Charlotte Virginia Henry (March 3, 1914 – April 11, 1980) was an American actress who is best remembered for her roles in ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' (1933) and '' Babes in Toyland'' (1934). She also starred in the Frank Buck serial '' Jungle Menace'' (1937).

Early years

Henry was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, to Robert Emmett Henry and Charlotte Ann Sayers Henry. She began modelling at a very young age, and was always fascinated by the theatre. At age 14, she was cast in an important role in ''Courage'', a hit Broadway play, in 1928.

Hollywood

The following year, Henry's mother brought her to Hollywood. She repeated her part in the movie version of ''Courage'' (1930) and enrolled at Lawlors, the school for professional children. Some of her classmates were Jackie Cooper, Frankie Darro,

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

, Anita Louise, and

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million, and for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she p ...

. Junior Durkin, who had worked with her in ''Courage'', suggested Henry for a play in which he was appearing at the Pasadena Playhouse. By then, she had appeared in two more feature films: ''

Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...

'' in 1931 and '' Lena Rivers'' in 1932. ''

'' garnered unanimous praise for Henry. In 1933, she appeared in the film '' Man Hunt'' as Josie Woodward.

''Jungle Menace''

In his autobiography, director Harry L. Fraser described filming the scene in '' Jungle Menace'' during which a

boa constrictor The boa constrictor (scientific name also ''Boa constrictor''), also known as the common boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the Family (b ...

attacks the heroine Dorothy (Henry). The villain has tied Dorothy hand and foot and she thrashes about wildly, terrified when she suddenly sees the huge snake:

Stage

Henry said that her success as a child actress left her "typed, definitely typed" and cited the difficulty of proving "that I am quite capable of playing serious adult parts." The resulting lack of work in films led her to act on stage in production of the

Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal ...

Later life and death

Henry retired from the movies and moved from Hollywood to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, where she ran an employment agency with her mother. She then became executive secretary for 15 years to the Roman Catholic Bishop of San Diego, Charles F. Buddy. She was married to Dr. James Dempsey and continued with her acting, appearing in several stage productions at the San Diego Old Globe Theatre. Henry died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

at age 66 in 1980. The ''

San Diego Union ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' newspaper carried the obituary and noted that she was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.Biography
, Charlotte Henry website, tiscali.co.uk; accessed July 9, 2015.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Charlotte 1914 births 1980 deaths Actresses from San Diego American child actresses American film actresses American stage actresses Deaths from cancer in California Actresses from Brooklyn 20th-century American actresses