{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Person",
  "@id": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/person/82382/james-stephenson",
  "name": "James Stephenson",
  "url": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/person/82382/james-stephenson",
  "knownForDepartment": "Acting",
  "description": "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.\n\nDate of Death:  29 July 1941, Pacific Palisades, California  (heart attack)",
  "birthDate": "1889-04-13",
  "deathDate": "1941-07-29",
  "birthPlace": "Selby, Yorkshire, England, UK",
  "image": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/zVMYn8Vo2nXK4dPCjpwleGoC970.jpg",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0827263"
  ],
  "lastVerified": "3 May 2026",
  "filmography": [
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 26201,
      "title": "The Sea Hawk",
      "year": "1940",
      "role": "as Abbott",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 7.206,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/mBJhR84lKoScUPSUfC9mO4yEhjf.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/26201/the-sea-hawk-1940"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 36851,
      "title": "Beau Geste",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Major Henri de Beaujolais",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.972,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/xDRHfwghNNXy4ASdus5GSzyTX6x.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/36851/beau-geste-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 17801,
      "title": "The Letter",
      "year": "1940",
      "role": "as Howard Joyce",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 7.287,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/fe43qXp2sRAZbPDKX1puKGEwOon.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/17801/the-letter-1940"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 109716,
      "title": "A Dispatch from Reuters",
      "year": "1940",
      "role": "as Carew",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.179,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/2F9pvBtYhDOO1NgvdSL54N0SHXI.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/109716/a-dispatch-from-reuters-1940"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 188768,
      "title": "We Are Not Alone",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Sir William Clintock",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.917,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/8nPzdAUUw3hY3PjX24TpCKUQIDZ.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/188768/we-are-not-alone-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 99924,
      "title": "Espionage Agent",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Dr. Anton Rader",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.3,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/vUiCGEpwOzgDR2lUuMptTW6tk0C.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/99924/espionage-agent-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 111100,
      "title": "Boy Meets Girl",
      "year": "1938",
      "role": "as Major Thompson",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.857,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/d5eGIYZKLHRCMthkiKwF8mNSnZh.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/111100/boy-meets-girl-1938"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 44919,
      "title": "The Old Maid",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Jim Ralston",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 7.064,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/xBhLMf4KMayJAQqLmWBaZEF7th9.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/44919/the-old-maid-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 180778,
      "title": "Flight from Destiny",
      "year": "1941",
      "role": "as Dr. Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 5.778,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/oHVAzf7EsQX2WUHOa5r1DSYyj0z.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/180778/flight-from-destiny-1941"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 99920,
      "title": "Confessions of a Nazi Spy",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as British Military Intelligence Agent",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.059,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/344MutCY2Xd6nxztXa1tkTR9Nml.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/99920/confessions-of-a-nazi-spy-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 123452,
      "title": "White Banners",
      "year": "1938",
      "role": "as Thomas Bradford",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.143,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/iPRDvS1r6WMNNETe2aEVBEuYzKL.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/123452/white-banners-1938"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 30306,
      "title": "Devil's Island",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Col. Armand Lucien",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 5.667,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/mDEoEggNmvDQPxUov32a7JXOvjn.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/30306/devil-s-island-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 27966,
      "title": "King of the Underworld",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Bill Stevens",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.5,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/j3UhHLF1qgIWL8GLDJBKiCIkUDi.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/27966/king-of-the-underworld-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 130204,
      "title": "Sons of Liberty",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Colonel Tillman",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.333,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/hXTX4dtIYt0amXAaRKsnoNZ2y3T.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/130204/sons-of-liberty-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 181925,
      "title": "Wolf of New York",
      "year": "1940",
      "role": "as Hiram Rogers",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 7.5,
      "posterUrl": null,
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/181925/wolf-of-new-york-1940"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 176867,
      "title": "Heart of the North",
      "year": "1938",
      "role": "as Stephen Gore",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 5.2,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/tAAbF6DYs1SJeQHAPGO1woSfVNL.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/176867/heart-of-the-north-1938"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 218560,
      "title": "The Adventures of Jane Arden",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Dr. George Vanders",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.25,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/95BSmqsYQLy2VxwEmXnaKaP8npX.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/218560/the-adventures-of-jane-arden-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 256371,
      "title": "Shining Victory",
      "year": "1941",
      "role": "as Dr. Paul Venner",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.056,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/93p074mZN47yPJiS3ktFjsdT4sH.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/256371/shining-victory-1941"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 16902,
      "title": "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Sir Thomas Egerton",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.302,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/76UbFh03IvO8fwD8MywFpdfUCcj.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/16902/the-private-lives-of-elizabeth-and-essex-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 179987,
      "title": "Calling Philo Vance",
      "year": "1940",
      "role": "as Philo Vance",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.038,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/3UYyOI9Zvcj90XSf6MargEUh39m.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/179987/calling-philo-vance-1940"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 193688,
      "title": "Secret Service of the Air",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Jim Cameron",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 5.9,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/ucb1MsqDNtQJjiEetBGvYtqoFjl.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/193688/secret-service-of-the-air-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 47883,
      "title": "Nancy Drew… Detective",
      "year": "1938",
      "role": "as Challon",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.525,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/Ptkn6MnB2pyFJpJuHyxSBG3Qlh.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/47883/nancy-drew-detective-1938"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 171348,
      "title": "Torchy Blane in Chinatown",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "as Dr. Mansfield",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 7,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/1Y0nIXP2kCIZdtuNfMygF6RlGZf.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/171348/torchy-blane-in-chinatown-1939"
    },
    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 179941,
      "title": "River's End",
      "year": "1940",
      "role": "as McDowell",
      "roleKind": "cast",
      "voteAverage": 6.6,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/vV9ebH2pH677GxrmwD0vWyFwChA.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/179941/river-s-end-1940"
    }
  ]
}