George Gobel
American comedian (1919-1991)
George Leslie Goebel (May 20, 1919 – February 24, 1991) was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, The George Gobel Show, on NBC from 1954 to 1959 and on CBS from 1959 to 1960 (alternating in its last season with The Jack Benny Program). He was also a familiar panelist on the NBC game show Hollywood Squares.
Early years
He was born George Leslie Goebel in Chicago on May 20, 1919, the only child of Hermann and Lillian (MacDonald) Goebel. His father, Hermann Goebel, who was then working as a butcher and grocer, had immigrated to the United States in the 1890s with his parents from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother, Lillian (MacDonald) Goebel, was a native of Illinois, as was her mother, while Lillian's father, a tugboat captain, had immigrated from Scotland.
Even before his 1937 graduation from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Chicago, Gobel was a country music singer on the National Barn Dance on Chicago's WLS radio and later on KMOX in St. Louis. In 1942, Gobel married his high-school sweetheart, Alice Rose Humecki. During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces and served as a flight instructor in Curtiss AT-9 aircraft at Altus, Oklahoma, and later in Martin B-26 Marauder bombers at Frederick, Oklahoma.
The public source identifies “George Gobel” as american comedian (1919-1991). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around George, Gobel and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “George Gobel”, the useful work is to connect “american comedian (1919-1991)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3101602. VIAF identifies the subject as 11910183. The Library of Congress control number is no97032036. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1919, 1991, 1954 and 1959.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “George Gobel”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow George Gobel primary sources, George Gobel archive and George research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “George Gobel”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “George Gobel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.