Abel made his film debut in 1918 with a small part in Out of a Clear Sky.

He made his Broadway debut in Forbidden in 1919.
In 1924 he appeared in two Eugene O'Neill plays simultaneously: Bound East for Cardiff at the Provincetown Playhouse and Desire Under the Elms at the Greenwich Village Theater.
His many theatre credits include As You Like It (1923), William Congreve's Love for Love (1925), Anton Chekhov's The Seagull (1929-1930), Mourning Becomes Electra (1929), Kaufman and Hart's Merrily We Roll Along (1934), and Trelawny of the 'Wells' (1975).
He also appeared in Channing Pollock's play The Enemy (1926) with Fay Bainter.
The play was adapted to film as The Enemy (1927) with Lillian Gish and Ralph Forbes.
He made his stage debut in London in the 1929 Coquette.

His first major film role was as D'Artagnan in RKO Pictures' 1935 The Three Musketeers.
Abel went on to play in more than sixty films.
Abel was a vice president of the Screen Actors' Guild.
Abel played a major role in the 1942 musical comedy Holiday Inn, portraying hyperactive agent Danny Reed.

Abel also appeared as a concert narrator or reader with Eugene Ormandy the Philadelphia Orchestra in Aaron Copland's Portrait of Lincoln in 1951, and in Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood in 1953.
Abel made his film debut in 1918 with a small part in Out of a Clear Sky.
He made his Broadway debut in Forbidden in 1919. In 1924 he appeared in two Eugene O'Neill plays simultaneously: Bound East for Cardiff at the Provincetown Playhouse and Desire Under the Elms at the Greenwich Village Theater. His many theatre credits include As You Like It (1923), William Congreve's Love for Love (1925), Anton Chekhov's The Seagull (1929-1930), Mourning Becomes Electra (1929), Kaufman and Hart's Merrily We Roll Along (1934), and Trelawny of the 'Wells' (1975). He also appeared in Channing Pollock's play The Enemy (1926) with Fay Bainter. The play was adapted to film as The Enemy (1927) with Lillian Gish and Ralph Forbes. He made his stage debut in London in the 1929 Coquette.
His first major film role was as D'Artagnan in RKO Pictures' 1935 The Three Musketeers. Abel went on to play in more than sixty films. Abel was a vice president of the Screen Actors' Guild. Abel played a major role in the 1942 musical comedy Holiday Inn, portraying hyperactive agent Danny Reed.
Abel also appeared as a concert narrator or reader with Eugene Ormandy the Philadelphia Orchestra in Aaron Copland's Portrait of Lincoln in 1951, and in Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood in 1953.
Walter Abel