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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 5, 1905
Died
May 24, 1996
Place of Birth
Stepney, London, England, UK
Also Known As
- John Lloyd Abbott
- John Albert Chamberlain Kefford
John Abbott
1.0 Popularity
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.
Known For
5.7
Commissioner's Laywer
The Commissioner
1998
8.1
2nd Gambler
A Hazard of Hearts
1987
6.6
Quest
1984
5.8
Surgeon
Smorgasbord
1983
2.7
Dr. Frankenstein
Slapstick of Another Kind
1982
🎬
0.0
Dr. Durrant
Blunt Instrument
1981
🎬
2.0
Coroner
Outside Chance
1978
6.2
Mouth Organist
Edward and Mrs Simpson
1978
5.8
Heller
Sherlock Holmes in New York
1976
4.6
Duquai
The Black Bird
1975
Credits
The Commissioner
as Commissioner's Laywer
1998
5.7
A Hazard of Hearts
as 2nd Gambler
1987
8.1
Quest
1984
6.6
Smorgasbord
as Surgeon
1983
5.8
Slapstick of Another Kind
as Dr. Frankenstein
1982
2.7
🎬
Blunt Instrument
as Dr. Durrant
1981
0.0
🎬
Outside Chance
as Coroner
1978
2.0
Edward and Mrs Simpson
as Mouth Organist
1978
6.2
Sherlock Holmes in New York
as Heller
1976
5.8
The Black Bird
as Duquai
1975
4.6
The Cat Creature
as Dr. Reinhart
1973
5.0
Cool Million
as Sir Godwin Phipps-Cheston
1972
5.0
🎬
The Partners
1971
5.0
Timeslip
1970
7.4
Medical Center
as Professor MacIntyre
1969
6.1
The Epic That Never Was
as Himself – Ms. Robson's Host (uncredited)
1969
6.7
2000 Years Later
as Gregorius
1969
6.0
Three Guns for Texas
as Banker Irwing
1968
5.0
Land of the Giants
as Prof. Gorak
1968
6.7
The Jungle Book
as Akela (voice)
1967
7.3
Mannix
1967
6.7
Garrison's Gorillas
1967
7.8
Rango
1967
0.0
Gambit
as Emile
1966
7.0
Star Trek
as Ayleborn
1966
8.0
Get Smart
1965
7.9
Laredo
1965
6.3
Lost in Space
as Sesmar
1965
7.1
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as Aben
1965
6.4
🎬
Profiles in Courage
as Senator Wigfall
1964
5.0
Flipper
1964
6.1
Bewitched
1964
7.9
Wendy and Me
1964
0.0
The Rogues
as Sir Egbert
1964
7.2
Who's Minding the Store?
as Mr. Orlandos
1963
6.9
Burke's Law
as Conrad Jaeger
1963
6.0
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
6.8
The Beverly Hillbillies
as Sir Trevor Gielgud Burton-Guiness
1962
6.8
Ichabod and Me
1961
5.0
The Islanders
as Harwood Gones
1960
8.0
Outlaws
1960
6.2
Thriller
as Kriss Milo ('The Mask of Medusa')
1960
6.4
The Detectives
1959
5.6
Adventures in Paradise
as Murdock
1959
5.7
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
1959
5.8
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
as Professor Brent
1959
6.3
The Rifleman
1958
7.0
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen
as The Cat
1958
0.0
Peter Gunn
1958
6.5
Gigi
as Manuel
1958
6.2
Perry Mason
as Prof. Carlos Muntz
1957
7.7
Perry Mason
as Dr. Durwood Tobey
1957
7.7
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
7.4
Omar Khayyam
as Yusuf
1957
5.0
Public Pigeon No. 1
as Dipso Dale Rutherford
1957
6.0
Telephone Time
1956
6.3
The Miracle on 34th Street
as Dr. Sawyer
1955
5.2
Matinee Theater
1955
5.0
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
5.4
