Maurice Gosfield

Maurice Lionel Gosfield (January 28 1913 in New York City – October 19 1964 in New York City) was an American comic actor, most famous for his portrayal of Private Doberman on the 1950s sitcom You'll Never Get Rich (later called The Phil Silvers Show).

'Maury' Gosfield was born in New York in 1913, but was raised in Philadelphia and later in Evanston, Illinois. He began acting with the Ralph Bellamy and Melvyn Douglas Players in Chicago, and joined the Summer Stock theatre circuit in 1930. During World War II he served in the U. S. Army's Tec 4 unit in the 8th Armoured Division, and gained the rank of Sergeant. In 1950 he played an uncredited role in the film Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town. He also appeared in Toast of the Town in 1956. In 1955 Gosfield first appeared as Private Duane Doberman in the television show You'll Never Get Rich; this was renamed The Phil Silvers Show in 1956. Because of the popularity of Private Doberman in the show DC Comics published eleven issues of a Private Doberman comic from 1957 to 1960. Gosfield again played Private Doberman in the 1959 television show Keep in Step. He next appeared in the made for television movie The Teenage Millionaire (1961).

Gosfield also provided the voice for Benny the Ball on the cartoon series Top Cat which was partially based on the Sergeant Bilko series. His last role was in the 1963 film The Thrill of It All, playing a truck driver. In 1964 he unsuccessfully tested for the role of Uncle Fester in the tv series The Addams Family.

Phil Silvers, the star of The Phil Silvers Show, in his 1973 autobiography, said of Gosfield that he had a pomposity and condescension off-screen, behaving 'like Clark Gable playing a fat man'.

Gosfield died at Saranac Lake, New York, of a sudden heart attack at the age of 51 on October 19, 1964. He is buried at Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, Suffolk County in New York.