Henry Travers was as James Stewart's somewhat befuddled but kind-hearted guardian angel Clarence Odbody in Frank Capra's 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life". Traver's character saves Stewart's from committing suicide, and shows him how wonderful his life really is. Though the film was a financial flop, it later became a Christmas classic and one of the most beloved films in American cinema. However, despite his long life, Travers would never know that his performance as Clarence would become his most celebrated, as the film only became a Christmas television perennial in the 1970s and 1980s, long after the actor's death. Travers retired
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