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Mr. Munro
1955
7.7
Gunsmoke
as Professor Lute Bone
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Eddie
1955
6.6
The Steel Lady
as Mustafa el Melik
1953
6.4
Sombrero
as Don Daniel
1953
4.2
Rogue's March
as Herbert Bielensen
1953
5.8
General Electric Theater
as Professsor Meyerdal
1953
6.3
General Electric Theater
as Nathan
1953
6.3
Thunder in the East
as Nitra Puta
1952
5.4
Cavalcade of America
as Col. Barton
1952
3.5
The Merry Widow
as Marshovian Ambassador
1952
5.8
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Chang
1951
8.6
Thunder on the Hill
as Abel Harmer
1951
6.5
Crosswinds
as Sykes
1951
5.9
Navy Bound
as Pappa Cerrano
1951
6.0
Sideshow
as Pierre
1950
0.0
Madame Bovary
as Mayor Tuvache
1949
6.8
Studio One
as Travers
1948
5.0
The Woman in White
as Frederick Fairlie
1948
5.5
If Winter Comes
as Mr. Twyning
1947
6.6
Adventure Island
as Huish
1947
4.7
The Web
as Charles Murdock
1947
7.0
Time Out of Mind
as Max Leiberman
1947
5.3
Humoresque
as Rozner
1947
7.1
Deception
as Bertram Gribble
1946
6.5
Anna and the King of Siam
as Phya Phrom
1946
6.1
One More Tomorrow
as Joseph Baronova
1946
5.5
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest
as Will Scarlet
1946
4.9
The Notorious Lone Wolf
as Lal Bara
1946
5.5
Saratoga Trunk
as Roscoe Bean
1945
5.7
Pursuit to Algiers
as Jodri
1945
6.8
The Crime Doctor's Warning
as Jimmy Gordon
1945
5.5
A Thousand and One Nights
as Ali
1945
5.7
Honeymoon Ahead
as Welles
1945
6.0
The Power of the Whistler
as Kaspar Andropolous
1945
5.8
The Vampire's Ghost
as Webb Fallon
1945
5.2
The Falcon in Hollywood
as Martin S. Dwyer
1944
6.0
End of the Road
as Chris Martin
1944
5.2
Cry of the Werewolf
as Peter Althius (uncredited)
1944
4.6
Abroad with Two Yanks
as Salesman
1944
6.0
Secrets of Scotland Yard
as Mortimer Cope
1944
5.3
U-Boat Prisoner
as Alfonse Lamont
1944
6.0
Summer Storm
as Lunin
1944
5.3
Once Upon a Time
as Reporter (uncredited)
1944
5.8
The Mask of Dimitrios
as Mr. Pappas
1944
7.0
Jane Eyre
as Mason
1943
6.9
The Cross of Lorraine
as Baker
1943
6.2
Dangerous Blondes
as Roland X. Smith (uncredited)
1943
6.0
Mission to Moscow
as Grinko (uncredited)
1943
5.3
Hangmen Also Die!
as Hostage (scenes deleted)
1943
6.9
They Got Me Covered
as Gregory Vanesou
1943
5.9
The Gorilla Man
as Dr. Ferris
1943
5.0
London Blackout Murders
as Jack Rawlings
1943
5.0
Nightmare
as Carl aka Charles
1942
4.0
Get Hep to Love
as Professor Radowsky
1942
4.0
Mrs. Miniver
as Fred
1942
7.1
Rubber Racketeers
as Dumbo
1942
4.3
This Above All
as Joe
1942
6.7
Joan of Paris
as English Spy
1942
6.5
The Shanghai Gesture
as Poppy's Escort
1941
6.3
Ten Days in Paris
as André
1940
7.5
The Great Commandment
as Starving Beggar
1939
4.2
The Saint in London
as Count Stephen Duni
1939
5.5
This Man Is News
as Hood with Foreign Accent
1938
4.7
Under Secret Orders
as Armand
1937
0.0
Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel
as Flower Seller
1937
4.2
Street of Shadows
1937
7.0
The Conquest of the Air
as Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier
1936
4.2