Philip Ober

The son of Frank Ober, he was raised in White Plains, New York. After attending a preparatory school and Princeton University, he worked in advertising before moving into acting.[1]

Ober often appeared in roles as a straight man in farcical circumstances. He made his debut on stage, playing Tom Faulkner in Technique in 1931.[2] He appeared in Lawrence Riley's Broadway show Personal Appearance (1934) opposite Gladys George.

Ober's film debut came in Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934).[1]

From 1954 to 1967, he frequently appeared in television series. He played a general determined to find the truth of an alleged desertion and an Indian attack on a fort in the episode "The Vultures" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Sugarfoot.[3]

Ober was twice cast on I Love Lucy, first playing "Arnold" in "The Quiz Show", and later portraying the Hollywood producer Dore Schary when Schary decided not to play himself in the episode. He made five appearances on Perry Mason, including that of defendant Peter Dawson in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee", and the dual role of murder victim Sumner Hodge and his brother Adrian Hodge in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Tandem Target". He also appeared in one episode of The Twilight Zone ("Spur of the Moment"), co-starring Diana Hyland, and made four guest appearances in the comedy series Hazel. He had a recurring role as Gen. Wingard Stone in the early episodes of NBC situation comedy I Dream of Jeannie, and appeared in two episodes of McHale's Navy as tough-as-nails Admiral "Iron Pants" Rafferty and on one episode of The Munsters in 1965.

Ober continued to work as an actor in films. He played the UN ambassador in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) whom Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) meets, to clarify who had occupied his mansion. He also played Capt. Dana "Dynamite" Holmes, the neglectful, unsympathetic husband of Karen Holmes (Deborah Kerr), in the film version of From Here to Eternity (1953).

He retired from acting and went into the U.S. diplomatic service, serving as consular agent to the U.S. consul in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.[4]

On August 12, 1941, Ober married actress Vivian Vance.[5] They divorced in 1959.

Before his marriage to Vance, Ober was married to the former Phyllis Roper.[6] Ober’s third marriage was to Jane Westover; they were married from 1961 until Ober’s death in 1982.[4]

Although many sources report that Ober died of a heart attack in Mexico City at the age of 80, Associated Press obituaries quote a hospital spokesperson that Ober died of lung cancer at Santa Monica Hospital in Santa Monica, California on September 13, 1982.[4] The California Death Index and Social Security Death Index substantiate this information.[7]

• Philip Ober on IMDb
• Philip Ober at the Internet Broadway Database
• Philip Ober at Find a Grave