Walter Abel (June 6, 1898 – March 26, 1987) was an American film, stage and radio actor.
Life
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. His brother Alfred died in 1922 from tuberculosis contracted while serving overseas in World War I. Abel was married to concert harpist Marietta Bitter.
Career
Abel made his film debut in 1918 with a small part in Out of a Clear Sky.
He made his Broadway debut in Forbidden in 1919. In 1924 he appeared in two Eugene O’Neill plays simultaneously: Bound East for Cardiff at the Provincetown Playhouse and Desire Under the Elms at the Greenwich Village Theater. His many theatre credits include As You Like It (1923), William Congreve’s Love for Love (1925), Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull (1929-1930), Mourning Becomes Electra (1929), Kaufman and Hart’s Merrily We Roll Along (1934), and Trelawny of the ‘Wells’ (1975). He also appeared in Channing Pollock’s play The Enemy (1926) with Fay Bainter. The play was adapted to film as The Enemy (1927) with Lillian Gish and Ralph Forbes. He made his stage debut in London in the 1929 Coquette.
His first major film role was as D’Artagnan in RKO Pictures’ 1935 The Three Musketeers. Abel went on to play in more than sixty films. Abel was a vice president of the Screen Actors’ Guild. Abel played a major role in the 1942 musical comedy Holiday Inn, portraying hyperactive agent Danny Reed.
Abel also appeared as a concert narrator or reader with Eugene Ormandy the Philadelphia Orchestra in Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait in 1951, and in Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood in 1953.
Death
Abel died March 26, 1987, of a myocardial infarction at a nursing home in Essex, Connecticut. He was cremated and a memorial service was held at the Little Church Around the Corner in Manhattan. His ashes were combined with those of his wife and scattered in Long Island Sound.
Complete filmography
Out of a Clear Sky (1918) (uncredited)
The North Wind’s Malice (1920) as Tom
Liliom (1930) as Carpenter
The Three Musketeers (1935) as d’Artagnan
Two in the Dark (1936) as Ford ‘Jitney’ Adams
The Lady Consents (1936) as Stanley Ashton
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
Green Light (1937) as John Stafford
Portia on Trial (1937) as Dan Foster
Wise Girl (1937) as Karl Stevens
Law of the Underworld (1938) as Warren Rogers
Racket Busters (1938) as Allison
Men with Wings (1938) as Nick Ranson
King of the Turf (1939) as Robert Barnes
First Offenders (1939) as Gregory Stone
Miracle on Main Street (1940) as Jim Foreman
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) as the Judge
Arise, My Love (1940) as Mr Phillips
Who Killed Aunt Maggie? (1940) as Dr. George Benedict
Michael Shayne, Private Detective (1940) as Elliott Thomas
Hold Back the Dawn (1941) as Inspector Hammock
Skylark (1941) as George Gore
Glamour Boy (1941) as Anthony J. Colder
Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942) as Professor Thornton
Holiday Inn (1942) as Danny Reed
Wake Island (1942) as Cmdr. Roberts
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) as B.G. DeSoto
Fired Wife (1943) as Chris McClelland
The Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith (1943, Short) as Jack, a flyer, opening narrator
So Proudly We Hail! (1943) as the Chaplain
Follow the Boys (1944) as Himself (uncredited)
The Hitler Gang (1944) as Narrator (voice)
Mr. Skeffington (1944) as George Trellis
An American Romance (1944) as Howard Clinton
The Affairs of Susan (1945) as Richard Aiken
Duffy’s Tavern (1945) as The Director
Kiss and Tell (1945) as Harry Archer
The Kid From Brooklyn (1946) as Gabby Sloan
13 Rue Madeleine (1946) as Charles Gibson
The Hal Roach Comedy Carnival (1947) as Milo Terkle
The Fabulous Joe (1947) as Milo Terkle
Variety Girl (1947) as Himself (uncredited)
Dream Girl (1948) as George Allerton
Neighbor to the North (1948, Short) as The American
That Lady in Ermine (1948) as Maj. Horvath
Picture in Your Mind (1948, Short) as Narrator
So This Is Love (1953) as Col. James Moore
Island in the Sky (1953) as Col. Fuller
Night People (1954) as Maj. Foster, MD
The Indian Fighter (1955) as Capt. Trask
The Steel Jungle (1956) as Warden Keller
Bernardine (1957) as Mr. Beaumont
Raintree County (1957) as T.D. Shawnessy
Handle With Care (1958) as Prof. Bowdin
Quick, Let’s Get Married (1964) as The Thief
The Human Duplicators (1965) as Dr. Munson (uncredited)
Mirage (1965) as Charles Stewart Calvin
NBC Children’s Theater: “Super Plastic Elastic Goggles” (1971)
Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) as Mayor Adams
The Man Without a Country (1973, TV Movie) as Col. A. B. Morgan
The American Woman: Portraits of Courage (1976, TV documentary) as Judge
Grace Quigley (1984) as Homer Morrison (final film role)
Radio appearances
| Year |
Program |
Episode/source |
| 1941 |
Gulf Screen Guild Theatre |
No Time for Comedy |
| 1944 |
Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre |
Phantom Lady |
| 1945 |
Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre |
Double Indemnity |
| 1947 |
Theatre Guild on the Air |
No Time for Comedy |
| 1947 |
Suspense |
Quiet Desperation |
| 1952 |
Theatre Guild on the Air |
The Bishop Misbehaves |
External Links
Actor Walter Abel – Wikipedia
