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 Greer Garson and Ronald Colman in "Random Harvest" (1942) and with Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman in "The Bells of St. Mary's" (1945). Alfred Hitchcock used Travers as a Comic relief in "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943), where he played a bank clerk with a passion for criminal magazines. The character actor also portrayed the Railway Station Master Mr. Ballard with a love for roses who finally wins the annual flower show in his village shortly before dying in a bombardment in "Mrs. Miniver". He received an Academy Award-nomination as Best Supporting Actor for this appearance. Travers's most famous role