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John Abbott
Acting
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 i…
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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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BODY OF WORK
John Abbott's Filmography
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The Commissioner
as Commissioner's Laywer
A Hazard of Hearts
as 2nd Gambler
Quest
Smorgasbord
as Surgeon
Slapstick of Another Kind
as Dr. Frankenstein
No Poster
Blunt Instrument
as Dr. Durrant
No Poster
Outside Chance
as Coroner
Sherlock Holmes in New York
as Heller
The Black Bird
as Duquai
The Cat Creature
as Dr. Reinhart
The Epic That Never Was
as Ms. Robson's Host (uncredited)
2000 Years Later
as Gregorius
Three Guns for Texas
as Banker Irwing
The Jungle Book
as Akela (voice)
Gambit
as Emile
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as Aben
Who's Minding the Store?
as Mr. Orlandos
Gigi
as Manuel
Omar Khayyam
as Yusuf
Public Pigeon No. 1
as Dipso Dale Rutherford
The Miracle on 34th Street
as Dr. Sawyer
The Steel Lady
as Mustafa el Melik
Sombrero
as Don Daniel
Rogue's March
as Herbert Bielensen
Thunder in the East
as Nitra Puta
The Merry Widow
as Marshovian Ambassador
Thunder on the Hill
as Abel Harmer
Crosswinds
as Sykes
Navy Bound
as Pappa Cerrano
Sideshow
as Pierre
Madame Bovary
as Mayor Tuvache
The Woman in White
as Frederick Fairlie
If Winter Comes
as Mr. Twyning
Adventure Island
as Huish
The Web
as Charles Murdock
Time Out of Mind
as Max Leiberman
Humoresque
as Rozner
Deception
as Bertram Gribble
Anna and the King of Siam
as Phya Phrom
One More Tomorrow
as Joseph Baronova
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
as Will Scarlet
The Notorious Lone Wolf
as Lal Bara
Saratoga Trunk
as Roscoe Bean
Pursuit to Algiers
as Jodri
The Crime Doctor's Warning
as Jimmy Gordon
A Thousand and One Nights
as Ali
Honeymoon Ahead
as Welles
The Power of the Whistler
as Kaspar Andropolous
The Vampire's Ghost
as Webb Fallon
The Falcon in Hollywood
as Martin S. Dwyer
End of the Road
as Chris Martin
Cry of the Werewolf
as Peter Althius
Abroad with Two Yanks
as Salesman
Secrets of Scotland Yard
as Mortimer Cope
U-Boat Prisoner
as Alfonse Lamont
Summer Storm
as Lunin
Once Upon a Time
as Reporter (uncredited)
The Mask of Dimitrios
as Mr. Pappas
Jane Eyre
as Mason
The Cross of Lorraine
as Baker (uncredited)
Dangerous Blondes
as Roland X. Smith (uncredited)
Mission to Moscow
as Grinko (uncredited)
Hangmen Also Die!
as Hostage (scenes deleted)
They Got Me Covered
as Gregory Vanesou
The Gorilla Man
as Dr. Ferris
London Blackout Murders
as Jack Rawlings
Nightmare
as Carl aka Charles
Get Hep to Love
as Professor Radowsky
Mrs. Miniver
as Fred
Rubber Racketeers
as Dumbo
This Above All
as Joe
Joan of Paris
as English Spy
The Shanghai Gesture
as Poppy's Escort
Ten Days in Paris
as André
The Great Commandment
as Starving Beggar
The Great Commandment
as Starving Begger (uncredited)
The Saint in London
as Count Stephen Duni
This Man Is News
as Hood with Foreign Accent
Under Secret Orders
as Armand
Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel
as Flower Seller
Street of Shadows
The Conquest of the Air
as Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier