Lionel Atwill

Lionel Atwill was born into a wealthy family and was educated at London's prestigious Mercer School to become an architect, but his interest turned to the stage. He worked his way progressively into the craft and debuted at age 20 at the Garrick Theatre in London. He acted and improved regularly thereafter, especially in the plays of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. Atwill came to the US in 1915 and would appear in some 25 plays on Broadway between 1917 and 1931, but he was already trying his hand in silent films by 1918. He had a sonorous voice and dictatorial British accent that served him well for the stage and just as well for sound movies.

Came to the U.S. in 1916. He was honored at a 1925 banquet where Bela Lugosi was also in attendance.

He did some Vitaphone short subjects in 1928 and then his first real film role in The Silent Witness (1932) (also titled "The Verdict"). That voice and his bullish demeanor made Atwill a natural for a spectrum of tough-customer roles.

As shady noblemen and mad doctors, but also gruff military men and police inspectors (usually with a signature mustache), he worked steadily through the 1930s. He had the chance to show a broader character as the tyrannical but unforgettable Col.

Has the distinction of being the only actor to appear in five of the eight Frankenstein films released by Universal from 1931-48. He 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).

Bishop in Captain Blood (1935).

It's hard to forget his Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939), wherein he agrees to a game of darts with Basil Rathbone and proceeds to impale the darts through the right sleeve of his uniform (the character sported a wooden right arm).

First son John Anthony Atwill, by first wife Phyllis Relph, was a WWII flying officer with the Royal Air Force killed in action in 1941. A second son, Lionel Anthony Guille Atwill, was born to him late in life (at age 60) by last wife, Mary Paula Pruter. Atwill died six months later.

And he sends himself up with rolling and blustering dialogue as the glory-hog ham stage actor Rawitch in the classic To Be or Not to Be (1942) with Jack Benny.

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.

From about 1945 until his passing, Lionel Atwill was gravely ill with cancer but refused to give up working.

Died before completing his work on Lost City of the Jungle (1946). His remaining scenes were completed using a double.

On August 3, 2018, he was honored with a day of his film work during the TCM Summer Under The Stars.