Editing George Gobel (section)

==Films==
When ratings soared on ''The George Gobel Show'' (rated in the top 10 of 1954–55), [[Paramount Pictures]] promoted Gobel as its new comedy star, casting him as the lead in ''[[The Birds and the Bees (film)|The Birds and the Bees]]'' (1956), a remake of ''[[The Lady Eve]]'' (1941) featuring [[David Niven]] playing a third-billed supporting role under Gobel and [[leading lady]] [[Mitzi Gaynor]]. In 1956, Paramount was preparing a biography of veteran comedian [[Buster Keaton]], and Keaton wanted Gobel to portray him.<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Curtis |title=Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |year=2022 |page=581 |isbn=978-0-3853-5421-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sq5hEAAAQBAJ&q=gobel |url-access=subscription}}</ref> When musical-comedy star [[Donald O'Connor]] became available, Paramount signed him for the film, titled ''The Buster Keaton Story'' (1957).

Gobel's television success did not translate to the big screen, though. His ''The Birds and the Bees'' performed so poorly at the box office that release was delayed on his second movie, ''[[I Married a Woman]]'', filmed in 1956 by [[RKO Radio Pictures]], but not released until 1958. Although scripted by [[Goodman Ace]], it also resulted in disappointing ticket sales, and Gobel's career as a movie star came to an abrupt end. He settled into a succession of TV guest-star appearances and did not return to movie screens until two decades later, as a character actor in [[Joan Rivers]]' ''[[Rabbit Test (film)|Rabbit Test]]'' (1978), followed by ''The Day It Came to Earth'' (1979) and ''Ellie'' (1984). He appeared in nine TV movies during the 1970s and 1980s.

Gobel was considered for the voice of [[Winnie-the-Pooh]] by [[Walt Disney]], but turned it down after reading the books and finding Pooh to be "an awful bore."<ref>{{cite web |title=Legacy Content |website=Laughingplace.com |url=https://www.laughingplace.com/w/leg/}}</ref>