Lionel Atwill

Lionel Atwill

Atwill in 1934
Born (1885-03-01)1 March 1885
Croydon, London, England, U.K.
Died 22 April 1946(1946-04-22) (aged 61)
Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.
Cause of death Pneumonia
Occupation Actor
Years active 1905–1946
Spouse(s) Phyllis Relph (1913-1919) (divorced) 1 child
Elsie Mackay (1920-1928) (divorced)
Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brook MacArthur (1930-1943) (divorced)
Mary Paula Pruter (1944-1946) (his death) 1 child

Lionel Alfred William Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English stage and film actor.[1]

Life and career

Lionel Atwill, Alla Nazimova, Amy Veness and Harry Mestayer in the 1918 English-language production of Ibsen's The Wild Duck—one of six leading roles Atwill played on Broadway that season

Atwill was born on 1 March 1885 in Croydon, London, England. He studied architecture before his stage debut at the Garrick Theatre, London, in 1904.[1]

Lionel Atwill and Katharine Cornell in the Broadway production of The Outsider (1924)

He became a star in Broadway theatre by 1918 and made his screen debut in 1919.[2] His Broadway credits include The Lodger (1916), The Silent Witness (1930), Fioretta (1928), The Outsider (1924), Napoleon (1927), The Thief (1926), Slaves All (1926), Beau Gallant (1925), Caesar and Cleopatra (1924), The Outsider (1923), The Comedian (1922), The Grand Duke (1921), Deburau (1920), Tiger! Tiger! (1918), Another Man's Shoes (1918), A Doll's House (1917), Hedda Gabler (1917), The Wild Duck (1917), The Indestructible Wife (1917), L'elevation (1917), and Eve's Daughter (1917).[3]

He acted on the stage in Australia before becoming involved in U.S. horror film roles in the 1930s, such as the crazed, disfigured sculptor in Mystery of the Wax Museum (Warner Brothers, 1933), and as Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939).[1]

His other roles include The Wrong Road (1937) for RKO and Dr. James Mortimer in 20th Century Fox's film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), and Professor Moriarty in the Universal Studios film Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943).[1]

Personal life

Lionel Atwill and Elsie Mackay (1922)

Atwill married four times. His first wife was Phyllis Ralph; the couple married in 1913 and divorced in 1919. In 1941 their son, John Arthur Atwill (born 1914), was killed in action aged 26.[4] Atwill married the American actress Elsie Mackay in 1920. He married Louise Cromwell Brooks in 1930, after her divorce from Douglas MacArthur; they divorced in 1943.[5] Atwill married Paula Pruter in 1944, and their marriage continued until his death.[1] Their son, Lionel Anthony Atwill, is a retired writer.

In 1942, Atwill was indicted for perjury by a jury investigating the 1941 proceeding of a grand jury relative to the alleged occurrence of a sex orgy at his home.[6][7]

Atwill died on 22 April 1946 of pneumonia at his Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles home.[1] At the time of his death, he was filming the serial Lost City of the Jungle, playing the mastermind villain. Universal Pictures retained the footage already filmed, adapted the story to enhance the villainous role of another character, and used a double for Atwill in some scenes.

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lionel Atwill, 61, Noted Actor, Dies. Veteran of Stage and Screen Made London Debut in 1904". New York Times. April 23, 1946.
  2. ↑ "The Rise of Lionel Atwill". New York Times. 14 April 1918.
  3. ↑ "("Lionel Atwill" search results)". Playbill Vault. Playbill. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Actor Lionel Atwill's Son Killed in British Air Action". Chicago Tribune. 1941-04-29. Commonwealth War Graves Commission - CWGC record.
  5. ↑ "Lionel Atwill Divorced. Former Louise Cromwell Wins Decree in Washington". New York Times. June 19, 1943.
  6. ↑ "Stage And Screen Actor Indicted". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. 1 July 1942.
  7. ↑ "Atwill Pleads Guilty. Actor Admits Perjury in Showing of Lewd Pictures". New York Times. United Press. September 25, 1942.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.