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John Abbott

 
Actor: John Abbott
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jun 05, 1905 in London, England
  • Died: May 24, 1996 in Los Angeles, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s-'70s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Anna and the King of Siam, Humoresque, Deception
  • First Major Screen Credit: London Blackout Murders (1942)

Biography

While studying art in his native London, John Abbott relaxed between classes by watching rehearsals of a student play. When one of the actors fell ill, Abbott was invited to replace him, and at that point he switched majors. He became a professional actor in 1934, joined the Old Vic in 1936, and made his first film, Mademoiselle Docteur, in 1937; later that same year he made his first BBC television appearance. Turned down for military service during World War II, Abbott joined the Foreign Office, working as a decoder in the British Embassy in Stockholm and working in similar capacities in Russia and Canada. In 1941, he took a vacation in New York, leaving his resumé and photo with various producers, just in case something turned up. On the very last day of his vacation, he was hired for a small role in Josef von Sternberg's The Shanghai Gesture (1941), thus launching the Hollywood phase of his career. Generally cast as a fussy eccentric, Abbott was seen at his very best as whining hypochondriac Frederick Fairlie in Warner Bros.' The Woman in White (1948). He also received at least one bona fide starring role in the 1943 quickie London Blackout Murders. In the late '40s, Abbott began amassing some impressive Broadway credits in such productions as He Who Gets Slapped, Monserrat, and Waltz of the Toreadors. He also appeared in 1950's Auto da Fe, which was specifically written for him by Tennessee Williams. Though still active in films and TV into the 1980s (he played Dr. Frankenstein in the ill-fated 1984 cinemadaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick), John Abbott spent most of his twilight years as an acting teacher. Abbott died in a Los Angeles hospital on May 24, 1996, after a prolonged illness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: John Abbott (actor, born 1905)
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
For other persons named John Abbott, see John Abbott (disambiguation).
John Abbott
Born John Kefford
5 June 1905(1905-06-05)
London, England
Died 24 May 1996 (aged 90)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation Actor
Years active 1936–1984

John Kefford (5 June 1905, London, England – 24 May 1996, Los Angeles, California) was an English character actor professionally known as John Abbott. His memorable roles include the invalid Frederick Fairlie in the 1948 movie The Woman in White and the pacifist Ayelborne in the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy".

Contents

Career

Abbott performed with some of England's most famous actors and was well-known as a Shakespearean actor. He never auditioned for a part[citation needed], but was always asked to play a role.

In the early days of World War II, Abbott worked at the British consulate in Moscow. When the time came to leave, he had to go by way of the United States. While in the US, he was offered a part in Hollywood in 1941[1] and ended up living there for the rest of his life.

He continued to find work, although he was blacklisted during the Red Scare of the 1950s. Eventually, a producer, wanting to hire him, was able to get his listing removed.[2]

In his final years, Abbott taught acting students for free and inspired some of Hollywood's most famous young actors of that time.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ A Who's Who of British Film Actors, by Scott Palmer, The Scarecrow Press, 1981
  2. ^ Abbott had no idea why he was blacklisted until around 1990 while in the company of this writer[who?], when he was watching a documentary on Dalton Trumbo, discovered that the author had used Abbott's name as an alias.

External links


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