Dell Henderson

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia George Delbert Dell Henderson July 5 1877 December 2 1956 was a CanadianAmerican actor director and writer He began his long and prolific film career in the early days of silent film Born in the Southwestern Ontario city of St Thomas Dell Henderson started his acting career on the stage but appeared in his first movie Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court already in 1908 Henderson was a frequent associate of film pioneer DW Griffith since 1909 and appeared in numerous of his early shorts in Hollywood He also acted on a less prolific basis in the movies of producer Mack Sennett and his Keystone Studios In addition to acting Henderson also directed nearly 200 silent films between 1911 and 1928 Most of those films are forgotten or lost but he also directed movies with silent stars like Harry Carey and Roscoe Arbuckle Henderson also worked as a writer on numerous screenplays After retiring from directing in 1927 Henderson turned to acting fulltime and played important supporting roles in King Vidors The Crowd 1928 and as General Marmaduke Pepper in Show People 1928 The advent of sound film damaged his acting career and he often had to play smaller roles In the 1930s the comedic character actor appeared on several occasions as a comic foil for such comedians as The Three Stooges W C Fields and Laurel and Hardy He often played somewhat pompous figures like judges businessmen detectives or mayors Modern audiences will remember Henderson as annoyed hospital president Dr Graves in The Three Stooges film Men in Black and the putupon chaperone in the Little Rascals film ChooChoo He also appeared as a Night Court Judge in Laurel and Hardys Our Relations 1936 and as a friendly Car salesman in Leo McCareys drama Make Way for Tomorrow 1937 Henderson ended his film career after numerous small roles in 1950 Henderson died of a heart attack in Hollywood at the age of 79 He was married with actress Florence Lee until his death they made several silent films together