John Abbott

Acting

Born June 5, 1905, Stepney, London, England, UK

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.

Filmography

• 1998The Commissioner — Commissioner's Laywer
• 1987A Hazard of Hearts — 2nd Gambler
• 1984Quest
• 1983Smorgasbord — Surgeon
• 1982Slapstick of Another Kind — Dr. Frankenstein
• 1981Blunt Instrument — Dr. Durrant
• Edward and Mrs Simpson — Mouth Organist
• 1978Outside Chance — Coroner
• 1976Sherlock Holmes in New York — Heller
• 1975The Black Bird — Duquai
• 1973The Cat Creature — Dr. Reinhart
• Cool Million — Sir Godwin Phipps-Cheston
• The Partners
• Timeslip
• 19692000 Years Later — Gregorius
• Medical Center — Professor MacIntyre
• Paul Temple — Floor Manager
• 1969The Epic That Never Was — Ms. Robson's Host (uncredited)
• Land of the Giants — Prof. Gorak
• 1968Three Guns for Texas — Banker Irwing
• Garrison's Gorillas
• Mannix
• Rango
• 1967The Jungle Book — Akela (voice)
• 1966Gambit — Emile
• Star Trek — Ayleborn
• Get Smart — Mondo
• Laredo
• Lost in Space — Sesmar
• 1965The Greatest Story Ever Told — Aben
• Bewitched
• Flipper
• Profiles in Courage — Senator Wigfall
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — Dr. Ellias Swan
• The Rogues — Sir Egbert
• Wendy and Me
• Burke's Law — Conrad Jaeger
• 1963Who's Minding the Store? — Mr. Orlandos
• The Beverly Hillbillies — Sir Trevor Gielgud Burton-Guiness
• Ichabod and Me
• Maigret — Extra in Film Sequences (uncredited)
• Outlaws
• The Islanders — Harwood Gones
• Thriller — Kriss Milo ('The Mask of Medusa')
• Adventures in Paradise — Murdock
• The Detectives
• The DuPont Show with June Allyson — Professor Brent
• The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
• 77 Sunset Strip — Dr. Felstrand
• 1958Gigi — Manuel
• Peter Gunn
• The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen — The Cat
• The Rifleman
• Have Gun, Will Travel — Winston Ainslee
• 1957Omar Khayyam — Yusuf
• Perry Mason — Prof. Carlos Muntz, Dr. Durwood Tobey
• 1957Public Pigeon No. 1 — Dipso Dale Rutherford
• Telephone Time — Jutchenko
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Mr. Munro
• Gunsmoke — Professor Lute Bone, Eddie
• Matinee Theater
• The 20th Century Fox Hour — Dr. Albert Sawyer
• 1955The Miracle on 34th Street — Dr. Sawyer
• General Electric Theater — Professsor Meyerdal, Nathan
• 1953Rogue's March — Herbert Bielensen
• 1953Sombrero — Don Daniel
• 1953The Steel Lady — Mustafa el Melik
• Cavalcade of America — Col. Barton
• 1952The Merry Widow — Marshovian Ambassador
• 1952Thunder in the East — Nitra Puta
• 1951Crosswinds — Sykes
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Chang
• 1951Navy Bound — Pappa Cerrano
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
• 1951Thunder on the Hill — Abel Harmer
• 1950Sideshow — Pierre
• 1949Madame Bovary — Mayor Tuvache
• Studio One — Travers
• 1948The Woman in White — Frederick Fairlie
• 1947Adventure Island — Huish
• 1947Humoresque — Rozner
• 1947If Winter Comes — Mr. Twyning
• 1947The Web — Charles Murdock
• 1947Time Out of Mind — Max Leiberman
• 1946Anna and the King of Siam — Phya Phrom
• 1946Deception — Bertram Gribble
• 1946One More Tomorrow — Joseph Baronova
• 1946The Bandit of Sherwood Forest — Will Scarlet
• 1946The Notorious Lone Wolf — Lal Bara
• 1945A Thousand and One Nights — Ali
• 1945Honeymoon Ahead — Welles
• 1945Pursuit to Algiers — Jodri
• 1945Saratoga Trunk — Roscoe Bean
• 1945The Crime Doctor's Warning — Jimmy Gordon
• 1945The Power of the Whistler — Kaspar Andropolous
• 1945The Vampire's Ghost — Webb Fallon
• 1944Abroad with Two Yanks — Salesman
• 1944Cry of the Werewolf — Peter Althius
• 1944End of the Road — Chris Martin
• 1944Once Upon a Time — Reporter (uncredited)
• 1944Secrets of Scotland Yard — Mortimer Cope
• 1944Summer Storm — Lunin
• 1944The Falcon in Hollywood — Martin S. Dwyer
• 1944The Mask of Dimitrios — Mr. Pappas
• 1944U-Boat Prisoner — Alfonse Lamont
• 1943Dangerous Blondes — Roland X. Smith (uncredited)
• 1943Hangmen Also Die! — Hostage (scenes deleted)
• 1943Jane Eyre — Mason
• 1943London Blackout Murders — Jack Rawlings
• 1943Mission to Moscow — Grinko (uncredited)
• 1943The Cross of Lorraine — Baker (uncredited)
• 1943The Gorilla Man — Dr. Ferris
• 1943They Got Me Covered — Gregory Vanesou
• 1942Get Hep to Love — Professor Radowsky
• 1942Joan of Paris — English Spy
• 1942Mrs. Miniver — Fred
• 1942Nightmare — Carl aka Charles
• 1942Rubber Racketeers — Dumbo
• 1942This Above All — Joe
• 1941The Shanghai Gesture — Poppy's Escort
• 1940Ten Days in Paris — André
• 1939The Great Commandment — Starving Beggar, Starving Begger (uncredited)
• 1939The Saint in London — Count Stephen Duni
• 1938This Man Is News — Hood with Foreign Accent
• 1937Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel — Flower Seller
• 1937Street of Shadows
• 1937Under Secret Orders — Armand
• 1931The Conquest of the Air — Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier