Yup, that George Gobel above with Tallulah Bankhead, of all people.
Significantly, the shot was entirely non-movie related. Bankhead was a guest on Gobel’s immensely successful TV show, which rated in the top ten in 1954-1955.
Diminutive, crew-cut Gobel is, perhaps, not worth remembering today. But during the mid-Fifties he ranked on NBC’s top star roster, He played the bewildered innocent coping with an ever more confusing world. (A signature phrase — Well, I’ll be a dirty bird.)
(Trivia — the actress who initially played Gobel’s tube wife was none other than Jeff Donell, one of our favorite character players.)
Hollywood figured Gobel’s tv popularity would translate into movie box office. Hollywood was wrong.
Ok, on to the answers to our George Gobel Quiz.( Sorry for the delay, but Doris Day takes precedence.)
1) Question: In 1958, Gobel turned up in the movie, I Married A Woman, as the improbable costar to which one of the following international sexpots? a) Ursula Andress; b) Romy Schneider; c) Diana Dors or d) Barbara Payton.
Answer: c) Diana Dors.
2) Question: In his last movie, 1984’s Ellie, Gobel costarred as a down-home preacher opposite which one of these more established stars? a) Shelly Winters; b) Bette Davis; c) Joan Crawford; or d) Irene Dunne.
Answer: Shelley Winters.
3) Question: In his occasional movie and many tv appearances, Gobel milked for laughs which one of the following character stereotypes? a) An inept minor burglar who flubbed picking pockets; b) A mild-mannered sort saddled with an overbearing wife; c) A clean-cut, ‘aw shucks’ Midwesterner; or d) All of the above.
Answer: We’d say (b) and (c). Although Gobel was born in California, he exploited his ‘aw shucks’ approach that made him a hit with middle American audiences.
4) Question: Gobel actually was the top-billed star of Paramount’s 1956 romantic comedy, The Birds and the Bees, despite the presence of David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor. Who played Gobel’s role in the original version of the picture, 1941’s The Lady Eve?
Answer: Henry Fonda.
5) Question: Gobel’s movie career was cut short of his own volition because he hated the pretensions of Hollywood and preferred television. a) True; or b) False?
Answer: b) False. Gobel’s movie career was cut short because his films were box office duds.
I had forgotten that George Gobel was a frequent guest “cube” on “Hollywood Squares.” In fact, he’s in the top ten panelists in total number of appearances.
“HS” and other panel shows have often served as “career-extenders” for some performers…
On another note, Doris Day has left our world with reputation firmly intact, to my knowledge. I’m sorry she had such poor luck with spouses (I know, I know, it takes two, etc.). But has there ever been a bigger s**t in Hollywood than the thieving, delusional, meal-ticket monster Marty Melcher?
No woman, least of all our Doris, deserved him. At least he had the courtesy to check out early.
OK, stepping off soapbox…
I hate to disagree with Joe & Frank on anything, but the likes of GEORGE GOBEL are worth remembering for some people…
Every one has their own roster of celebrities they grew up with and liked. Larger than life people who both entertained and inspired. People that they respected and looked forward to seeing, as if they were part of their own family.
We all have different tastes, a celebrity to one person is simply a nobody to someone else.
Just look at all those that died last year, as reflected in TCM Remembers annual death list-
httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ewT7_NrGwM&list=PLe0AbzbqzHTUp07W05fpCCkKfpDfhB2jR
Even celebrities that are not household names all played their part in helping us survive just being one of the billions of plain ordinary non-celebrity masses who can only dream of fame and fortune.
HOLLYWOOD and the whole pop culture of celebrity, is one of the only things that ordinary people have to lift their spirits, even with all the socially engineered propaganda that is thrown into the mix, that keeps us dumbed-down, distracted and controlled.
When you look at what passes as CELEBRITY today… What passes as entertainment on hundreds of channels… What the ‘trending now’ young people of today are coerced to endure…
Well, it just makes you mourn the loss of true celebrities even more, whether they’re a big name like Doris Day or a small one like George Gobel.