Joseph Henabery

Joseph Henabery
Henabery in Exhibitors Herald, 1919
Born	(1888-01-15)January 15, 1888 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	February 18, 1976(1976-02-18) (aged 88) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor screenwriter director
Years active	1916-1948
Known for	Playing Abraham Lincoln in The Birth of a Nation
Spouse	Lillian Nolan (1924-1976) (his death)
Children	2

Joseph Henabery (January 15, 1888 – February 18, 1976) was an American film actor, screenplay writer, and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in D.W. Griffith's controversial 1915 silent historical epic The Birth of a Nation.

Early years

Henabery was born in Omaha and raised in Los Angeles. He began acting as an amateur in California. Before he worked in films, Henabery worked for the San Pedro, Los Angeles, Salt Lake Railroad. When he was 25 years old, he became an extra for Universal Pictures.

Career

Henabery's acting career began in The Joke on Yellentown (1914). From 1914 to 1917 he appeared in seventeen films, including his portrayal of Lincoln in The Birth of a Nation.

Henabery also worked as a second-unit director on Griffith's Intolerance (1916), and supervised the filming of at least one extended sequence that appeared in the film. Henabery also acted as Admiral de Coligny in the Renaissance French portion of the film depicting the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. Throughout the rest of his career, he worked as a director. From the mid-1920s, and after professional disagreements with both Louis B. Mayer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Adolph Zukor at Paramount Pictures, Henabery found employment as a director for smaller Hollywood studios.

In 1931 he joined the Vitaphone studio in New York City, where he directed dozens of short subjects for the next 10 years. Most of them were musicals and comedies, featuring a host of popular singers in 20-minute sketches. Henabery remained with Vitaphone until the New York studio closed in 1940.

Henabery made documentaries and training films as a member of the Army Signal Corps.

As Abraham Lincoln

Although Henabery's impersonation of Lincoln was a masterpiece of facial makeup, the 6'1" (185 cm) Henabery was three inches shorter than the 6'4" (193 cm) Lincoln. Kevin Brownlow's book The Parade's Gone By (1968) contains a photo of Henabery in costume and makeup as Lincoln, seated in a chair with planks placed on the floor under Henabery's feet so that his knees are raised several inches; this effect (with the planks kept off-camera in the movie) made Henabery's legs appear longer than they actually were.

Personal life and death

Henabery and his wife, Lilian, had a daughter and a son. Henabery died on February 18, 1976, aged 88, at the Motion Picture Country House in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Director

Title	Year	Notes
Say! Young Fellow	1918	director and scenarist
Mr. Fix-It	1918	co-screenplay
Life of the Party	1920
Love Madness	1920
Brewster's Millions	1921
Traveling Salesman	1921
Don't Call Me Little Girl	1921
Moonlight and Honeysuckle	1921
Her Winning Way	1921
Making a Man	1922
The Stranger	1924
A Sainted Devil	1924
Cobra	1925
Meet the Prince	1926
Play Safe	1927
Sailors' Wives	1928
United States Smith	1928
Red Hot Speed	1929
The Quitter	1929
Double or Nothing	1936	Short

Actor

The Race War (1915) with Bessie Buskirk

Title	Year	Role	Notes
The Birth of a Nation	1915	Abraham Lincoln
The Spell of the Poppy	1915	John Hale
The Penitentes	1915	Minor Role	Uncredited
Intolerance	1916	L'amiral de Coligny / Defendant	(final film role)

External links

• Joseph Henabery at IMDb