John Abbott
John Abbott
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
Filmography of John Abbott:
- The Greatest Story Ever Told with Max vonSydow , Dorothy McGuire , Robert Loggia , Claude Rains , Jose Ferrer , Charlton Heston , Rodolpho Acosta , Michael Ansara , Donald Pleasence , David McCallum , Roddy McDowall , Gary Raymond , Burt Brinckerhoff , Jamie Farr , David Hedison , Telly Savalas , Angela Lansbury , Paul Stewart , Harold J. Stone , Frank Silvera , Janet Margolin , Michael Tolan , Carroll Baker , Pat Boone , Sal Mineo , Van Heflin , Ed Wynn , Shelley Winters , John Lupton , Abraham Sofaer , Martin Landau , Nehemiah Persoff , Joseph Schildkraut , Victor Buono , John Wayne , Sidney Poitier , Richard Conte , Frank DeKova , Russell Johnson , Mickey Simpson , Richard Bakalyan , Robert Blake
- Jane Eyre with Orson Welles , Joan Fontaine , Margaret O'Brien , Peggy Ann Garner , John Sutton , Henry Daniell , Agnes Moorehead , Sara Allgood , Elizabeth Taylor , Aubrey Mather , Edith Barrett , Hillary Brooke , Ethel Griffies , Mae Marsh , Eily Malyon , Charles Irwin , Billy Bevan , David Clyde , Charles Coleman , Alec Craig , Mary Forbes , Brandon Hurst , Adele Jergens , Erskine Sanford , Ivan Simpson , Frederic Worlock , Colin Campbell
- Once Upon a Time with Cary Grant , Janet Blair , James Gleason , Ted Donaldson , Howard Freeman , William Demarest , Art Baker , Paul Stanton , Eddie Acuff , Iris Adrian , Murray Alper , Henry Armetta , Charles Arnt , Lloyd Bridges , Billy Bevan , Lane R. Chandler , Cliff Clark , Charles Coleman , Pedro DeCordoba , Vernon Dent , John Dilson , Jeff Donnell , George Eldredge , Fern Emmett , James Flavin , Edward Gargan , Vaughan Glaser , William Gould , Harrison Greene , Frank S. Hagney , Esther Howard , Nolan Leary , Torben Meyer , Ida Moore , Jack Norton , Garry Owen , Emory Parnell , Barbara Pepper , Cyril Ring , Christian Rub , Sid Saylor , Harry Strang , Ray Teal , John Tyrrell , Emmett Vogan , Ruth Warren , Pierre Watkin , Cecil Weston , Isabel Withers , Ian Wolfe , William Austin , Mary Field , John Kelly , Tom Dugan , Tom Kennedy
- Mrs. Miniver with Greer Garson , Walter Pidgeon , Teresa Wright , May Whitty , Reginald Owen , Henry Travers , Henry Wilcoxon , Richard Ney , Tom Conway , Billy Bevan , Walter Byron , David Clyde , Alec Craig , Helmut Dantine , Herbert Evans , Forrester Harvey , Charles Irwin , Colin Kenny , Peter Lawford , Miles Mander , Aubrey Mather , Ottola Nesmith , Gil Perkins , Paul Scardon , David Thursby , Rhys Williams , Ian Wolfe , Colin Campbell , Mary Field , Henry King , Arthur Wimperis
John Abbott Trivia
