John Abbott
Acting • Born 1905-06-05 – Died 1996-05-24
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.
Filmography
129 credits
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Movie • 1965
Aben
Street of Shadows
Movie • 1937
Deception
Movie • 1946
Bertram Gribble
The Jungle Book
Movie • 1967
Akela (voice)
Sherlock Holmes in New York
Movie • 1976
Heller
Humoresque
Movie • 1947
Rozner
Mrs. Miniver
Movie • 1942
Fred
The Mask of Dimitrios
Movie • 1944
Mr. Pappas
Gambit
Movie • 1966
Emile
The Web
Movie • 1947
Charles Murdock
Cry of the Werewolf
Movie • 1944
Peter Althius
Outside Chance
Movie • 1978
Coroner
The Power of the Whistler
Movie • 1945
Kaspar Andropolous
The Woman in White
Movie • 1948
Frederick Fairlie
End of the Road
Movie • 1944
Chris Martin
The Falcon in Hollywood
Movie • 1944
Martin S. Dwyer
Madame Bovary
Movie • 1949
Mayor Tuvache
Joan of Paris
Movie • 1942
English Spy
Crosswinds
Movie • 1951
Sykes
Gigi
Movie • 1958
Manuel
A Hazard of Hearts
Movie • 1987
2nd Gambler
Pursuit to Algiers
Movie • 1945
Jodri
Summer Storm
Movie • 1944
Lunin
The Gorilla Man
Movie • 1943
Dr. Ferris
The Vampire's Ghost
Movie • 1945
Webb Fallon
The Saint in London
Movie • 1939
Count Stephen Duni
Thunder on the Hill
Movie • 1951
Abel Harmer
The Notorious Lone Wolf
Movie • 1946
Lal Bara
Navy Bound
Movie • 1951
Pappa Cerrano
Sideshow
Movie • 1950
Pierre
2000 Years Later
Movie • 1969
Gregorius
If Winter Comes
Movie • 1947
Mr. Twyning
The Epic That Never Was
Movie • 1969
Himself – Ms. Robson's Host (uncredited)
The Merry Widow
Movie • 1952
Marshovian Ambassador
Secrets of Scotland Yard
Movie • 1944
Mortimer Cope
Abroad with Two Yanks
Movie • 1944
Salesman
Adventure Island
Movie • 1947
Huish
Omar Khayyam
Movie • 1957
Yusuf
Rogue's March
Movie • 1953
Herbert Bielensen
Honeymoon Ahead
Movie • 1945
Welles
London Blackout Murders
Movie • 1943
Jack Rawlings
Time Out of Mind
Movie • 1947
Max Leiberman
Ten Days in Paris
Movie • 1940
André
U-Boat Prisoner
Movie • 1944
Alfonse Lamont
The Crime Doctor's Warning
Movie • 1945
Jimmy Gordon
Rubber Racketeers
Movie • 1942
Dumbo
Smorgasbord
Movie • 1983
Surgeon
Anna and the King of Siam
Movie • 1946
Phya Phrom
Saratoga Trunk
Movie • 1945
Roscoe Bean
Hangmen Also Die!
Movie • 1943
Hostage (scenes deleted)
The Steel Lady
Movie • 1953
Mustafa el Melik
Three Guns for Texas
Movie • 1968
Banker Irwing
One More Tomorrow
Movie • 1946
Joseph Baronova
The Cat Creature
Movie • 1973
Dr. Reinhart
They Got Me Covered
Movie • 1943
Gregory Vanesou
The Shanghai Gesture
Movie • 1941
Poppy's Escort
A Thousand and One Nights
Movie • 1945
Ali
Thunder in the East
Movie • 1952
Nitra Puta
Mission to Moscow
Movie • 1943
Grinko (uncredited)
The Black Bird
Movie • 1975
Duquai
The Conquest of the Air
Movie • 1931
Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier
Who's Minding the Store?
Movie • 1963
Mr. Orlandos
This Above All
Movie • 1942
Joe
Nightmare
Movie • 1942
Carl aka Charles
Jane Eyre
Movie • 1943
Mason
This Man Is News
Movie • 1938
Hood with Foreign Accent
The Cross of Lorraine
Movie • 1943
Baker (uncredited)
Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Movie • 1937
Flower Seller
The Great Commandment
Movie • 1939
Starving Beggar
Sombrero
Movie • 1953
Don Daniel
Dangerous Blondes
Movie • 1943
Roland X. Smith (uncredited)
Get Hep to Love
Movie • 1942
Professor Radowsky
Once Upon a Time
Movie • 1944
Reporter (uncredited)
Public Pigeon No. 1
Movie • 1957
Dipso Dale Rutherford
Slapstick of Another Kind
Movie • 1982
Dr. Frankenstein
Quest
Movie • 1984
The Miracle on 34th Street
Movie • 1955
Dr. Sawyer
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
Movie • 1946
Will Scarlet
The Commissioner
Movie • 1998
Commissioner's Laywer
Under Secret Orders
Movie • 1937
Armand
Blunt Instrument
Movie • 1981
Dr. Durrant
The Great Commandment
Movie • 1939
Starving Begger (uncredited)
Garrison's Gorillas
TV • 1967
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
TV • 1959
Star Trek
TV • 1966
Ayleborn
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Conrad Jaeger
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV • 1962
Land of the Giants
TV • 1968
Prof. Gorak
Mannix
TV • 1967
Flipper
TV • 1964
Lost in Space
TV • 1965
Sesmar
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Professor Lute Bone
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Prof. Carlos Muntz
Studio One
TV • 1948
Travers
Bewitched
TV • 1964
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Professsor Meyerdal
The Islanders
TV • 1960
Harwood Gones
Get Smart
TV • 1965
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Chang
Laredo
TV • 1965
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Mr. Munro
Ichabod and Me
TV • 1961
Outlaws
TV • 1960
The Partners
TV • 1971
Edward and Mrs Simpson
TV • 1978
Mouth Organist
Thriller
TV • 1960
Kriss Milo ('The Mask of Medusa')
Peter Gunn
TV • 1958
Adventures in Paradise
TV • 1959
Murdock
Profiles in Courage
TV • 1964
Senator Wigfall
Matinee Theater
TV • 1955
Wendy and Me
TV • 1964
Timeslip
TV • 1970
The Rifleman
TV • 1958
The Detectives
TV • 1959
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Col. Barton
Rango
TV • 1967
The Rogues
TV • 1964
Sir Egbert
Telephone Time
TV • 1956
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV • 1959
Professor Brent
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Eddie
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV • 1962
Sir Trevor Gielgud Burton-Guiness
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Nathan
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Dr. Durwood Tobey
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen
TV • 1958
The Cat
Medical Center
TV • 1969
Professor MacIntyre
Cool Million
TV • 1972
Sir Godwin Phipps-Cheston
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
TV • 1964
Dr. Ellias Swan
Have Gun, Will Travel
TV • 1957
Winston Ainslee
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV • 1955
Dr. Albert Sawyer