George Tobias was born in New York City July 14, 1901. His parents were actors in burlesque, but didn’t want him to go into acting. Like many kids, he ignored them and it worked out pretty well for him.

He worked in minor roles on stage during the 1920s and ’30s. In 1939 he was signed to a contract with Warner Brothers and was cast in numerous minor or supporting roles.

He had minor roles mostly in comedies, but sometimes dramas as well. Sometimes he used his New York City accent to portray characters from, well New York City. Other times he used Russian, French, and Arab accents. He did them all. H

He is best known to the generation that grew up in the 1960s as the long suffering neighbor Abner Cravitz of Samantha and Darrin Stephens on Bewitched. His TV wife Gladys was always suspicious of the goings on at the Stephens house, but could never convince Abner.

To this day when we see a nosey neighbor, my wife and I refer to him or her as “Mrs. Kravitz.

That humor is probably lost on today’s generation.

His movie career spanned more then 60 movies and when he wasn’t working in a movie, he was doing roles on TV.

His last movie role was in 1970 in Tora! Tora! Tora! as a Captain at Hickam Field.

As I’ve said before a good character actor can always add something to a good movie. Or even a bad on for that matter.