Walter Abel
Encyclopedia
Walter Abel was an American
stage
and film
character actor
. His eyes were brown and his (adult) height was five foot ten inches.
Abel was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the son of Christine (née Becker) and Richard Michael Abel. Abel graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
where he had studied in 1917 and joined a touring company. He made his Broadway
debut in Forbidden in 1919. His many theatre credits include As You Like It
, Desire Under the Elms
, Mourning Becomes Electra
, Merrily We Roll Along, and Trelawny of the 'Wells'
. On the stage, he appeared in Channing Pollock's 1926 production of The Enemy together with Fay Bainter.
Abel was married to concert harpist Marietta Bitter. He died of a myocardial infarction
in Essex
, Connecticut
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
. His eyes were brown and his (adult) height was five foot ten inches.
Abel was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the son of Christine (née Becker) and Richard Michael Abel. Abel graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
where he had studied in 1917 and joined a touring company. He made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in Forbidden in 1919. His many theatre credits include As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, Desire Under the Elms
Desire Under the Elms
Desire Under the Elms is a play by Eugene O'Neill, published in 1924, and is now considered an American classic. Along with Mourning Becomes Electra, it represents one of O'Neill's attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy in a rural New England setting. It is essentially a...
, Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932...
, Merrily We Roll Along, and Trelawny of the 'Wells'
Trelawny of the 'Wells'
Trelawny of the 'Wells' is an 1898 comic play by Arthur Wing Pinero. It tells the story of a theatre star who attempts to give up the stage for love, but is unable to fit into conventional society.-Synopsis:...
. On the stage, he appeared in Channing Pollock's 1926 production of The Enemy together with Fay Bainter.
Abel was married to concert harpist Marietta Bitter. He died of a myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Essex
Essex, Connecticut
Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,505 at the 2000 census. It is made up of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbrook, and Ivoryton.- History :- The Great Attack :...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.
Filmography
- The Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers (1935 film)The Three Musketeers is the first English-language talking picture version of Alexandre Dumas, père's novel of the same name. It stars Walter Abel, Ian Keith, Margot Grahame, and Paul Lukas.-Plot:...
(1935) as d'Artagnan - The Lady Consents (1936) as Stanley Ashton
- Two in the DarkTwo in the DarkTwo in the Dark is a 1936 mystery film starring Walter Abel, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford, Gail Patrick, and Alan Hale. The movie, about an amnesiac suspected of murder, was directed by Benjamin Stoloff....
(1936) as Ford 'Jitney' Adams - The Witness Chair (1936) as James 'Jim' Trent
- Fury (1936) as Adams, the district attorney
- We Went to College (1936) as Philip Talbot
- Second Wife (1936) as Kenneth Carpenter
- Portia on Trial (1937) as Dan Foster
- Wise GirlWise Girl (film)Wise Girl is a 1937 romantic comedy film starring Miriam Hopkins and Ray Milland. A wealthy socialite tries to gain custody of her orphaned nieces.-Plot:...
(1937) as Karl Stevens - Law of the Underworld (1938) as Rogers
- Men with WingsMen with WingsMen With Wings is a 1938 Technicolor American starring Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, and Louise Campbell. Donald O'Connor also has a small part as the younger version of MacMurray's character. The two would soon star in the film Sing You Sinners together along with Bing Crosby....
(1938) as Nick Ranson - King of the Turf (1939) as Robert Barnes
- Miracle on Main Street (1940)
- Dance, Girl, DanceDance, Girl, DanceDance, Girl, Dance is a film released in 1940, directed by Dorothy Arzner.In 2007, Dance, Girl, Dance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", describing it as Arzner's...
(1940) as the Judge - Arise, My LoveArise, My LoveArise, My Love is a 1940 American romantic comedy film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Mitchell Leisen, written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Jacques Théry, and starring Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland....
(1940) as Mr Phillips - Michael Shayne, Private Detective (1940) as Elliott Thomas
- Who Killed Aunt Maggie (1940) as Dr George Benedict
- Hold Back the DawnHold Back the DawnHold Back the Dawn is a 1941 romantic film in which a Romanian gigolo marries an American woman in Mexico in order to gain entry to the United States, but winds up falling in love with her...
(1941) as Inspector Hammock - SkylarkSkylarkThe Skylark is a small passerine bird species. This lark breeds across most of Europe and Asia and in the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range,...
(1941) as George Gore - Glamour Boy (1941) as A. J. Colder
- Beyond the Blue HorizonBeyond the Blue HorizonBeyond the Blue Horizon is a 1971 studio album by American guitarist George Benson, released by CTI Records.- Track listing :# "So What" – 9:15# "The Gentle Rain" – 9:09...
(1942) as Professor Thornton - Star Spangled RhythmStar Spangled RhythmStar Spangled Rhythm is a 1943 all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, generally musicals, frequently with flimsy storylines, and with the specific intent of entertaining the...
(1942) as B.G. DeSoto - Holiday InnHoliday Inn (film)Holiday Inn is a 1942 American musical film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, with music by Irving Berlin. The film has twelve songs written expressly for the film, the most notable being "White Christmas"...
