Robert Ober

Robert Howard Ober (May 10, 1881 – December 7, 1950) was an American stage and silent-screen actor whose Broadway career spanned from 1904 to 1945. He was born in Bunker Hill, Illinois, to Robert Howard Ober Sr. and Joella W. Ober, née Davis. His early education took place at Divoll grade school in St. Louis, Missouri, and he later graduated from Washington University in St. Louis.

Ober launched his theatrical career in St. Louis at the Century Theatre, making his first stage appearance with the Colonel Hopkins Stock Company in the play In Mizzoura. Early roles also included My Friend from India and Arizona. He subsequently toured in Madame X before joining the Harry Davis Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, eventually relocating to New York City to continue his career.

His New York stage work encompassed a wide range of productions. He appeared in The Little Gray Lady, Gallops, Brewster's Millions, and Ready Money, as well as alongside Fay Templeton in Forty-five Minutes from Broadway. In 1917 he performed with Madge Kennedy in Fair and Warmer, and he also appeared with Arnold Daly in You Can Never Tell. Among his other stage credits were The Humming Bird, written by Maude Fulton, and You Can't Take It With You. His verified Broadway credits include The Assassin, the farce Victory Belles, the musical The Canary, The Bat, and Back Fire.

In addition to his stage work, Ober appeared in silent films during the 1920s. His screen credits include Introduce Me, Time the Comedian, Souls for Sables, The Big Parade, The Mystic, and Butterflies in the Rain, all from 1925 and 1926, as well as The Idle Rich in 1929.

Ober was married three times. He first wed actress and lyricist Ruth Boyd in 1917; they divorced in 1919. He married playwright and actress Maude Fulton in 1920, and that marriage ended in 1926. He subsequently married actress Mabel Taliaferro. Ober died on December 7, 1950, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, at the age of 69.