HENRY KING BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Henry King was born January 24, 1886 in Christiansburg, Virginia. He began his acting career on stage in various repertoire theaters. In 1913 he started to appear on the screen, beginning with the short drama “A False Friend”. Throughout the next two years he starred in over forty short films, including thrillers like “Love and War in Mexico” (1913), westerns such as “The Apache Kid” (1913), romances, including “A Romance of the Ozarks” (1913), and many, many dramas.
In 1915 King made his directorial debut with “The Brand of Man”. He continued to direct dramas, westerns, and action flicks throughout the teens, earning particular distinction with his 1919 comedy “23 ½ Hours Leave”. Only two years after, he produced, directed, and helped write his most famous, a significant rural America drama called “Tol’able David” (1921). During the remainder of the twenties, on top of staying active in his acting career, the director put out more enjoyable movies, including “The White Sister” (1923), a suspenseful romantic drama that takes place during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy, “Romola” (1924), a historical twisted love story, and “The Winning of Barbara Worth” (1926), a western drama about an engineer who vies to get a chance to fall in love with a rancher’s daughter.
In 1930 King teamed up with 20th Century Fox, where he would put out some of his best works. Most often, he would work with big actors like Gregory Peck and Tyrone Power, who would help him get his vision onto the screen. Some of Peck’s projects included the psychological war drama “Twelve O’Clock High” (1949), which won two Oscars, and the well thought out western “The Gunfighter” (1950), which earned one Academy Award nomination. He directed Power in such popular hits as the Oscar winning musical “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1938) and pirate adventure “The Black Swan” (1942).
As well as his association with the names of Peck, Power, and some other bright Hollywood stars like Rory Calhoun and Spencer Tracy, King was known to dwell on the American spirit. He showed his nostalgia for the United States in films like “State Fair” (1933), “In Old Chicago” (1937), “Jesse James” (1939), “Remember the Day” (1941), and “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” (1952). He often also helmed historical pieces such as “Lloyd’s of London” (1936), “Little Old New York” (1940), and “The Song of Bernadette” (1943). Furthermore, he made his mark in the adventure world with works such as “Prince of Foxes” (1949), “Captain from Castile” (1947), and “The King of the Khyber Rifles” (1953). For his final project, however, King went back to his original genre of drama for “Tender Is the Night” (1962).
Not only was the actor/director/producer a great filmmaker, he also helped found a fundamental society that helped shape the movie business into what it is today. King was one of the original thirty six founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives out the Academy Awards every year. Unfortunately, the celebrated filmmaker’s life had to end like everyone’s do. On June 29, 1882, while in a sleep, King suffered a fatal heart attack. However, his memory remains very alive and well. On top of two Oscar nominations, four Directors Guild of America Award nods, a Golden Globe, and a third and fourth place spot for Top Director at the Laurel Awards, he has a DGA Lifetime Achievement Award and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Filmography
