Henry Travers Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known by the stage name Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor. His most famous role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film classic "It's a Wonderful Life". He also received an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in "Mrs. Miniver" (1942). Travers specialized in portraying slightly bumbling but friendly and lovable old men. Travers was born in Prudhoe, Northumberland, and was the son of Daniel Heagerty, a doctor originally from Ireland, and Ellen Gillman Hornibrook Belcher. His mother was a
Henry Travers 380 performances in two years. In the Oscar-winning movie "You Can't Take It With You", Lionel Barrymore played the role which Travers had portrayed on Broadway. Like many other theatre actors, he made his first movie only with the advent of sound films. His first was "Reunion in Vienna" in 1933. In the same year, he played the father of Gloria Stuart in the horror classic "The Invisible Man". He often portrayed doctors, judges, and fathers of the main figures in supporting roles. Travers specialized on portraying slightly wry and bumbling but friendly and lovable old men. He appeared with