George Rikard Bell (born 1911, disappeared October 1936), better known by the stage name Brian Abbot, was an Australian actor best known for playing the male lead in '' Orphan of the Wilderness'' (1936) and the circumstances of his death.

Biography

George Rikard Bell (known professionally as Brian Abbot) ran away from school at aged 15 and worked as a jackeroo. He had a great love of sailing and originally wanted to be a sailor for a career, but worked on two vessels which later sunk, TSS ''Kanowna'' and SS ''Christina Frazer''. In the words of a later newspaper profile, "As Mr. Abbot didn't believe in for the third time to prove that fate was against him he promptly decided that there were other adventurous jobs to be had which didn't carry the risk of drowning." He subsequently turned to acting, taking the stage name of Brian Abbot. In early 1930 in Katoomba, he married Phyllis Curley and in September they had a son, Hal Beaumont Rikard Bell, named after his father, Harry (Hal). The October 1929 Wall Street crash reverberated around the world and Australia's unemployed rose from 10 percent in 1929 to 21 percent by the mid-1930s and by 1932 more than 31 percent of the Australian work force was unemployed. Brian (still known as George Rikard Bell) pursued a variety of jobs to support his struggling young family but it was difficult to find work. Sometime later, in 1935, divorced from his first wife and known as Brian Abbot, he found his way into show business, getting a small role in ''

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

'' (1936) which led to him being cast by

Ken G. Hall Kenneth George Hall (22 February 1901 – 8 February 1994) was an Australian film producer and director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. He was the first Australian to win an Acad ...

to play the lead in '' Orphan of the Wilderness'' (1936), although Hall later felt the actor's inexperience was evident in the final film. By 1936, he had a new wife, Grace, and they were captured in a photo by

Sam Hood Samuel John Hood (20 August 1872 – 8 June 1953) was an Australian photographer and photojournalist born in South Australia whose career spanned from the 1880s to the 1950s.The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known simply as ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Are Media in Sydney and founded in 1933. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before bein ...

'' on 24 October 1936 (which later became famous in Australia in 2014), just before he set sail on the SS ''Morinda'' to Lord Howe Island to star in the film ''

Mystery Island ''Mystery Island'' is a live-action science fiction adventure television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired as a segment on ''The Skatebirds'' from September 10, 1977, to January 21, 1978, on CBS. In the fall of 1 ...

''. His grandson

Philip Powers Philip Powers (born 1963) is a record producer - and author - specialising in film scores and classical music. His recordings have been nominated for five ARIA Awards. He has produced 34 CDs for the 1M1 Records label including ''The Lighthorse ...

has also worked extensively in the Australian film industry, producing forty Australian feature film soundtrack albums as well as working for the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

Disappearance

In October 1936, after completing work on ''

'' (1937) on

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

, Abbot and Leslie Hay-Simpson, a fellow actor, set out for Sydney in a open longboat called ''The Mystery Star''. They were never seen again, despite a search of over a week involving a number of vessels, including the naval destroyer . Abbot's wife, Grace Rikard Bell, later sued the Producers and Citizens' Co-operative Assurance Co., Ltd. over her husband's death, claiming the company promised to insure his life for £1,000. The company (who were represented in court by

Clive Evatt Clive Raleigh Evatt (6 June 1900 – 15 September 1984) was an Australian politician, barrister and raconteur. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1939 until 1959. At various times he sat as a member of the Industri ...

) alleged Abbot sailed back from Lord Howe Island in a small boat "quite unsuitable" for the journey without informing the company. The case was subsequently settled.

Lord Howe Island Crossing

A significant number of boats have gone missing in the stretch of water between Sydney and Lord Howe Island over the years. A few weeks after Abbot's disappearance, a boat containing five men sailing from Sydney to the island also vanished.

Filmography

*''

'' (1937) *'' Orphan of the Wilderness'' (1936) * ''

'' (1936)

References

External links

*
Brian Abbot
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...