Acting
Community Rating
5.4
TMDB estimate
Born
January 16, 1878
Died
September 21, 1947 (age 69)
Born in
The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
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."

Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
as (archive footage)
2000

Legends of the West
as Ed Brandt in 'Law and Order' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1992

Hollywood: The Dream Factory
as Self (archive footage)
1972

Directed by John Ford
as (archive footage)
1971
Film Fun
as (archive footage)
1955

3 Godfathers
as In Memory Of
1948

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