John Abbott (actor)

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For other persons named John Abbott, see John Abbott (disambiguation).
John Abbott

Born John Kefford
5 June 1905 (1905-06-05) (age 103)
London, England
Died May 24, 1996 (aged 90)
Occupation Actor

John Kefford (b. June 5, 1905, in London, England; d. May 24, 1996) was an English character actor professionally known as John Abbott. His memorable roles include the invalid Frederick Fairlie in the 1948 movie The Woman in White and the pacifist Ayelborne in the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy".

Contents

[edit] Career

Abbott performed with some of England's most famous actors and was well-known as a Shakespearean actor. He never auditioned for a part, but was always asked to play a role.

In the early days of World War II, Abbott worked at the British consulate in Moscow. When the time came to leave, he had to go by way of the United States. While in the US, he was offered a part in Hollywood in 1941 [1] , and ended up living there for the rest of his life.

He found continuing work, although he blacklisted during the Red Scare of the 1950s. Eventually, a producer, wanting to hire him, was able to get his listing removed. Abbott had no idea why he was blacklisted until around 1990 while in the company of this writer, when he was watching a documentary on Dalton Trumbo, discovered that the author had used Abbott's name as an alias.

[edit] Later years

In his final years, Abbott taught acting students for free and inspired some of Hollywood's most famous young actors of that time.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ A Who's Who of British Film Actors, by Scott Palmer, The Scarecrow Press, 1981


[edit] External links

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