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John Abbott

John Abbott

Birthday: 1905-06-05 | Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1985
Smorgasbord

as    Surgeon

1976
Sherlock Holmes in New York

as    Heller

1973
The Cat Creature

as    Dr. Reinhart

1969
The Epic That Never Was

as    Himself - Ms. Robson's Host

1966
Gambit

as    Emile

1963
Who's Minding the Store?

as    Mr. Orlandos

1958
Gigi

as    Manuel

1955
The Miracle on 34th Street

as    Dr. Sawyer

1953
Sombrero

as    Don Daniel

1953
Rogue's March

as    Herbert Bielensen

1953
The Steel Lady

as    Mustafa el Melik

1953
Thunder in the East

as    Nitra Puta

1952
The Merry Widow

as    Ambassador

1951
Crosswinds

as    Sykes

1950
Sideshow

as    Pierre

1949
Madame Bovary

as    Mayor Tuvache

1948
The Woman in White

as    Frederick Fairlie

1947
The Web

as    Charles Murdock

1946
Deception

as    Bertram Gribble

1946
The Notorious Lone Wolf

as    Lal Bara

1946
Anna and the King of Siam

as    Phya Phrom

1946
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest

as    Will Scarlet

1945
The Crime Doctor's Warning

as    Jimmy Gordon

1945
Pursuit to Algiers

as    Jodri

1945
The Power of the Whistler

as    Kaspar Andropolous

1945
Saratoga Trunk

as    Roscoe Bean

1945
The Vampire's Ghost

as    Webb Fallon

1944
The Falcon in Hollywood

as    Martin S. Dwyer

1944
Cry of the Werewolf

as    Peter Althius (uncredited)