Sebastian Cabot

Biography

Sebastian Cabot (July 6, 1918 – August 22, 1977) was an English film and television actor, best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman Giles French in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair. Cabot was born in London, England. His career began with a bit part in Foreign Affaires (1935); his first screen credit was in Alfred 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 portrayed Iago 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 in George Pal's production of H.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 the CBS series Family Affair. 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. Cabot appeared in another Christmas project, the television 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.