90
Age
82
Movies
47
TV Shows
7.2
Rating
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.
90
Died at
82
Movies
47
TV Shows
7.2
Avg Rating
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.
1957
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.
Gender
Male
Birthday
June 5, 1905
Died
May 24, 1996
Birthplace
Stepney, London, England, UK
Also Known As
The Jungle Book
1967
Jane Eyre
1943
The Merry Widow
1952
A Thousand and One Nights
1945
The Great Commandment
1939
The Great Commandment
1939
The Shanghai Gesture
1941
The Commissioner
1998
Outside Chance
1978
Honeymoon Ahead
1945
Once Upon a Time
1944
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
1946
Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel
1937
Madame Bovary
1949
The Woman in White
1948
Three Guns for Texas
1968
End of the Road
1944
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
The Saint in London
1939
The Crime Doctor's Warning
1945
+ 62 more movies
Star Trek
1966
Perry Mason
1957
Perry Mason
1957
Bewitched
1964
The Rifleman
1958
Mannix
1967
Matinee Theater
1955
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
Get Smart
1965
Studio One
1948
Gunsmoke
1955
Gunsmoke
1955
Lost in Space
1965
Burke's Law
1963
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964
Medical Center
1969
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
1959
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
+ 27 more TV shows