(1942) as Danny Reed, Ted Hanover's manic manager - Wake IslandWake IslandWake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
(1942) as Cmdr. Roberts - So Proudly We Hail!So Proudly We Hail!So Proudly We Hail! is a 1943 film directed by Mark Sandrich, and starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard – who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance – and Veronica Lake...
(1943) as the Chaplain - Fired Wife (1943) as Chris McClelland
- An American Romance (1944) as Howard Clinton
- Mr. SkeffingtonMr. SkeffingtonMr. Skeffington is a 1944 American drama film directed by Vincent Sherman, based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth von Arnim.The film stars Bette Davis as a beautiful woman whose many suitors, and self-love, distract her from returning the affections of her husband, Job Skeffington...
(1944) as George Trellis - The Affairs of SusanThe Affairs of SusanThe Affairs of Susan is a 1945 comedy film starring Joan Fontaine, Walter Abel, George Brent, Dennis O'Keefe and Don DeFore. The plot concerns Susan , who is about to be married. Complications set in when her fiance gives a party to celebrate, and he talks to three former beaus of Susan, each of...
(1945) as Richard Aiken - Duffy's TavernDuffy's TavernDuffy's Tavern was a popular American radio situation comedy which ran for a decade on several networks , concluding with the December 28, 1951 broadcast....
(1945) (Director) - Kiss and Tell (1945) as Harry Archer
- The Kid From BrooklynThe Kid from BrooklynThe Kid from Brooklyn is a 1946 comedy film starring Danny Kaye and co-starring Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Steve Cochran, and Eve Arden, about a milkman who becomes world boxing champion....
(1946) as Gabby Sloan - 13 Rue Madeleine13 Rue Madeleine13 Rue Madeleine is a 1947 World War II spy film starring James Cagney, Annabella and Richard Conte.The title refers to the Le Havre address where a Gestapo headquarters is located.-Plot:...
(1946) as Charles Gibson - Dream GirlDream Girl (play)Dream Girl is a play by Elmer Rice.At its core is Georgina Allerton, a young woman whose efforts to run a bookstore are undermined severely by her tendency to drift off into Walter Mitty-like flights of fancy on a regular basis...
(1948) as George Allerton - That Lady in ErmineThat Lady in ErmineThat Lady in Ermine is a 1948 American musical film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson is based on the operetta Die Frau im Hermelin by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch....
(1948) as Maj. Horvath - So This Is Love (1953) as Col. James Moore
- Island in the SkyIsland in the Sky (1953 film)Island in The Sky is a 1953 American aviation adventure/drama film written by Ernest K. Gann based on his 1944 novel of the same name, directed by William A. Wellman, and starring and co-produced by John Wayne. It was released by Warner Bros...
(1953) as Col. Fuller - Night PeopleNight People (1954 film)Night People is a 1954 motion picture drama starring Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Anita Bjork and Buddy Ebsen, directed by Nunnally Johnson. It was co-written by Jed Harris, a noted theatrical producer....
(1954) as Maj. Foster, MD - Twelve Angry Men (1954) (TV) as Juror #4
- The Indian FighterThe Indian FighterThe Indian Fighter is a 1956 Western movie. It is from an original story by Robert L. Richards.-Plot:Johnny Hawks is a man who made his name fighting Indians...
(1955) as Capt. Trask - The Steel Jungle (1956) as Warden Keller
- BernardineBernardine (film)Bernardine is a 1957 film directed by Henry Levin and starring Pat Boone, Terry Moore, Dean Jagger, Dick Sargent, and Janet Gaynor. The 1952 play upon which the movie is based was written by Mary Coyle Chase, the Denver playwright who also wrote the smash hit Broadway play Harvey...
(1957) as Mr. Beaumont - Raintree CountyRaintree County (film)Raintree County is a 1957 Technicolor film drama about the American Civil War. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk. The film stars Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Marie Saint, and Lee Marvin....
(1957) as T.D. Shawnessy - Handle With Care (1958) as Prof. Bowdin
- MirageMirageA mirage is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French mirage, from the Latin mirare, meaning "to look at, to wonder at"...
(1965) as Charles Stewart Calvin - Quick Let's Get Married (1966) as The Thief
- The Man without a CountryThe Man Without a Country"The Man Without a Country" is a short story by American writer Edward Everett Hale, first published anonymously in The Atlantic in December 1863. It is the story of American Army lieutenant Philip Nolan, who renounces his country during a trial for treason and is consequently sentenced to spend...
(1974) (TV) as Col. A.B. Morgan - Silent Night, Bloody NightSilent Night, Bloody NightNot to be confused with a more controversial and popular film called Silent Night, Deadly Night.Silent Night, Bloody Night is a low-budget 1974 psychological horror film directed by Theodore Gershuny. It stars Patrick O'Neal and cult actress Mary Woronov in leading roles, with John Carradine in a...
(1974) as Mayor Adams - Grace QuigleyGrace QuigleyGrace Quigley, also titled The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley, is a 1985 film starring Katharine Hepburn and Nick Nolte. The plot centers around an elderly woman who decides not to wait around to die of old age, but hires a hit man to kill her...
(1984) as Homer Morrison
External links
- Photo Gallery at NYPL