
John Abbott
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.
Acting (80 movies)

The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965

Street of Shadows
1937

Deception
1946

The Jungle Book
1967

Sherlock Holmes in New York
1976

Humoresque
1947

Mrs. Miniver
1942

The Mask of Dimitrios
1944

Gambit
1966

The Web
1947

Cry of the Werewolf
1944

The Power of the Whistler
1945

The Woman in White
1948

End of the Road
1944

The Falcon in Hollywood
1944

Madame Bovary
1949

Joan of Paris
1942

Crosswinds
1951

Gigi
1958

A Hazard of Hearts
1987

Pursuit to Algiers
1945

Summer Storm
1944

The Gorilla Man
1943

The Vampire's Ghost
1945

The Saint in London
1939

Thunder on the Hill
1951

The Notorious Lone Wolf
1946

Navy Bound
1951

Sideshow
1950

2000 Years Later
1969

If Winter Comes
1947

The Epic That Never Was
1969

The Merry Widow
1952

Secrets of Scotland Yard
1944

Abroad with Two Yanks
1944

Adventure Island
1947

Omar Khayyam
1957

Rogue's March
1953

Honeymoon Ahead
1945

London Blackout Murders
1943

Time Out of Mind
1947

Ten Days in Paris
1940

U-Boat Prisoner
1944

The Crime Doctor's Warning
1945

Rubber Racketeers
1942

Smorgasbord
1983

Anna and the King of Siam
1946

Saratoga Trunk
1945

Hangmen Also Die!
1943

The Steel Lady
1953

Three Guns for Texas
1968

One More Tomorrow
1946

The Cat Creature
1973

They Got Me Covered
1943

The Shanghai Gesture
1941

A Thousand and One Nights
1945

Thunder in the East
1952

Mission to Moscow
1943

The Black Bird
1975

The Conquest of the Air
1931

Who's Minding the Store?
1963

This Above All
1942

Nightmare
1942

Jane Eyre
1943

This Man Is News
1938

The Cross of Lorraine
1943

Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel
1937

The Great Commandment
1939

Sombrero
1953

Dangerous Blondes
1943

Get Hep to Love
1942

Once Upon a Time
1944

Public Pigeon No. 1
1957

Slapstick of Another Kind
1982

Quest
1984

The Miracle on 34th Street
1955

The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
1946

The Commissioner
1998

Under Secret Orders
1937

The Great Commandment
1939
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