Philip Loeb
Philip Loeb | |
|---|---|
 Philip Loeb | |
| Born | March 28, 1891 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | September 1, 1955 (aged 64) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Jeanne La Gue
(m. 1920; div. 1940) |
| Children | 1 |
Philip Loeb (March 28, 1891 – September 1, 1955), was an American stage, film, and television actor, director and author, perhaps best remembered for playing Jake Goldberg in The Goldbergs. He was blacklisted under McCarthyism and committed suicide.
Early life
[edit]Philip Loeb was born March 28, 1891, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first performed in a high school production of Lady Gregory's The Workhouse Ward. After serving in the Army, he obtained a series of minor stage roles.[1] He also worked as stage manager of The Green Goddess play at the Booth Theatre in 1921.[2]
Theatrical career
[edit]Loeb's theatrical career flourished in the 1920s when he became associated with the newly formed Theatre Guild in New York City. Although his stage work diminished in the next decade when he got involved with Actors' Equity Association (it was his time with Equity that purportedly prompted the later charges against him of Communist leanings),[2] he did enjoy a big success in 1937-38 with Room Service, which ran for 500 performances at Broadway's Cort Theatre. He then co-authored the film adaptation of Room Service (1938) starring the Marx Brothers. During the course of his theatrical career, Loeb directed seven Broadway productions and appeared in 36 Broadway plays:[1] his first, If I Were King, in 1916 at the Shubert Theatre;[3] and his last, Time Out For Ginger, in 1953 at the Lyceum Theatre.[4]
The Goldbergs
[edit]
In 1948, Loeb portrayed the role of Jake Goldberg in Gertrude Berg's Broadway play Me and Molly, which was based on Berg's long-running radio show The Goldbergs. The following year, he reprised the role on the television adaptation of The Goldbergs on CBS.[5] Loeb quickly became a viewer favorite as Jake, the exasperated, loving husband to Berg's meddlesome, bighearted Molly Goldberg. He also appeared in the 1950 film adaptation of the series.
Blacklisting
[edit]In June 1950, Loeb was named as a Communist in Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television. He denied the accusation, but the chief sponsor of The Goldbergs, General Foods, demanded that he must be dropped from the show's cast due to his "controversiality".[6] Gertrude Berg (who had created the show and owned it on both radio and TV) refused to fire Loeb. She and Loeb stalled and resisted the sponsor's mandate for over a year,[5] but he eventually resigned, accepting a settlement which was estimated at $40,000 ($473,600 today).[7] His last acting job was in the 1953 Broadway production of Time Out for Ginger,[8][1] and its subsequent Chicago production in 1954.[9]
Death
[edit]In his 1996 memoir Inside Out, blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein described Loeb as being depressed as a result of the blacklist. Loeb was sole supporter of a schizophrenic son,[5] and was burdened with financial problems. Bernstein, who belonged to a circle of friends around Loeb that included Zero Mostel, wrote, "I never saw Loeb smile, even when Zero was at his hilarious best."[10] The following year, on September 1, 1955, Loeb committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills in the Taft Hotel in midtown Manhattan.[2][11] No note was found.[2] He was buried in Mount Sinai Cemetery in his native Philadelphia.[12]
Legacy
[edit]In Martin Ritt's The Front—a 1976 film starring Woody Allen that dramatizes the blacklist—Loeb's descent into suicide was captured in the character Hecky Brown, portrayed by Loeb's blacklisted friend Zero Mostel.[13] The screenplay was written by Loeb's blacklisted friend Walter Bernstein. Loeb's case was also noted in the Philip Roth novel I Married a Communist (1998).[14]
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where Loeb was an instructor, awards an annual scholarship in his memory.[15] Actors' Equity briefly issued a Philip Loeb Humanitarian Award; recipients included theatrical producer William Ross,[16] and actor Iggie Wolfington.[17]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Room Service | Timothy Hogarth | |
| Sweethearts | Samuel Silver | Uncredited | |
| 1947 | A Double Life | Max Lasker | |
| 1950 | The Goldbergs | Jake Goldberg |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Philip Loeb – Broadway Cast & Staff". Internet Broadway Database (IBDB). Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Philip Loeb Dead; Prominent Actor; Body Found in Midtown Hotel; Overdose of Sleeping Pills Apparent Cause". The New York Times. September 2, 1955. p. 38. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
- ^ "If I Were King". IBDB.
- ^ "Time Out For Ginger". IBDB.
- ^ a b c Nussbaum, Emily (June 9, 2025). "The Forgotten Inventor of the Sitcom". The New Yorker.
- ^ Gould, Jack (January 8, 1952). "Actor Is Dropped From Video Cast". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
- ^ "Ousted Video Player Gets 'Goldberg' Fee". The New York Times. September 2, 1952. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
- ^ Zolotow, Sam (26 November 1952). "DOUGLAS STARRING IN COMEDY TONIGHT; ' Time Out for Ginger,' at the Lyceum, Marks Playwriting Debut of Ronald Alexander". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- ^ Cogley, John (1956). Report on Blacklisting: Radio-Television (PDF). Fund for the Republic. p. 37 – via World Radio History.
- ^ Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist, by Walter Bernstein, Alfred A. Knopf, 1996, p. 185
- ^ "Autopsy Ordered by Police in Death of Philip Loeb". Broadcast Telecasting. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications Inc. September 5, 1955. p. 9.
- ^ "Actors > Philip Loeb". Classic Movie Hub. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ "The Front – Trivia". IMDb.
- ^ "A Sad Remembrance". Slate. The Book Club. September 25, 1998. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ "Scholarships". The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Retrieved June 14, 2025.
- ^ "William Ross, 78, Theatrical Producer". The New York Times. August 24, 1994.
- ^ Oliver, Myrna (October 4, 2004). "Ignatius 'Iggie' Wolfington, 84; Theater, Film and TV Actor". Los Angeles Times.
External links
[edit]- Philip Loeb at the Internet Broadway Database
- Philip Loeb at IMDb
- Philip Loeb at Find a Grave
- Philip Loeb papers at the New York Public Library
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1892 births
- 1955 suicides
- 1955 deaths
- 20th-century American Jews
- 20th-century American male actors
- American male stage actors
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- Drug-related deaths in New York City
- Drug-related suicides in New York City
- Hollywood blacklist
- Jewish American male actors
- Male actors from Pennsylvania
- Male actors from Philadelphia
- Suicides in New York City
- United States Army personnel of World War I