Job Actor
Years active 1905-1946
Known for Suave, impeccable diction, faintly seedy sophistication; mad professors, crooked lawyers, staring-eyed scientists
Top Roles Prof. Marakov, Mayor of Vasaria, Jim McLaughlin, Col. Bishop, Capt. Don Pasqual 'Pasqualito' Costelar
Top GenresDrama, Horror, Romance, Mystery, Comedy, Crime
Top TopicsMonster, Spies, World War II
Top Collaborators , , (Producer), (Producer)
Shares birthday with David Niven, Harry Belafonte, Jack Clayton  see more..

Lionel Atwill Overview:

Character actor, Lionel Atwill, was born Lionel Alfred William Atwill on Mar 1, 1885 in Croydon, London. Atwill appeared in 75 film roles. His best known films include Captain Blood (as Colonel Bishop), To Be or Not to Be (as Rawitch), Boom Town (as Harry Compton), and most notably -- Mystery of the Wax Museum (as Ivan Igor), Son of Frankenstein (as Krogh) and Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (as Professor James Moriarty). Atwill died at the age of 61 on Apr 22, 1946 in Pacific Palisades, CA and was laid to rest in Chapel Of The Pines Crematory Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA.

MINI BIO:

Suave and usually moustachioed, Lionel Atwill was an actor of impeccable diction and an air of faintly seedy sophistication. His characters suppurated corruption under their skins of suavity. He went from Britain to Hollywood, where he was soon playing dozens of mad professors, crooked lawyers and staring-eyed scientists, but made a memorable Moriarty to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes. His career survived a rather pofaced scandal in the early 1940s over the showing of 'blue movies' at his home.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Illustrated Dictionary of Film Character Actors).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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BlogHub Articles:

Day 19 – River Cruising + Three with

By Beatrice on Aug 4, 2018 From Flickers in Time

Sorry no river pictures today. ?Yesterday, I did manage to see three new old movies with in supporting roles. ?The leads were some of my favorite actors so it worked out well. I don?t think I?ve ever seen a film from the Dr. Kildare series before. ?In this one, Lionel Barrymore needs ... Read full article


The Movie Scientist Blogathon: In THE VAMPIRE BAT

By Dan Day Jr. on Feb 20, 2016 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

Those wishing to participate in the Movie Scientist Blogathon were given three groups of movie scientists to write about--the good, the mad, and the lonely. Due to my classic horror film leanings I had no choice but to pick the mad--and how could I not write a post about , the maddest H... Read full article


Book Review: : THE EXQUISITE VILLAIN

By Dan Day Jr. on Jan 24, 2015 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

Midnight Marquee Press has published a number of fine books on horror and science-fiction films over the years, and one of the latest is Neil Pettigrew's fine biography on the great character actor . The English-born Atwill is best known now for his roles in several classic horror film... Read full article


Book Review: : THE EXQUISITE VILLAIN

By Dan Day Jr. on Jan 24, 2015 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

Midnight Marquee Press has published a number of fine books on horror and science-fiction films over the years, and one of the latest is Neil Pettigrew's fine biography on the great character actor . The English-born Atwill is best known now for his roles in several classic horror film... Read full article


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Lionel Atwill Quotes:

Charlotte Duncan: You fiend.
Ivan Igor: My Marie Antoinette you must not say that to me.
Charlotte Duncan: You fiend.
Ivan Igor: My dear, why are you so pitifully afraid?


Dr. Paul Rigas: [to June] Dan McCormack, as you knew him, was doomed the first day he came into this laboratory.


Inspector Neumann: I know. We all thought our vampire scheme was so simple, so certain of success. We never thought we'd fail.


read more quotes from Lionel Atwill...



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Lionel Atwill Facts
His racy reputation for hosting "wild" parties at his home caught up with him and a sex scandal erupted. In 1943 he was sentenced to five years probation for perjury during a loosely connected rape trial. The Hays Office effectively blacklisted him from the top studios for his disgrace. The remainder of his career was spent doing a few plays in New York and low-budget "B" pictures and serials.

Screen and stage actor.

Has the distinction of being the only actor to appear in five of the eight Frankenstein films released by Universal from 1931-1948. Atwill appeared in Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), and House of Dracula (1945).

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