Harry Carey Jr.'s wife posted the circumstances of Harry Sr.'s demise on the Internet: "Though reported as such in books, Harry Sr. was never bitten by a black widow spider. He died from a combination of lung cancer and long ongoing emphysema from cigarettes, and pneumonia as a young man. At the Woodlawn Cemetery [Bronx, New York] are Dobe's grandfather [who had the building built], his grandmother, a few other relatives, the stable boy, and Old Joe Harris. Joe Harris was an actor who was in the early plays that Harry did. He and Harry were working on a movie in the late twenties, and Joe said he wanted to get some exercise. Harry had just gotten the Saugus ranch so he told Joe to come up and help pull out tree stumps. Joe came and, like the 'man who came to dinner', stayed for 35 years. He died in our home in Brentwood in the fifties. He sits on the windowsill in an urn next to Harry.".
After many years of struggle, Carey had finally paid off the mortgages and improvements to his 2,200-acre ranch in the San Fernando Valley and was preparing to sell it to director William Beaudine, when the ranch was wiped out by the St. Francis dam collapse of March 12, 1928.
Appeared with his son Harry Carey Jr. in Red River (1948).
Began his acting career in 1909 at the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company in the film Bill Sharkey's Last Game (1909).
Born in New York City, where his father was a judge.
Both Harry and his son Harry Carey Jr. were honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Golden Boot Award from the Motion Picture & Television Fund Foundation.
Father of Harry Carey Jr. and Ellen
Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1976.
No relation to baseball announcer Harry Caray.
The film 3 Godfathers (1948) by John Ford is dedicated to him.