Henry Wilcoxon (born Harry Frederick Wilcoxon; 8 September 1905 – 6 March 1984) was a British-American and his mother, Lurline Mignonette Nunes, was a Jamaican amateur theatre actress, descendant of a wealthy Spanish merchant family.

Henry was close with his older brother, Robert Owen Wilcoxon, known as 'Owen'. Henry (known then by his born name, Harry) had a difficult childhood. His mother "disappeared suddenly and mysteriously" (presumably she died) when he was about a year old, and his father took him and Owen (aged four) to England with the intention that his own mother, Ann Wilcoxon, would care for them. But because the grandmother was too frail to care for the children, they were first sent to a bad foster home, where they became ill from malnutrition and neglect until this was discovered by the authorities, and they were moved to an orphanage. Harry suffered from rickets, and Owen developed a stutter and had epileptic fits. They were rescued from the orphanage to a new foster home run by the more caring Stewart family, at Springfield House in Acton, London.

After several years Tan Wilcoxon, with his new wife Rosamond, took the children home with them to Bridgetown, Barbados, where they were educated. Harry was sent to Wolmer's Boys School in Kingston, Jamaica and Harrison College, Barbados. Harry later claimed that at 14 he was 'almost' the underwater swimming champion of Barbados and good enough to become a salvage diver. before he joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre the next year and toured "for several years" playing "all roles that came his way."

Early screen work

thumb|right|225px|Wilcoxon and [[Claudette Colbert in Cleopatra (1934)]]

In 1931, Wilcoxon made his screen debut as "Larry Tindale" in The Perfect Lady, followed by a role opposite Heather Angel in Self Made Lady, alongside Louis Hayward and others.

So he was renamed by DeMille for the role of Marc Antony in Cleopatra, and from then on he was Henry Wilcoxon.

Wilcoxon was next given the lead role of Richard the Lionheart in DeMille's big-budget film The Crusades (1935) opposite Loretta Young. That film, however, was a financial failure, "losing more than $700,000". which received considerable public acclaim, as well as six Academy Awards.

In the last two decades of his life, Wilcoxon worked sporadically and accepted minor acting roles in a number of television and film productions. He guest-starred in shows including Daniel Boone, Perry Mason, I Spy, It Takes a Thief, The Wild Wild West, Gunsmoke, Cimarron Strip, Cagney & Lacey, The Big Valley, Private Benjamin and Marcus Welby, M. D., as well as in a smaller number of films. Wilcoxon is probably best known today for his small but memorable role as the golf-obsessed Bishop Pickering in the classic 1980 comedy Caddyshack.

Personal life

Through loans from the assets he acquired from his early acting career, Wilcoxon assisted his brother Owen in establishing himself in 1931 as a partner in the Vale Motor Company in London. For a short time, Henry showed a personal interest in the development of their sports car, the Vale Special. At that time his female companion was a London-based American stage actress Carol Goodner.

English actress Heather Angel, whom he had previously acted with in Self Made Lady (1932) when they were both in England, had come to Hollywood a few months before Wilcoxon and met him again in 1934. They became lifetime friends. She taught him horse-riding, and acted in two more films with him: The Last of the Mohicans (1936) and Lady Hamilton (1941). Heather Angel and her husband Ralph Forbes were both present at Wilcoxon's wedding to Sheila Garrett.

Wilcoxon married a 19-year-old actress Sheila Garrett on 28 June 1936, but they divorced a year later. When they had first met, two years before they were married, she was introduced by her sister Lynn Browning as "Bonnie", but when they got to know each other better he preferred the name Sheila Garrett.

On 17 December 1938, he married 23 year old actress Joan Woodbury. They had three daughters: Wendy Joan Robert Wilcoxon (1939–2020), Heather Ann Wilcoxon (1947) and Cecilia Dawn "CiCi" Wilcoxon (1950). His youngest daughter was named after Cecil B. DeMille: DeMille said he wanted the child to be called Cecil if it was a boy, but when it turned out to be a girl, DeMille was still insistent, saying "I think Cecilia is a beautiful name! My daughter is named Cecilia." They divorced in 1969.

Wilcoxon was an amateur painter and photographer, whose work was exhibited on at least one occasion in London. with Dorothy Drew (sister of architect Jane Drew). Up until then he did not know that his brother, killed in 1940 during the Dunkirk evacuation, had any children.

Death

On 6 March 1984, Wilcoxon died of heart failure at his Burbank, California home after suffering from cancer for a number of years. He was 78 years old.

