Name
John Abbott
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1905-06-05
Deathday
1996-05-24 (91 years old)
Place of Birth
Stepney, London, England, UK
Biography
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
7.3
The boy Mowgli makes his way to the man-village with Bagheera, the wise panther. Along the...
6.4
From his birth in Bethlehem to his death and eventual resurrection, the life of Jesus Chri...
7.078
Middle-class housewife Kay Miniver deals with petty problems. She and her husband Clem wat...
6.8
In 19th-century France, doctor's wife Emma Bovary seeks to escape her dull provincial life...
6.8
Norman Phiffer, a proud man in a humble life, doesn't know that his girlfriend, Barbara, i...
6.2
In 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King....
6.1
On the run after being found sweet-talking the Sultan's daughter, Aladdin comes upon a lam...
- 1965 The Greatest Story Ever Told as Aben
- 1937 Street of Shadows
- 1946 Deception as Bertram Gribble
- 1967 The Jungle Book as Akela (voice)
- 1976 Sherlock Holmes in New York as Heller
- 1947 Humoresque as Rozner
- 1942 Mrs. Miniver as Fred
- 1966 Gambit as Emile
- 1944 The Mask of Dimitrios as Mr. Pappas
- 1947 The Web as Charles Murdock
- 1944 Cry of the Werewolf as Peter Althius
- 1978 Outside Chance as Coroner
- 1945 The Power of the Whistler as Kaspar Andropolous
- 1948 The Woman in White as Frederick Fairlie
- 1944 End of the Road as Chris Martin
- 1944 The Falcon in Hollywood as Martin S. Dwyer
- 1949 Madame Bovary as Mayor Tuvache
- 1942 Joan of Paris as English Spy
- 1951 Crosswinds as Sykes
- 1958 Gigi as Manuel
- 1987 A Hazard of Hearts as 2nd Gambler
- 1945 Pursuit to Algiers as Jodri
- 1944 Summer Storm as Lunin
- 1943 The Gorilla Man as Dr. Ferris
- 1945 The Vampire's Ghost as Webb Fallon
- 1939 The Saint in London as Count Stephen Duni
- 1951 Thunder on the Hill as Abel Harmer
- 1946 The Notorious Lone Wolf as Lal Bara
- 1951 Navy Bound as Pappa Cerrano
- 1950 Sideshow as Pierre
- 1969 2000 Years Later as Gregorius
- 1947 If Winter Comes as Mr. Twyning
- 1969 The Epic That Never Was as Ms. Robson's Host (uncredited)
- 1952 The Merry Widow as Marshovian Ambassador
- 1944 Secrets of Scotland Yard as Mortimer Cope
- 1944 Abroad with Two Yanks as Salesman
- 1947 Adventure Island as Huish
- 1957 Omar Khayyam as Yusuf
- 1953 Rogue's March as Herbert Bielensen
- 1943 London Blackout Murders as Jack Rawlings
- 1945 Honeymoon Ahead as Welles
- 1947 Time Out of Mind as Max Leiberman
- 1940 Ten Days in Paris as André
- 1944 U-Boat Prisoner as Alfonse Lamont
- 1945 The Crime Doctor's Warning as Jimmy Gordon
- 1942 Rubber Racketeers as Dumbo
- 1983 Smorgasbord as Surgeon
- 1946 Anna and the King of Siam as Phya Phrom
- 1945 Saratoga Trunk as Roscoe Bean
- 1943 Hangmen Also Die! as Hostage (scenes deleted)
- 1953 The Steel Lady as Mustafa el Melik
- 1968 Three Guns for Texas as Banker Irwing
- 1946 One More Tomorrow as Joseph Baronova
- 1973 The Cat Creature as Dr. Reinhart
- 1942 This Above All as Joe
- 1937 Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel as Flower Seller
- 1939 The Great Commandment as Starving Beggar
- 1943 The Cross of Lorraine as Baker (uncredited)
- 1963 Who's Minding the Store? as Mr. Orlandos
- 1982 Slapstick of Another Kind as Dr. Frankenstein
- 1943 Jane Eyre as Mason
- 1942 Nightmare as Carl aka Charles
- 1943 They Got Me Covered as Gregory Vanesou
- 1952 Thunder in the East as Nitra Puta
- 1941 The Shanghai Gesture as Poppy's Escort
