BornJune 6, 1898 (1898-06-06) St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. DiedMarch 26, 1987, Essex, Connecticut, United States SpouseMarietta Bitter (m. 1926–1979) EducationAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts ParentsRichard Michael Abel, Christine Abel MoviesMr Skeffington, Fury, Holiday Inn, The Indian Fighter, Island in the Sky Similar PeopleVirginia Dale, Marjorie Reynolds, Mark Sandrich, Mitchell Leisen, Vincent Sherman
Kiss and tell 1945 shirley temple jerome courtland walter abel
Walter Abel (June 6, 1898 – March 26, 1987) was an American stage and film character actor. Known as a prolific and very dependable character actor, Abel appeared in over 200 films, beginning in the silent film era. Often portraying characters of "responsibility," (the district attorney prosecuting the lynch mob in Fury, the minister keeping morale up in a war zone in So Proudly We Hail! and the colonel leading a rescue effort in Island in the Sky), Abel was a regular in films of the 1940s and 1950s, in particular. A distinctive bearing and direct gaze were two of his trademarks. His eyes were brown and his height was 5'10" (178 cm).
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's 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 also appeared as a concert narrator or reader with Eugene Ormandy the Philadelphia Orchestra in Aaron Copland's Portrait of Lincoln in 1951, and in Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood in 1953.
Death
Abel died March 26, 1987, of a myocardial infarction in Essex, Connecticut. He was survived by two sons, John and Michael.
Filmography
Out of a Clear Sky (1918)
The North Wind's Malice (1920) as Tom
Liliom (1930) as Carpenter
The Three Musketeers (1935) as d'Artagnan
The Lady Consents (1936) as Stanley Ashton
Two in the Dark (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 Girl (1937) as Karl Stevens
Law of the Underworld (1938) as Rogers
Men With Wings (1938) as Nick Ranson
King of the Turf (1939) as Robert Barnes
Miracle on Main Street (1940)
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) as the Judge
Arise, My Love (1940) as Mr Phillips
Michael Shayne, Private Detective (1940) as Elliott Thomas
Who Killed Aunt Maggie? (1940) as Dr George Benedict
Hold Back the Dawn (1941) as Inspector Hammock
Skylark (1941) as George Gore
Glamour Boy (1941) as A. J. Colder
Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942) as Professor Thornton
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) as B.G. DeSoto
Holiday Inn (1942) as Danny Reed, Ted Hanover's manic manager
Wake Island (1942) as Cmdr. Roberts
So Proudly We Hail! (1943) as the Chaplain
Fired Wife (1943) as Chris McClelland
An American Romance (1944) as Howard Clinton
Mr. Skeffington (1944) as George Trellis
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
Variety Girl (1947) as Himself
Dream Girl (1948) as George Allerton
That Lady in Ermine (1948) as Maj. Horvath
So This Is Love (1953) as Col. James Moore
Island in the Sky (1953) as Col. Fuller
Night People (1954) as Maj. Foster, MD
Twelve Angry Men (1954) (TV) as Juror #4
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
Mirage (1965) as Charles Stewart Calvin
Silent Night, Bloody Night (1971) as Mayor Adams
The Man without a Country (1974) (TV) as Col. A.B. Morgan
The American Woman: Portraits of Courage (1976) (TV) as Judge