Cultural references

According to author Katherine Orrison, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser was an admirer of the actor's performance in The Crusades (1935), and took the nickname "Wilcoxon" while at the Royal Military Academy because he aspired to be a great military leader like Richard the Lionheart.

Wilcoxon is mentioned in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as one of Rick Dalton's (Leonardo DiCaprio) co-stars in the (fictional) film Tanner.

Recognition

Wilcoxon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6256 Hollywood Blvd. west of Argyle Street, in front of the W Hollywood Hotel & Residences and the Metro B Line Hollywood/Vine station, and across from the Pantages Theater.

Partial filmography

Made in UK:

  • The Perfect Lady (1931) as Larry Tindale
  • Self Made Lady (1932) as Bert Taverner
  • The Flying Squad (1932) as Inspector Bradley
  • Taxi to Paradise (1933) as Stephen Randall
  • Lord of the Manor (1933) as Jim Bridge
  • Princess Charming (1934) as Capt. André Launa
  • A Woman Alone (1936) (released in USA as Two Who Dared) as Capt. Nicolai Ilyinski
  • Jericho (1937) as Capt. Mack

Made in USA:

  • Cleopatra (1934) as Marc Antony
  • The Crusades (1935) as King Richard the Lionheart
  • The Last of the Mohicans (1936) as Major Heyward
  • The President's Mystery (1936) (released in UK as One for All) as James Blake
  • Souls at Sea (1937) as Lieutenant Stanley Tarryton
  • Jericho (1937) (also titled Dark Sands) as Capt. Mack
  • Prison Nurse (1938) as Dale
  • Keep Smiling (1938) as Jonathan Rand
  • Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938) as Anton Darvak
  • If I Were King (1938) as Captain of the Watch
  • Five of a Kind (1938) as Dr. Scott Williams
  • Woman Doctor (1939) as Allan Graeme
  • The Arizona Wildcat (1939) as Richard Baldwin
  • Chasing Danger (1939) as Captain Andre Duvac
  • Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) as Mr. Sande
  • Free, Blonde and 21 (1940) as Dr. Hugh Mayberry
  • The Crooked Road (1940) as Bob Trent
  • Earthbound (1940) as Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds
  • Mystery Sea Raider (1940) as Captain Jimmy Madden
  • The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance (1941) as Frank Jordan
  • That Hamilton Woman (aka Lady Hamilton) (1941) as Captain Hardy
  • Scotland Yard (1941) as Dakin Barrolles
  • South of Tahiti (1941) as Captain Larkin
  • The Corsican Brothers (1941) as Count Victor Franchi
  • The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1942) as Dr. Haggard
  • Mrs. Miniver (1942) as Vicar
  • Johnny Doughboy (1942) as Oliver Lawrence
  • Dragnet (1947) as Inspector Geoffrey James
  • Unconquered (1947) as Capt. Steele
  • A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949) as Sir Lancelot
  • Samson and Delilah (1949) (also associate producer) as Ahtur
  • Sunset Boulevard (1950) as Actor on DeMille's 'Samson & Delilah' Set (uncredited)
  • The Miniver Story (1950) as Vicar
  • The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) (also associate producer) as FBI Agent Gregory
  • Scaramouche (1952) as Chevalier de Chabrillaine
  • The Ten Commandments (1956) (also associate producer) as Pentaur
  • The Buccaneer (1958) (producer only)
  • The War Lord (1965) as Frisian Prince
  • The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968) as Rear Admiral Arthur L. Stokes
  • Man in the Wilderness (1971) as Indian Chief
  • Doomsday Machine (1972) as Dr. Christopher Perry
  • Against a Crooked Sky (1975) as Cut Tongue / Narrator
  • Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) as Silent Film Director
  • Pony Express Rider (1976) as Trevor Kingman
  • When Every Day Was the Fourth of July (1978) as Judge Henry J. Wheeler
  • F. I. S. T. (1978) as Win Talbot
  • The Man with Bogart's Face (1978) as Mr. Chevalier
  • Caddyshack (1980) as Bishop Fred Pickering
  • Sweet Sixteen (1983) as Greyfeather (final film role)

References and notes

Bibliography

  • Harry Wilcoxon at Theatricalia
  • Henry Wilcoxon obituary in the New York Times
  • Robert Owen Wilcoxon at Dunkirk – an account of the last day of his life, 29 May 1940, by John Morrison