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's 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."
Movie | Hollywood: The Dream Factory | Self (archive footage) | 1972-01-10 |
Movie | Directed by John Ford | (archive footage) | 1971-09-06 |
Movie | Red River | Mr. Melville | 1948-08-26 |
Movie | So Dear to My Heart | Head Judge at County Fair | 1948-11-29 |
Movie | Angel and the Badman | Marshal Wistful McClintock | 1947-02-15 |
Movie | The Sea of Grass | Doc J. Reid | 1947-04-25 |
Movie | Bacall to Arms | Rochester Soundalike (voice) | 1946-08-03 |
Movie | Duel in the Sun | Lem Smoot | 1946-12-31 |
Movie | China's Little Devils | Doc Temple | 1945-05-27 |
Movie | The Great Moment | Professor John C. Warren | 1944-07-18 |
Movie | Air Force | Crew Chief | 1943-03-20 |
Movie | Happy Land | Edward "Gramp" Marsh | 1943-11-10 |
Movie | The Spoilers | Dextry | 1942-06-11 |
Movie | Parachute Battalion | Bill Richards | 1941-09-12 |
Movie | The Shepherd of the Hills | Daniel Howitt | 1941-07-18 |
Movie | Sundown | Dewey | 1941-10-31 |
Movie | Among the Living | Dr. Ben Saunders | 1941-12-12 |
Movie | Beyond Tomorrow | George Vale Melton | 1940-05-10 |
Movie | They Knew What They Wanted | The Doctor | 1940-10-19 |
Movie | Burn 'Em Up O'Connor | P.G. Delano | 1939-01-13 |
Movie | Code of the Streets | Detective Lieutenant John Lewis | 1939-04-13 |
Movie | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | President of the Senate | 1939-10-19 |
Movie | Street of Missing Men | Charles Putnam | 1939-04-24 |
Movie | My Son is Guilty | Police Officer Tim Kerry | 1939-12-28 |
Movie | Port of Missing Girls | Captain Josiah Storm | 1938-02-24 |
Movie | You and Me | Mr. Morris | 1938-06-01 |
Movie | Sky Giant | Col. Cornelius Stockton | 1938-07-22 |
Movie | The Law West of Tombstone | William 'Bill' Barker | 1938-11-18 |
Movie | King of Alcatraz | Captain Glennan | 1938-09-30 |
Movie | Gateway | Commissioner Nelson | 1938-08-05 |
Movie | Kid Galahad | Silver Jackson | 1937-05-29 |
Movie | Racing Lady | Tom Martin | 1937-01-12 |
Movie | Border Cafe | Tex Stevens | 1937-06-04 |
Movie | Annapolis Salute | Chief Martin | 1937-09-10 |
Movie | Born Reckless | Dad Martin | 1937-06-25 |
Movie | Danger Patrol | Sam Street | 1937-11-18 |
Movie | Souls at Sea | Captain of the William Brown | 1937-09-03 |
Movie | Sutter's Gold | Kit Carson | 1936-03-01 |
Movie | The Prisoner of Shark Island | Commandant | 1936-02-28 |
Movie | Little Miss Nobody | John Russell | 1936-06-05 |
Movie | Ghost Town | Cheyenne Harry Morgan | 1936-02-15 |
Movie | The Accusing Finger | Sen. Nash | 1936-11-17 |
Movie | The Last Outlaw | Dean Payton | 1936-06-19 |
Movie | Aces Wild | Cheyenne Harry Morgan | 1936-12-21 |
Movie | Valiant Is the Word for Carrie | Phil Yonne | 1936-10-06 |
Movie | Wagon Trail | Sheriff Clay Hartley | 1935-04-08 |
Movie | Barbary Coast | Jed Slocum | 1935-10-13 |
Movie | Powdersmoke Range | Tucson Smith | 1935-09-27 |
Movie | The Last of the Clintons | Trigger Carson | 1935-11-12 |
Movie | Wild Mustang | Joe 'Wild Mustang' Norton | 1935-10-21 |
Movie | The Film Parade | (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1933-01-01 |
Movie | The Thundering Herd | Clark Sprague | 1933-03-01 |
Movie | Sunset Pass | John Hesbitt | 1933-05-26 |
Movie | Man of the Forest | Jim Gayner | 1933-08-24 |
Movie | Law and Order | Ed Brandt | 1932-02-09 |
Movie | Border Devils | Jim Gray | 1932-04-03 |
Movie | Without Honors | Pete Marlan | 1932-01-02 |
Movie | The Last of the Mohicans | Hawkeye | 1932-05-17 |
Movie | The Devil Horse | Bob Norton / Roberts | 1932-11-01 |
Movie | The Night Rider | John Brown / Jim Blake | 1932-08-22 |
Movie | Trader Horn | Aloysius "Trader" Horn | 1931-02-03 |
Movie | The Vanishing Legion | 'Happy' Cardigan | 1931-06-01 |
Movie | Bad Company | McBaine | 1931-10-16 |
Movie | Cavalier of the West | Captain John Allister | 1931-11-15 |
Movie | The Trail of '98 | Jack Locasto | 1928-03-20 |
Movie | Burning Bridges | Jim Whitely / Bob Whitely | 1928-09-30 |
Movie | A Little Journey | Alexander Smith | 1927-01-01 |
Movie | Slide, Kelly, Slide | Tom Munson | 1927-03-12 |
Movie | The Frontier Trail | Jim Cardigan | 1926-06-20 |
Movie | Beyond the Border | Bob Smith | 1925-05-30 |
Movie | Soft Shoes | Pat Halahan | 1925-01-01 |
Movie | The Texas Trail | Pete Grainger | 1925-06-01 |
Movie | The Prairie Pirate | Brian 'The Yellow Seal' Delaney | 1925-10-10 |
Movie | The Lightning Rider | Phlip Morgan | 1924-05-18 |
Movie | The Night Hawk | 'The Hawk' | 1924-02-17 |
Movie | Roaring Rails | Big Bill Benson | 1924-09-20 |
Movie | The Flaming Forties | Bill Jones | 1924-12-21 |
Movie | Canyon of the Fools | Bob | 1923-01-21 |
Movie | The Miracle Baby | Neil Allison | 1923-08-19 |
Movie | The Kickback | White Horse Harry | 1922-06-30 |
Movie | Man to Man | Steve Packard | 1922-03-20 |
Movie | The Wallop | John Wesley Pringle | 1921-05-09 |
Movie | The Fox | Ol' Santa Fe | 1921-07-24 |
Movie | Overland Red | Overland Red | 1920-03-22 |
Movie | Bullet Proof | Pierre Winton | 1920-05-03 |
Movie | 'If Only' Jim | Jim Golden | 1920-07-01 |
Movie | Blue Streak McCoy | Job McCoy | 1920-08-23 |
Movie | West Is West | Dick Rainboldt | 1920-11-21 |
Movie | Riders of Vengeance | Cheyenne Harry | 1919-06-09 |
Movie | Bare Fists | Cheyenne Harry | 1919-05-05 |
Movie | A Fight For Love | Cheyenne Harry | 1919-03-24 |
Movie | The Outcasts of Poker Flat | Square Shootin' Harry Lanyon / John Oakhurst | 1919-06-29 |
Movie | Roped | Cheyenne Harry | 1919-01-03 |
Movie | The Ace of the Saddle | Cheyenne Harry Henderson | 1919-08-18 |
Movie | A Gun Fightin' Gentleman | Cheyenne Harry | 1919-11-29 |
Movie | Marked Men | Cheyenne Harry | 1919-12-21 |
Movie | Rider of the Law | Jim Kyneton | 1919-11-03 |
Movie | Thieves' Gold | Cheyenne Harry | 1918-03-18 |
Movie | Wild Women | Cheyenne Harry | 1918-02-25 |
Movie | The Scarlet Drop | Harry Ridge | 1918-04-22 |
Movie | The Phantom Riders | Cheyenne Harry | 1918-01-28 |
Movie | Hell Bent | Cheyenne Harry | 1918-07-05 |
