- Sebastian Cabot (actor)
Infobox actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Sebastian Cabot
imagesize =
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birthdate = birth date|1918|7|6|
location =London ,England
deathdate = death date and age|1977|8|22|1918|7|6|
deathplace =North Saanich, British Columbia
yearsactive =
spouse =
academyawards =Sebastian Cabot (
July 6 ,1918 –August 22 ,1977 ) was an Englishfilm andtelevision actor, best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman Giles French in the 1960ssitcom "Family Affair ".Early career
Cabot was born in
London ,England . His career began with a bit part in "Foreign Affaires" (1935); his first screen credit was inAlfred Hitchcock 's "Secret Agent" (1936). Other British films such as "Love on the Dole", "Pimpernel Smith ", "Old Mother Riley: Detective", and "Old Mother Riley: Overseas" followed. In 1946, he portrayedIago in "Othello ". By 1947, Cabot had relocated to Hollywood, and landed roles in such films as "They Made Me A Fugitive", "Third Time Lucky", "The Spider and the Fly", "Ivanhoe", "Babes in Baghdad", "The Love Lottery", "Westward Ho the Wagons", and the 1954 Italian version of "Romeo and Juliet " as Lord Capulet. In 1960 he appeared inGeorge Pal 's production ofH.G. Wells ' "The Time Machine" as Dr. Hillyer.At about this time Cabot began taking on television work, appearing in such series as "Along the Oregon Trail", "
The Adventures of Hiram Holliday ", "Checkmate", "The Beachcomber", and an appearance in "The Twilight Zone" episode "A Nice Place to Visit ", as the white-suited, courtly provider of a vain but disillusioned man's every wish. Cabot was also a regular panelist on the TV game show "Stump the Stars ". In 1964, Cabot hosted the short-lived television series, "Suspense", and voiced or narrated a few other film and television projects, before he was cast as Giles French in theCBS series "Family Affair ".Typecast?
Cabot didn't cease his other film and television work during the series' run — in fact, he took a leave of absence from "Family Affair" at one point during the series' run — (his stand-in: an actor often typecast as a butler or a detective - veteran British character actor John Williams, who played French's brother Niles in "Family Affair") and he worked well in voice roles (Bagheera in "The Jungle Book"; the narrator of "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day"; host of "Journey to Midnight" as well as the voice of Sir Ector in " The Sword in the Stone" (1963)). But he was so vivid as French that he never shook the image even after "Family Affair" finally ended production in 1971. He received another role as the host (Winston Essex) of "Ghost Story," a supernatural anthology. Perhaps Cabot's most memorable role following the series' demise was in the television remake of "
Miracle on 34th Street ."Epilogue
Cabot appeared in another
Christmas project, thetelevision film "The City That Forgot About Christmas" (1974), and narrated two more "Pooh" projects, "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too!" and "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh", before his death of astroke in North Saanich,British Columbia ,Canada , at age 59. He lived his final years nearSidney, British Columbia .A memorable career high point was his two-year stint as one of the three leads on
Eric Ambler 's 1960 detective show "Checkmate", which co-starredDoug McClure . A more dubious legacy exists in his spoken recitations of songs byBob Dylan on the album "Sebastian Cabot, actor/Bob Dylan, poet." Two tracks from this album appear on theRhino Records compilation "Golden Throats : The Great Celebrity Sing Off."Sebastian Cabot is interred in the urn garden in
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery inLos Angeles, California , nearBrian Keith .External links
*imdb name|id=0001982|name=Sebastian Cabot
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=158 Sebastian Cabot's Gravesite]
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