Walter Abel (June 6, 1898 – March 26, 1987) was an American film, stage and radio actor.

Life

Abel was born in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

, the son of Christine (née Becker) and Richard Michael Abel. Abel graduated from the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

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

Walter Abel-Margot Grahame in The Three Musketeers (1935)

Abel made his film debut in 1918 with a small part in ''Out of a Clear Sky''."Walter Abel", Turner Classic Movies
/ref> He made his Broadway debut in ''Forbidden'' in 1919. In 1924 he appeared in two

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

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 ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 h ...

'' (1923), William Congreve's ''

Love for Love ''Love for Love'' is a Restoration comedy written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered on 30 April 1695 at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. Staged by Thomas Betterton's company the original cast included Betterton as Valentin ...

'' (1925),

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's The Seagull (1929-1930), ''

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, starring Lee Baker ...

'' (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 Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968) was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Jezebel'' (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Bainter wa ...

. The play was adapted to film as '' The Enemy'' (1927) with

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

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 RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

' 1935 ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

''. Abel went on to play in more than sixty films. Abel was a vice president of the Screen Actors' Guild. Abel played hyperactive agent Danny Reed in the 1942 musical comedy '' Holiday Inn'', in support of

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

and Fred Astaire. 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 Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Und ...

' ''

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...

'' in 1953."Walter Abel papers, 1900-1976, 1916-1975", the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
/ref>

Death

Abel died March 26, 1987, of a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

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 Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. His ashes were combined with those of his wife and scattered in

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio appearances

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Walter 1898 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male silent film actors American male radio actors Male actors from Saint Paul, Minnesota American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni