Lionel Atwill
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Lionel Atwill in Mystery of the Wax Museum |
Lionel Atwill (
March 1,
1885 -
April 22,
1946) was a stage and film actor born in
London, England.
He began his career in theatre, but was most famous for his
horror roles in the 1930s. His two most memorable parts were as the crazed, disfigured sculptor in
Mystery of the Wax Museum (Warner Brothers, 1933) and as Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939), memorably sent up by Kenneth Mars in Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein'' (
1974). He remained a stalwart of the
Universal horror films until his career flagged in the 1940s due to a widely publicized sex scandal in
1943: committing
perjury at a rape trial. The
Hays Office had him
blacklisted, and he returned to the theatre after this. He was married four times, lastly to Paula Prueter who carried his only living child, Lionel Anthony Atwill. His third wife
Louise Brooks Cromwell, had previously been married to
Douglas MacArthur.
His son "Tony" is a retired writer with an only child, Amanda.
*He was
nicknamed Pinky because of his fading
red hair.
