Prospector
1913
A Misappropriated Turkey
as The Bartender
1913
The Mirror
as First Tramp
1913
A Gambler's Honor
as The Gambler
1913
A Gamble with Death
as The Cowpuncher
1913
In Diplomatic Circles
as The Butler
1913
1913
The Well
as Giuseppe, the Farmhand
1913
The Enemy's Baby
as Miller
1913
Red Hicks Defies the World
as In Crowd (uncredited)
1913
The Sorrowful Shore
as The Widowed Father
1913
The Ranchero's Revenge
as The Schemer
1913
A Dangerous Foe
as The 'Bull'
1913
Olaf—An Atom
as Olaf, an Atom
1913
The Stolen Loaf
as The Butler
1913
The Tenderfoot's Money
as The Gambler
1913
If We Only Knew
as The Sailor
1913
The Left-Handed Man
as The Left-Handed Thief
1913
A Frightful Blunder
as The Superintendent
1913
The Stolen Bride
as The Husband
1913
The Hero of Little Italy
as Tony
1913
The Sheriff's Baby
as Second Bandit
1913
1913
The Unwelcome Guest
as The Sheriff
1913
Broken Ways
as The Sheriff
1913
1913
Love in an Apartment Hotel
as The Thief
1913
A Chance Deception
as Raffles
1913
Oil and Water
as The Stage Manager / At Dinner
1913
Brothers
as The Mother's Favorite Son
1913
An Adventure in the Autumn Woods
as Third Thief
1913
1913
The Telephone Girl and the Lady
as The Thief
1913
A Cry for Help
as The Thief
1912
The Burglar’s Dilemma
as Older Crook
1912
My Hero
as Indian
1912
Brutality
as At Theatre
1912
The Informer
as The Confederate Corporal
1912
Heredity
as The White Renegade Father
1912
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
as Snapper's Sidekick
1912
The Painted Lady
as At Ice Cream Festival
1912
The One She Loved
as The Neighbor's Friend
1912
In the Aisles of the Wild
as Bob Cole
1912
A Feud in the Kentucky Hills
as 2nd Clan Member
1912
So Near, Yet So Far
as A Thief
1912
Friends
as Bob Kyne - the Prospector
1912
Two Daughters of Eve
as In Audience
1912
An Unseen Enemy
as The Safecracker
1912
1910
Movies
3 Godfathers
In Memory Of
1948
Soft Shoes
Story
1925
The Kickback
Story
1922
The Fox
Story
1921
Hearts Up
Story
1921
Human Stuff
Scenario Writer
1920
A Gun Fightin' Gentleman
Story
1919
Riders of Vengeance
Story
1919
The Gun Packer
Story
1919
Wild Women
Producer
1918
The Phantom Riders
Producer
1918
Bucking Broadway
Producer
1917
Goin' Straight
Story
1917
The Outlaw and the Lady
Story
1917
The Bad Man of Cheyenne
Story
1917
Blood Money
Story
1917
Love's Lariat
Director
1916
For the Love of a Girl
Director
1916
Stampede in the Night
Story
1916
A Knight of the Range
Scenario Writer
1916
1914
McVeagh of the South Seas
Director
1914
The Master Cracksman
Writer
1914
The Master Cracksman
Director
1914
1913
Under the Shadow of the Law
Screenplay
1913
A Gambler's Honor
Writer
1913
