As we learn about a few Bewitching characters this month, I had to include the Kravitzes, Abner and Gladys, a/k/a George Tobias and Alice Pearce. Today let’s take a closer look at the career of George Tobias.
Tobias was born in New York in 1901. He was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, and his parents were active in the Yiddish theatre. After his older brother joined them, they tried to discourage George from following in their footsteps. In a St. Louis Post Dispatch interview in 1940, Tobias said “They made up their minds very definitely that I was not going to spend my life nearly starving as they did. They wanted me to be a doctor or lawyer, but I knew from a very early age that I would follow the same career as my mother, father and brother . . . so whenever I got an acting job in between other jobs, I had to keep it from my family.”
At age 15, Tobias was in local productions, making his Broadway debut at age 23. In 1939, Warner Brothers offered him a contract, and he appeared in 65 big-screen productions during his career, including parts in This is the Army and Marjorie Morningstar. Tobias appeared in four Oscar Best Picture nominees: Ninotchka (1939), Sergeant York (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and Mildred Pierce (1945).
Tobias’s television career began in 1954 in Our Miss Brooks. He would go on to earn 34 additional television credits before he retired in 1977.
His first cast role was in Hudson’s Bay playing Pierre Falcon in 1959. This show centered on Hudson’s Bay Company and its fur trade shortly after North America’s colonization. Trappers, explorers, Native Americans, and both the French and British navigate the territory, seeking fortune, fame, and adventure.
In 1960, he showed up as Penrose on season one of Adventures in Paradise in a show about the adventures of the Tiki III and crew as they sailed from island to island through the South Pacific, carrying cargo and the odd passenger from one drama to another.
From 1964-1971, Tobias was part of the Bewitched cast as Abner Kravitz. He put up with his wife Gladys despite thinking she was high strung, delusional, and just plain kookie.
In 1966, Doris Day’s movie The Glass Bottom Boat was released. Pearce and George Tobias were cast as next-door neighbors in the film. Although they weren’t named Gladys and Abner, the Fenimores were a carbon copy of the Kravitzes.
George’s last regular role was in The Waltons during seasons one and two when he played junkman Vernon Rutley.
While Tobias took on a few more roles before retiring, 1977 was his last year of acting, appearing on Tabitha when he reprised his role of Abner Kravitz. Tabitha was Darrin and Samantha’s daughter, now an adult.
Tobias passed away in 1980 from bladder cancer. He never married or had children, although he had a 40-year on-and-off relationship with actress Milicent Patrick. Patrick had an active career in entertainment from 1941-1961; she was also a commercial artist, fashion designer, and children’s book illustrator.
Even though Tobias was no longer living, he had one more adventure to journey through. The hearse with his body was stolen on its way to the mortuary. The car was in a fender-bender, and while the two drivers exchanged information, a carjacker made off with the hearse. The car and body were found shortly afterward.
In his book, Bewitched Forever, Herbie J. Pilato discusses how rugged and tough Tobias was in real life. He said he was “quite the equestrian. He owned and trained many horses, loved to play polo, and was a volunteer mounted policeman.” David White, who played Larry Tate, told Pilato that George “was a sheriff out in Peach Blossom, California, where he lived. He had a badge and everything.”
I always like Abner and Gladys Kravitz. I’m happy Tobias stuck to his guns and continued with his acting career, despite his parents’ worries. It sounds like he had a happy and successful life.
thewritelife61 