George Tobias

Early life and career

Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood. In 1939, he signed with Warner Brothers and was cast in supporting roles, many times along with James Cagney, in such movies as Cagney's Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), as well as with Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941) and Irving Berlin, Ronald Reagan, and George Murphy in This Is The Army (1943).

From 1959-61, Tobias played Penrose in eight episodes of the ABC television series, Adventures in Paradise, starring Gardner McKay. From 1964 to 1971, he played Abner Kravitz, the long-suffering neighbor on the ABC sitcom, Bewitched. Tobias often appeared in an uncredited role as a courtroom spectator on CBS's Perry Mason and played Sidney Falconer in the episode, "The Case of the Antic Angel" (1964).

Tobias was charged in the death of 9-year-old Joel Watnick of Los Angeles in July 1954. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge awarded damages to four other boys who were passengers in a station wagon struck by Tobias's car. Tobias was not driving. He had loaned his car to actress Lynne Baggett, who was charged with felony hit-and-run after Watnick died. Watnick's mother sued Baggett in separate court proceedings. Baggett and Tobias shared responsibility for damages which amounted to $2,599.

Tobias never married and retired from acting in 1977 after a guest role in the Bewitched sequel Tabitha.

Death

On February 27, 1980, Tobias died of bladder cancer at the age of 78 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He is buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens, New York City.