John Abbott
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John Albert Chamberlain Kefford was an English character actor professionally known as John Abbott. His memorable roles include the invalid Frederick Fairlie in the 1948 film The Woman in White and the pacifist Ayelborne in the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy". as well as a Shakespearean actor. In 1934, he began his career in show business when he made his professional stage debut in a revival of Dryden's Aureng-zebe with Sybil Thorndike. He then joined the Old Vic Company and appeared in Shakespearean roles, including Claudius in a production of Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark with Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Alec Guinness. His first Broadway role was that of Count Mancini in He Who Gets Slapped in 1946. He also appeared on Broadway in Monserrat and The Waltz of the Toreadors. He made his film debut in Mademoiselle Docteur in 1937 and went on to act in scores of films in the next 30 years. Among his film credits are Mission to Moscow, Jane Eyre, A Thousand and One Nights, Humoresque, and The Greatest Story Ever Told. His television appearances in that time were even more numerous, beginning with pioneering broadcasts by the BBC before the Second World War. In the early days of the Second World War, Abbott worked at the British Embassy in Stockholm. When the time came to leave, he had to by way of the United States. While in the U.S., he was offered a part in Hollywood in 1941 and ended up living there for the rest of his life. On American television between the 1950s and 1970s, Abbott had roles on a wide variety of series such as Kraft Television Theatre, Studio 57, Gunsmoke, Matinee Theatre, Bonanza, Thriller, Star Trek, Mannix, Iron Horse, and Bewitched. Although he was blacklisted during the Red Scare of the 1950s, a producer who wanted to hire him eventually succeeded in getting the actor removed from the list.In his final years, Abbott taught acting to students free of charge. Abbott died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from natural causes on 24 May 1996 at the age of 90.
Known for
Credits
The Jungle Book (1967)
as Akela (voice)
Jane Eyre (1943)
as Mason
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
as Aben
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
as Fred
Gigi (1958)
as Manuel
Gambit (1966)
as Emile
Madame Bovary (1949)
as Mayor Tuvache
The Merry Widow (1952)
as Marshovian Ambassador
Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
as Phya Phrom
Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
as Hostage (scenes deleted)
Quest (1984)
Actor
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
as Mr. Pappas
Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
as Jodri
A Thousand and One Nights (1945)
as Ali
Who's Minding the Store? (1963)
as Mr. Orlandos
Deception (1946)
as Bertram Gribble
The Web (1947)
as Charles Murdock
Humoresque (1947)
as Rozner
The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
as Poppy's Escort
Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976)
as Heller
This Above All (1942)
as Joe
The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)
as Martin S. Dwyer
A Hazard of Hearts (1987)
as 2nd Gambler
Dangerous Blondes (1943)
as Roland X. Smith (uncredited)
Slapstick of Another Kind (1982)
as Dr. Frankenstein
They Got Me Covered (1943)
as Gregory Vanesou
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946)
as Will Scarlet
Cry of the Werewolf (1944)
as Peter Althius
Thunder on the Hill (1951)
as Abel Harmer
Mission to Moscow (1943)
as Grinko (uncredited)
The Cross of Lorraine (1943)
as Baker (uncredited)
The Cat Creature (1973)
as Dr. Reinhart
Thunder in the East (1952)
as Nitra Puta
Smorgasbord (1983)
as Surgeon
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
as Roscoe Bean
The Steel Lady (1953)
as Mustafa el Melik
One More Tomorrow (1946)
as Joseph Baronova
Summer Storm (1944)
as Lunin
The Commissioner (1998)
as Commissioner's Laywer
Once Upon a Time (1944)
as Reporter (uncredited)
The Conquest of the Air (1931)
as Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier
Sombrero (1953)
as Don Daniel
Omar Khayyam (1957)
as Yusuf
Time Out of Mind (1947)
as Max Leiberman
The Woman in White (1948)
as Frederick Fairlie
Adventure Island (1947)
as Huish
Rogue's March (1953)
as Herbert Bielensen
The Power of the Whistler (1945)
as Kaspar Andropolous
The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946)
as Lal Bara
Navy Bound (1951)
as Pappa Cerrano
Nightmare (1942)
as Carl aka Charles
If Winter Comes (1947)
as Mr. Twyning
The Miracle on 34th Street (1955)
as Dr. Sawyer
The Black Bird (1975)
as Duquai
Crosswinds (1951)
as Sykes
The Saint in London (1939)
as Count Stephen Duni
Joan of Paris (1942)
as English Spy
Three Guns for Texas (1968)
as Banker Irwing
Abroad with Two Yanks (1944)
as Salesman
Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937)
as Flower Seller
U-Boat Prisoner (1944)
as Alfonse Lamont
Ten Days in Paris (1940)
as André
The Gorilla Man (1943)
as Dr. Ferris
London Blackout Murders (1943)
as Jack Rawlings
Get Hep to Love (1942)
as Professor Radowsky
End of the Road (1944)
as Chris Martin
Outside Chance (1978)
as Coroner
The Epic That Never Was (1969)
as Ms. Robson's Host (uncredited)
Blunt Instrument (1981)
as Dr. Durrant
Secrets of Scotland Yard (1944)
as Mortimer Cope
The Vampire's Ghost (1945)
as Webb Fallon
Rubber Racketeers (1942)
as Dumbo
Sideshow (1950)
as Pierre
Under Secret Orders (1937)
as Armand
2000 Years Later (1969)
as Gregorius
Public Pigeon No. 1 (1957)
as Dipso Dale Rutherford
The Crime Doctor's Warning (1945)
as Jimmy Gordon
Street of Shadows (1937)
Actor
Honeymoon Ahead (1945)
as Welles
The Great Commandment (1939)
as Starving Beggar
This Man Is News (1938)
as Hood with Foreign Accent