It’s week number two of Inktober (the JPiC version) and prolific character actor Lionel Atwill is the featured star.
While Lionel Atwill appeared in a slew of films in all genres, including romance and comedy, he is best remembered for his supporting work in a number of Universal horror films. Beginning with 1932’s Dr. X, Lionel was cast in various roles in pictures in Universal’s ongoing Frankenstein saga, mostly as representatives of the law. He played one-armed “Inspector Krogh” in Son of Frankenstein, a part that was famously parodied by Kenneth Mars in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.
In 1942’s Ghost of Frankenstein, he played a colleague of the good doctor. (This was the first film featuring Lon Chaney Jr as the Monster.) that same year, Lionel was indicted for perjury for testimony related to the alleged occurrence of a sex orgy at his home. He was given five years probation, but Hollywood producers and other executives blacklisted him for minor criminal activity. Lionel had difficulty getting work and was relegated to small roles in small pictures until his death in 1946 at the age of 61.