Photo of Harry Carey
Acting

Harry Carey

Profession
Acting
Born
January 16, 1878 · The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Died
September 21, 1947

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."

Known for

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington poster
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Film · 1939 · ★ 7.8
Red River poster
Red River
Film · 1948 · ★ 7.3
3 Godfathers poster
3 Godfathers
Film · 1948 · ★ 6.8
Duel in the Sun poster
Duel in the Sun
Film · 1946 · ★ 6.4
Angel and the Badman poster
Angel and the Badman
Film · 1947 · ★ 6.4
The Musketeers of Pig Alley poster
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
Film · 1912 · ★ 6.1
The Spoilers poster
The Spoilers
Film · 1942 · ★ 6.2
Air Force poster
Air Force
Film · 1943 · ★ 6.5
The Shepherd of the Hills poster
The Shepherd of the Hills
Film · 1941 · ★ 6.6
The Prisoner of Shark Island poster
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Film · 1936 · ★ 6.8
Kid Galahad poster
Kid Galahad
Film · 1937 · ★ 7.1
So Dear to My Heart poster
So Dear to My Heart
Film · 1948 · ★ 6.6

Filmography