Philip Ober

Philip Nott Ober (March 23, 1902 – September 13, 1982) was an American stage and screen actor born in Fort Payne, Alabama, who later transitioned into a career as a U.S. foreign service diplomat. The son of Frank Ober, he was raised in White Plains, New York, and attended The Peddie School before enrolling at Princeton University, which he left before completing his degree. In a 1935 interview, he stated, "I got kicked out of Princeton in sophomore year." He subsequently worked in advertising before pursuing a career in acting. His uncle was the American naturalist and writer Frederick A. Ober.

Ober made his Broadway debut in 1931, originating the role of Tom Faulkner in Technique. His stage career spanned nearly two decades, with credits including the play Craig's Wife, the drama Doctors Disagree, the comedy Another Love Story, and Light Up the Sky. In 1934, he appeared opposite Gladys George in Lawrence Riley's Broadway production Personal Appearance. His final Broadway appearance came in 1948. That same year, his film work began with Chloe, Love Is Calling You in 1934, and he went on to appear in a range of notable productions. He is perhaps best known on screen for portraying Captain Dana "Dynamite" Holmes in From Here to Eternity (1953), the neglectful husband of Karen Holmes, played by Deborah Kerr, and for playing the United Nations ambassador in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959), the character whom Roger Thornhill, played by Cary Grant, consults to determine who had occupied his mansion. Additional film credits include The Magnificent Yankee (1950), Broken Lance (1954), Torpedo Run (1958), and The Ugly American (1963).

From 1954 to 1967, Ober was a frequent presence in American television. He was cast twice on I Love Lucy, first as "Arnold" in the fifth episode, "The Quiz Show," and later as Hollywood producer Dore Schary in episode 119, "Don Juan is Shelved," after Schary chose not to portray himself. Ober made five appearances on Perry Mason, including the role 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 appeared in one episode of The Twilight Zone, "Spur of the Moment," co-starring Diana Hyland, and in the Whirlybirds episode "Bankrupt Alibi," in which his character persuades his son to accept responsibility for a hit-and-run accident the character himself committed. He portrayed General Silas Guild in the Bat Masterson episode "The Prescott Campaign" in 1961, and played Colonel Hoey in the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "I Saw the Whole Thing" in 1962. Ober held a recurring role as General Wingard Stone in the early episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, appeared in two episodes of McHale's Navy as Admiral "Iron Pants" Rafferty, played museum curator Dr. Wilkerson in episode 32 of The Munsters titled "Mummy Munster" in 1965, and made four appearances on the comedy series Hazel. Additional television credits include one episode of Sugarfoot, one episode of The Investigators, and the episode "Bankrupt Alibi" of Whirlybirds.

In his personal life, Ober married actress Vivian Vance on August 12, 1941. The marriage was marked by physical and emotional abuse, and the two divorced in 1959. His third marriage, to Jane Westover, lasted from 1961 until his death. Following his acting career, Ober entered the U.S. diplomatic service and served as consular agent to the U.S. consul in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He died on September 13, 1982, at the age of 80. While numerous sources attributed his death to a heart attack in Mexico City, Associated Press obituaries cited a hospital spokesperson stating that he died of lung cancer at Santa Monica Hospital in Santa Monica, California, a finding corroborated by both the California Death Index and the Social Security Death Index.