Philip Abbott

A minor character actor with hundreds of credits dating back to the earliest days of television, Phillip Abbott never became a star, but he worked consistently for nearly a half-century in various supporting and leading roles. Abbott studied at New York's Fordham University and apprenticed in acting at the well-regarded Pasadena Playhouse in Southern California. After debuting on Broadway in the late 1940s, Abbott became a regular television presence during the so-called Golden Age of live TV drama, appearing on popular live prime-time anthologies like "Producers' Showcase," "The Philco Television Playhouse," and "The Kaiser Aluminum Hour." Although he enjoyed a brief foray into film in the late 1950s and '60s, appearing in supporting roles on family-oriented Disney features such as the WWII adventure "Miracle of the White Stallions" (1963) and the wilderness drama "Those Calloways" (1965), Abbott continued to work primarily in TV for the rest of his career. His best remembered role was Assistant Director Arthur Ward on the long-running crime drama "The F.B.I.," which he played for nine years.