Lionel Atwill was born into a wealthy family and was educated atLondon's prestigious Mercer School to become an architect, but hisinterest turned to the stage. He worked his way progressively into thecraft and debuted at age 20 at the Garrick Theatre in London. He actedand improved regularly thereafter, especially in the plays ofHenrik Ibsen andGeorge Bernard Shaw. Atwill came tothe US in 1915 and would appear in some 25 plays on Broadway between1917 and 1931, but he was already trying his hand in silent films by1918. He had a sonorous voice and dictatorial British accent thatserved him well for the stage and just as well for sound movies. He didsome Vitaphone short subjects in 1928 and then his first real film roleinThe Silent Witness (1932) (alsotitled "The Verdict").

That voice and his bullish demeanor made Atwill a natural for aspectrum of tough-customer roles. As shady noblemen and mad doctors,but also gruff military men and police inspectors (usually with asignature mustache), he worked steadily through the 1930s. He had thechance to show a broader character as the tyrannical but unforgettableCol. Bishop inKaizoku Buraddo (1935). It's hard toforget his Inspector Krogh inSon of Frankenstein (1939),wherein he agrees to a game of darts withBasil Rathbone and proceeds to impale thedarts through the right sleeve of his uniform (the character sported awooden right arm). And he sends himself up with rolling and blusteringdialogue as the glory-hog ham stage actor Rawitch in the classicTo Be or Not to Be (1942) withJack Benny. However, Atwill effectivelyruined his burgeoning film career in 1943 after he was implicated inwhat was described as an "orgy" at his home, naked guests andpornographic films included--and a rape perpetrated during theproceedings. Atwill "lied like a gentleman," it was said, in the courtproceedings to protect the identities of his guests and was convictedof perjury and sentenced to five years' probation.

He was thereafter kept employed on Poverty Row with only brief periodsof employment by Universal Pictures, while the rest of Hollywood turnedits collective back on him. He is more remembered for the horror filmsgenerally than for better efforts, but they have fueled his continuedpopularity and a bid by the Southern California Lionel Atwill Fan Clubto petition for a Hollywood Blvd. star (he never received one).