Charlotte Henry

Henry was born in Brooklyn, New York, 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.[2]

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, Anita Louise, and Betty Grable. 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 in 1931 and Lena Rivers in 1932.

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

Henry with Frank Buck and Clarence Muse in Jungle Menace (1937)

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

The snake was in no hurry. Slowly he slithered across the girl's body, while she screamed and struggled. He turned, looking for a spot to slip under her to make his first wrap. I motioned to the reptile crew to get ready, and a split-second later gave them the signal to move in. But now, the maddened snake fought them and did its best to coil around one of the men. Before that happened, however, I had cut, and we had a good cliff-hanger with our terror-stricken heroine to close the episode.[3]

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."[4] The resulting lack of work in films led her to act on stage in production of the Federal Theatre Project.[4]

Henry retired from the movies and moved from Hollywood to San Diego, 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 at age 66 in 1980. The San Diego Union newspaper carried the obituary and noted that she was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.[5]

• Charlotte Henry at IMDb
• Charlotte Henry at the Internet Broadway Database
• Video: Frank Buck saves Dorothy (Charlotte Henry) from a snake in Jungle Menace on YouTube
• Charlotte Henry at Find a Grave