George Tobias

George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner Kravitz on the TV sitcom Bewitched from 1964 to 1971.

Early life Tobias was born in New York City on July 14, 1901, the younger of two sons of Russian-Jewish immigrants Esther and Samuel Tobias, both of whom were active in the Yiddish theatre, as was his older brother Benjamin. Far removed from the stereotypical stage parents, both Mr. and Mrs. Tobias did their utmost to discourage the acting bug in their youngest: hey 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 my other jobs, I had to keep it secret from my family. He appeared in Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape in 1922, and in Charles Méré's La Flamme and Channing Pollock's The Fool the following year, then made his Broadway debut in Maxwell Anderson's What Price Glory? in 1924.

Tobias portrayed Penrose in eight episodes of Adventures in Paradise (1959–1961). Tobias often appeared in an uncredited role as a courtroom spectator on Perry Mason, and he played Sidney Falconer in the episode titled "The Case of the Antic Angel" (1964).

In 1972-1973, Tobias appeared in an episode of The Waltons as junkman Vernon Rutley.

Tobias never married and he retired from acting in 1977 after he reprised his role as Abner Kravitz in a guest appearance on the Bewitched sequel Tabitha.

Personal life and death On February 27, 1980, Tobias died of bladder cancer at age 78 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. En route to the mortuary, the momentarily unattended station wagon transporting Tobias's body from the hospital was hijacked and driven three blocks before the thieves noticed the body, promptly abandoned the vehicle and—according to witnesses—"ran screaming" from the scene. The memorial service for Tobias took place as planned on February 29, 1980, at Mount Sinai Memorial Park. Tobias is buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery #1 in Glendale, Queens, New York City.

Work Theater Broadway productions: What Price Glory? (1924) The International (1928) The Road to Rome (1928) The Grey Fox (1928) Red Dust (1928) S. S. Glencairn (1929) Fiesta (1929) Sailors of Cattaro (1934) Black Pit (1935) Paths of Glory (1935) Hell Freezes Over (1935) Star Spangled (1936) You Can't Take It with You (1936) Good Hunting (1938) Silk Stockings (1955)

Complete filmography

The Lunatic (1927) Yes, My Darling Daughter (1939) as Dock Worker (uncredited) Maisie (1939) as Rico They All Come Out (1939) as "Sloppy Joe" The Roaring Twenties (1939) as Soldier in American Army Barracks (uncredited) Ninotchka (1939) as Soviet Visa Official (uncredited) Balalaika (1939) as Slaski The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) as Beggar Music in My Heart (1940) as Sascha Saturday's Children (1940) as Herbert Smith Torrid Zone (1940) as Rosie La Mata The Man Who Talked Too Much (1940) as Slug "Canvasback" McNutt They Drive by Night (1940) as George Rondolos River's End (1940) as Andrew "Andy" Dijon The Baron and the Rose (1940, Short) as Henry Stiegel Calling All Husbands (1940) as Oscar Armstrong City for Conquest (1940) as Pinky East of the River (1940) as Tony Scaduto South of Suez (1940) as Eli Snedeker The Strawberry Blonde (1941) as Nicholas Pappalas Affectionately Yours (1941) as Pasha Out of the Fog (1941) as Igor Propotkin Sergeant York (1941) as Private Michael T. "Pusher" Ross The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941) as Peewee Defoe The Tanks Are Coming (1941, Short) as Malowski Captains of the Clouds (1942) as Blimp Lebec (bush pilot) Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) as Dietz Juke Girl (1942) as Nick Garcos Wings for the Eagle (1942) as Jake Hanso My Sister Eileen (1942) as Appopolous Air Force (1943) as Asst. Crew Chief Weinberg Mission to Moscow (1943) as Freddie This Is the Army (1943) as Maxie Twardofsky Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) as himself Passage to Marseille (1944) as Petit Between Two Worlds (1944) as Pete Musick Make Your Own Bed (1944) as Boris Fenilise Objective, Burma! (1945) as Cpl. Gabby Gordon Mildred Pierce (1945) as Mr. Chris (uncredited) Her Kind of Man (1946) as Joe Marino Nobody Lives Forever (1946) as Al Doyle Gallant Bess (1946) as Lug Johnson Sinbad the Sailor (1947) as Abbu My Wild Irish Rose (1947) as Nick Popoli The Judge Steps Out (1948) as Mike Adventures of Casanova (1948) as Jacopo The Set-Up (1949) as Tiny Everybody Does It (1949) as Rossi Southside 1-1000 (1950) as Reggie Rawhide (1951) as Gratz The Mark of the Renegade (1951) as Captain Bardoso The Magic Carpet (1951) as Razi Ten Tall Men (1951) as Londos Desert Pursuit (1952) as Ghazili The Glenn Miller Story (1954) as Si Schribman The Seven Little Foys (1954) as Barney Green The Tattered Dress (1957) as Billy Giles Silk Stockings (1957) as Vassili Markovitch Marjorie Morningstar (1958) as Maxwell Greech Hudson's Bay (1959-1960) as series regular Pierre Falcon A New Kind of Love (1963) as Joe Bergner Perry Mason (1964) as Sidney Falconer Bullet for a Badman (1964) as Diggs Nightmare in the Sun (1965) as Gideon The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) as Mr. Fenimore The Phynx (1970) as Markevitch Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) as Captain on Flight Line at Hickam Field (uncredited)