Walter Abel

• Name — Walter Abel • Born — 6 June 1898 • Birthplace — Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. • Died — 26 March 1987 • Place of death — Essex, Connecticut, U.S. • Years Active — 1918–1984 • Occupation — Actor • Children — 2

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.

• Illustration — Abel as D'Artagnan, with Heather Angel in The Three Musketeers Abel made his film debut in 1918 with a small part in Out of a Clear Sky, and 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. He also appeared in Channing Pollock's play The Enemy (1926) with Fay Bainter, adapted to film as The Enemy (1927) with Lillian Gish and Ralph Forbes. Abel 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. He played hyperactive agent Danny Reed in the 1942 musical comedy Holiday Inn, with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Abel went on to play in more than sixty films, and was a vice president of the Screen Actors' Guild. Abel also appeared as a concert narrator or reader with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait in 1951, and in Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood in 1953.

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.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1948 — Critic at Large — Self — Episode: "Episode #1.16" • 1948–1949 — The Philco Television Playhouse — Macduff — 2 episodes • 1949 — The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre — Sir Wilfred Roberts — Episode: "Witness for the Prosecution" • 1950 — Masterpiece Playhouse — George Tesman — 2 episodes • 1950–1951 — The Prudential Family Playhouse — Egbert Flound / Sam Dodsworth — 2 episodes • 1950–1953 — Lux Video Theatre — Father / Joe Holmby — 2 episodes • 1951 — Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre — Episode: "To My Beloved Wife" • The Colgate Comedy Hour — Self — Guest • Who Said That? — Self — Episode: "March 12, 1951" • The Sam Levenson Show — Self — Episode: "Walter Abel and Son" • The Ed Sullivan Show — Self — Episode: "Episode #4.39" • 20 Questions — Self — Episode: "Walter Abel" • 1951–1952 — Robert Montgomery Presents — Father / Harry Archer — 2 episodes • Tales of Tomorrow — Doctor Allen — 4 episodes • 1952 — Celanese Theatre — Reed — Episode: "Yellow Jack" • It's News to Me — Self — Episode: "Walter Abel, Signe Hasso" • 1953 — The Ford Television Theatre — Episode: "There's No Place Like Home" • 1954 — Ethel and Albert — Gilbert — Episode: "The Income Tax" • Studio One — Juror No. 4 — Episode: "Twelve Angry Men" • Armstrong Circle Theatre — Episode: "The Judged" • The Red Buttons Show — Episode: "November 12, 1954" • 1955 — Playwrights '56 — Dr. Harmon — Episode: "The Answer" • The Martha Raye Show — Self — Episode: "Stubby Kaye, Johnnie Ray, Walter Abel" • 1956 — Climax! — Stewart — Episode: "The Midas Touch" • The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial — Episode: "The Person and Property of Margery Hay" • 1956–1958 — Playhouse 90 — Mr. Wayde — 2 episodes • 1957 — The 20th Century Fox Hour — McKinley — Episode: "The Great American Hoax" • Kraft Television Theatre — Episode: "Heroes Walk on Sand" • 1958 — Suspicion — Major Harvey Denbrow — Episode: "Meeting in Paris" • 1960 — The Play of the Week — Inspector — Episode: "The Enchanted" • 1963 — The Defenders — Ben Burke — Episode: "A Book for Burning" • The Farmer's Daughter — General Todd — Episode: "An Enterprising Young Man" • 1964 — East Side West Side — Brewer Bradford — Episode: "Here Today" • 1965 — The Mike Douglas Show — Self — Episode: "Episode #4.196" • 1966 — Seaway — Goddard Borglun — Episode: "The Viking" • Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre — Reynard Pitney — Episode: "And Baby Makes Five" • 1971 — NBC Children's Theatre — Self — Episode: "Super Plastic Elastic Goggles" • 1973 — The Man Without a Country — Col. A.B. Morgan — Direct-to-TV Movie • 1976 — The American Woman: Portraits of Courage — Judge — Direct-to-TV Documentary

• 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 • Suspense — Quiet Desperation • 1952 — Theatre Guild on the Air — The Bishop Misbehaves

Walter Abel is recorded as actor.