Movie | Three Mounted Men | Cheyenne Harry | 1918-10-06 |
Movie | A Woman's Fool | Lin McLean | 1918-08-17 |
Movie | The Soul Herder | Cheyenne Harry | 1917-08-07 |
Movie | The Fighting Gringo | William 'Red' Saunders | 1917-03-26 |
Movie | Cheyenne's Pal | Cheyenne Harry | 1917-08-13 |
Movie | The Honor of an Outlaw | Cheyenne Harry | 1917-05-15 |
Movie | Straight Shooting | Cheyenne Harry | 1917-08-27 |
Movie | The Secret Man | Cheyenne Harry | 1917-09-30 |
Movie | Bucking Broadway | Cheyenne Harry | 1917-12-24 |
Movie | A Marked Man | Cheyenne Harry | 1917-10-29 |
Movie | The Three Godfathers | Bob Sangster | 1916-06-18 |
Movie | Secret Love | Fergus Derrick | 1916-01-31 |
Movie | A Knight of the Range | Cheyenne Harry | 1916-02-07 |
Movie | The Committee on Credentials | Ballaret Bill | 1916-07-08 |
Movie | Love's Lariat | Sky High | 1916-08-07 |
Movie | Guilty | Ramon Valentine | 1916-11-17 |
Movie | The Conspiracy | Dick Olney | 1916-10-21 |
Movie | Behind the Lines | Dr. Ralph Hamlin | 1916-09-11 |
Movie | The Love Transcendent | The Prospector | 1915-03-25 |
Movie | The Miser's Legacy | Jackson - The Crook | 1915-04-09 |
Movie | Judge Not; or The Woman of Mona Diggings | Miles Rand | 1915-09-27 |
Movie | Just Jim | Jim | 1915-08-16 |
Movie | Concentration | First Son | 1914-01-12 |
Movie | Waifs | 1914-01-17 | |
Movie | Brute Force | In Womanless Tribe (The Old Days) (uncredited) | 1914-04-24 |
Movie | Judith of Bethulia | Assyrian Traitor | 1914-03-08 |
Movie | McVeagh of the South Seas | Cyril Bruce McVeagh | 1914-11-02 |
Movie | Love in an Apartment Hotel | The Thief | 1913-02-27 |
Movie | Broken Ways | The Sheriff | 1913-03-08 |
Movie | A Chance Deception | Raffles | 1913-02-24 |
Movie | Oil and Water | The Stage Manager / At Dinner | 1913-02-10 |
Movie | The Unwelcome Guest | The Sheriff | 1913-03-15 |
Movie | The Telephone Girl and the Lady | The Thief | 1913-01-06 |
Movie | Brothers | The Mother's Favorite Son | 1913-02-03 |
Movie | Red Hicks Defies the World | In Crowd (uncredited) | 1913-06-09 |
Movie | For Her Government | 1913-12-22 | |
Movie | Olaf—An Atom | Olaf, an Atom | 1913-05-19 |
Movie | The Strong Man's Burden | Bob - the Younger Brother | 1913-09-05 |
Movie | A Modest Hero | 1913-09-08 | |
Movie | The Switchtower | 1913-06-15 | |
Movie | Black and White | 1913-08-27 | |
Movie | The Vengeance of Galora | A Prospector | 1913-07-28 |
Movie | A Feud in the Kentucky Hills | 2nd Clan Member | 1912-10-03 |
Movie | So Near, Yet So Far | A Thief | 1912-09-29 |
Movie | An Unseen Enemy | The Safecracker | 1912-09-09 |
Movie | The One She Loved | The Neighbor's Friend | 1912-10-21 |
Movie | Friends | Bob Kyne - the Prospector | 1912-09-22 |
Movie | The Burglar’s Dilemma | Older Crook | 1912-12-16 |
Movie | A Cry for Help | The Thief | 1912-12-23 |
Movie | Brutality | At Theatre | 1912-12-02 |
Movie | The Informer | The Confederate Corporal | 1912-11-21 |
Movie | The Musketeers of Pig Alley | Snapper's Sidekick | 1912-10-31 |
Movie | The Painted Lady | At Ice Cream Festival | 1912-10-24 |