1962 Tender Is the Night
1959 Beloved Infidel
1959 This Earth Is Mine
1958 The Old Man and the Sea
1958 The Bravados
1957 The Sun Also Rises
1956 Carousel
1955 Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
1955 Untamed
1953 King of the Khyber Rifles
1952 The Snows of Kilimanjaro
1952 Full House
1952 Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie
1951 David and Bathsheba
1951 I'd Climb the Highest Mountain
1950 The Gunfighter
1949 Twelve O'Clock High
1949 Prince of Foxes
1948 Deep Waters
1947 Captain from Castile
1946 Margie
1945 A Bell for Adano
1944 Wilson
1943 The Song of Bernadette
1942 The Black Swan
1941 Remember the Day
1941 A Yank in the R.A.F.
1940 Chad Hanna
1940 Maryland
1940 Little Old New York
1939 Stanley and Livingstone
1939 Jesse James
1938 Alexander's Ragtime Band
1937 Seventh Heaven
1937 In Old Chicago
1936 Lloyd's of London
1936 Ramona
1936 The Country Doctor
1935 Way Down East
1935 One More Spring
1934 Marie Galante
1934 Carolina
1933 I Loved You Wednesday
1933 State Fair
1932 The Woman in Room 13
1931 Over the Hill
1931 Merely Mary Ann
1930 Lightnin'
1930 The Eyes of the World
1930 Hell Harbor
1929 She Goes to War
1928 The Woman Disputed
1927 The Magic Flame
1926 The Winning of Barbara Worth
1926 Partners Again
1925 Stella Dallas
1925 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925 Any Woman
1925 Sackcloth and Scarlet
1924 Romola
1923 The White Sister
1923 Fury
1922 The Bond Boy
1922 Sonny
1922 The Seventh Day
1921 Tol'able David
1921 The Sting of the Lash
1921 Salvage
1921 The Mistress of Shenstone
1921 When We Were 21
1920 Help Wanted - Male
1920 Dice of Destiny
1920 Help Wanted - Male
1920 One Hour Before Dawn
1920 Uncharted Channels
1920 The White Dove
1919 Haunting Shadows
1919 A Fugitive from Matrimony
1919 23 1/2 Hours' Leave
1919 Six Feet Four
1919 This Hero Stuff
1919 A Sporting Chance
1919 Some Liar
1919 Brass Buttons
1919 Where the West Begins
1919 When a Man Rides Alone
1918 All the World to Nothing
1918 Hobbs in a Hurry
1918 The Locked Heart
1918 The Ghost of Rosy Taylor
1918 Up Romance Road
1918 Social Briars
1918 Hearts or Diamonds?
1918 Powers That Prey
1918 Beauty and the Rogue
1918 King Social Briars
1917 The Mate of the Sally Ann
1917 A Game of Wits
1917 Southern Pride
1917 The Climber
1917 The Bride's Silence
1917 The Mainspring
1917 In the Hands of the Law
1917 Souls in Pawn
1917 Vengeance of the Dead
1917 Sunshine and Gold
1917 Told at Twilight
1917 Scepter of Suspicion
1917 Twin Kiddies
1917 The Devil's Bait
1916 The Power of Evil
1916 Crooked Road
1916 Faith's Reward
1916 The Sand Lark
1916 The Stained Pearl
1916 Big Brother
1916 The Flirting Bride
1916 Joy and the Dragon
1916 Shadows and Sunshine
1916 Pay Dirt
1916 The Oath of Hate
1916 When Might Is Right
1916 Little Mary Sunshine
1915 Should a Wife Forgive?
1915 The Nemesis
1915 Who Pays?
1915 The Brand of Man
1915 A Bolt from the Sky
1915 Pearls of Temptation
1915 The Maid of the Wild
1915 In Humble Guise
1915 The Tomboy
1915 The Dolls of Intrigue
1915 Toil and Tyranny
1915 The Fruit of Folly
1915 Letters Entangled
1915 The Pomp of Earth
1915 For the Commonwealth
1915 Today and Tomorrow
1915 Blue Blood and Yellow
1915 Houses of Glass
1915 Unto Herself Alone
1915 The Butterfly
1915 The Love Liar
1915 When Justice Sleeps
1915 The Pursuit of Pleasure
1915 The Price of Fame
1915 Bliss of Ignorance
1915 The Acid Test
1915 Saved from Himself
1914 The Test of Manhood
1914 The Rat
1914 Nerve
1914 Abide with Me
1914 Sacrificial Fires
1914 The Measure of a Man
1914 The Power of Print
1914 His Excellency
1914 The Eternal Duel
1914 Eyes That Cannot See
1913 The Moth and the Flame
1913 The Path of Sorrow
1913 By Impulse
1913 When He Sees
1913 Life, Love and Liberty
1913 You've Got to Pay
1913 Her Father
1913 Melita's Sacrifice
1913 Turning the Table
1913 When the Clock Stopped
1913 Magic Melody
1913 The Mate of the Schooner 'Sadie'
1913 For Her Brother's Sake
1913 A Mexican Tragedy
1913 To Love and Cherish
1913 The Medal of Honor
1913 Playing with Fire
1913 His Last Crooked Deal
1913 A Tenderfoot Hero
1913 The Outlaw's Gratitude
1913 The Camera's Testimony
1913 The Message of the Rose
1913 An Actor's Strategy
1913 Jim's Reward
1913 The Apache Kid
1913 The Mysterious Hand
1913 Her Atonement
1913 Rustic Hearts
1913 The Legend of Lovers Leap
1913 A Woman's Heart
1913 A Romance of the Ozarks
1913 Love and War in Mexico
1913 A Perilous Ride
1913 The Breed of the West
1913 The Padre's Strategy
1913 The Birthmark
1913 Back to Primitive
1913 The Split Nugget
1913 A False Friend
