Playing Six Degrees of Matthew Broderick, Starting with John Abineri…Day 138 of Bond 365

John Abineri

Born this day in 1928

Airline Representative in Diamonds Are Forever

John Frederick Abineri was born in London to an Austrian father. He apparently had an affinity for languages because he was fluent German, Russian and French. His linguistic flexibility led Abineri to be cast in a variety of nationalities throughout his career in television and film. Adding to his acting abilities, Abineri attended the Old Vic drama school and according to IMDB, he began acting in the theatre in 1951 with such plays as Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” and Christopher Marlowe’s “Tamburlaine the Great.”

John Abineri, center

Abineri’s first on-screen role was in the 1955 BBC TV series The Children of the New Forest in which he played Oswald for all five episodes. His first film was Independent Artists Studios’ House of Mystery (1961) in which he played the supporting role of the Milkman. However, the first film I recognize, but I don’t know if it would have been Abineri’s breakout role, was in Guy Hamilton’s Funeral in Berlin (1966) starring Michael Caine. And, Abineri shared a common thread with a few other Bond alums: he guest starred in the TV series Doctor Who, spanning from 1968 through 1979.

A couple of interesting projects listed in Abineri’s filmography: he played Rimmer’s Dad in the cult TV series Red Dwarf (1988) and Father Gruber in the mini-series Around the World in 80 Days (1989), which starred Pierce Brosnan. Also, Abineri starred as Herne the Hunter in the series Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986), which also starred Sean Connery’s son Jason Connery (who was married to Mia Sara – who played Sloane in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and guess who had a writing credit in the show? Anthony Horowitz who is writing the next James Bond novel! I love playing ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’!

Bond Trivia: Interestingly, Abineri was dubbed for his role in Diamonds Are Forever.

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