- 1942 Get Hep to Love as Professor Radowsky
- 1945 A Thousand and One Nights as Ali
- 1943 Dangerous Blondes as Roland X. Smith (uncredited)
- 1957 Public Pigeon No. 1 as Dipso Dale Rutherford
- 1944 Once Upon a Time as Reporter (uncredited)
- 1938 This Man Is News as Hood with Foreign Accent
- 1953 Sombrero as Don Daniel
- 1931 The Conquest of the Air as Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier
- 1943 Mission to Moscow as Grinko (uncredited)
- 1975 The Black Bird as Duquai
- 1984 Quest
- 1955 The Miracle on 34th Street as Dr. Sawyer
- 1946 The Bandit of Sherwood Forest as Will Scarlet
- 1998 The Commissioner as Commissioner's Laywer
- 1937 Under Secret Orders as Armand
- 1981 Blunt Instrument as Dr. Durrant
- 1939 The Great Commandment as Starving Begger (uncredited)
- 1967 Garrison's Gorillas ( 1 episode )
- 1959 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis ( 1 episode )
- 1966 Star Trek ( 1 episode ) as Ayleborn
- 1963 Burke's Law ( 1 episode ) as Conrad Jaeger
- 1962 The Beverly Hillbillies ( 0 episode )
- 1968 Land of the Giants ( 1 episode ) as Prof. Gorak
- 1967 Mannix ( 1 episode )
- 1964 Flipper ( 1 episode )
- 1965 Lost in Space ( 1 episode ) as Sesmar
- 1955 Gunsmoke ( 1 episode ) as Professor Lute Bone
- 1957 Perry Mason ( 1 episode ) as Prof. Carlos Muntz
- 1948 Studio One ( 1 episode ) as Travers
- 1964 Bewitched ( 1 episode )
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Professsor Meyerdal
- 1960 The Islanders ( 1 episode ) as Harwood Gones
- 1965 Get Smart ( 1 episode ) as Mondo
- 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame ( 1 episode ) as Chang
- 1965 Laredo ( 1 episode )
- 1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents ( 1 episode ) as Mr. Munro
- 1961 Ichabod and Me ( 1 episode )
- 1960 Outlaws ( 1 episode )
- 1971 The Partners ( 1 episode )
- 1978 Edward and Mrs Simpson ( 1 episode ) as Mouth Organist
- 1960 Thriller ( 1 episode ) as Kriss Milo ('The Mask of Medusa')
- 1958 Peter Gunn ( 1 episode )
- 1959 Adventures in Paradise ( 1 episode ) as Murdock
- 1964 Profiles in Courage ( 1 episode ) as Senator Wigfall
- 1955 Matinee Theater ( 5 episodes )
- 1964 Wendy and Me ( 1 episode )
- 1970 Timeslip ( 1 episode )
- 1958 The Rifleman ( 1 episode )
- 1959 The Detectives ( 1 episode )
- 1952 Cavalcade of America ( 1 episode ) as Col. Barton
- 1967 Rango ( 1 episode )
- 1964 The Rogues ( 1 episode ) as Sir Egbert
- 1959 The DuPont Show with June Allyson ( 1 episode ) as Professor Brent
- 1955 Gunsmoke ( 1 episode ) as Eddie
- 1962 The Beverly Hillbillies ( 1 episode ) as Sir Trevor Gielgud Burton-Guiness
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Nathan
- 1957 Perry Mason ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Durwood Tobey
- 1958 The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen ( 1 episode ) as The Cat
- 1969 Medical Center ( 1 episode ) as Professor MacIntyre
- 1972 Cool Million ( 1 episode ) as Sir Godwin Phipps-Cheston
- 1964 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Ellias Swan
- 1957 Have Gun, Will Travel ( 1 episode ) as Winston Ainslee
- 1955 The 20th Century Fox Hour ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Albert Sawyer
- 1951 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars ( 1 episode )
- 1956 Telephone Time ( 1 episode ) as Jutchenko
- 1958 77 Sunset Strip ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Felstrand
- 1969 Paul Temple ( 1 episode ) as Floor Manager
- 1960 Maigret ( 1 episode ) as Extra in Film Sequences (uncredited)
