Biography
Maurice Lionel Gosfield was born on January 28, 1913, in New York City but grew up in Philadelphia and later Evanston, Illinois. He began acting with the Ralph Bellamy and Melvyn Douglas Players and joined the summer stock theater circuit in 1930. He made his Broadway debut as Manero in the play Siege in 1937. His other stage roles included performances in The Petrified Forest, Three Men on a Horse, and Room Service.
During World War II, Gosfield served in the U.S. Army as a Technician Fourth Grade in the 8th Armored Division.
Between 1955 and 1959, Gosfield portrayed Pvt. Duane Doberman on The Phil Silvers Show (initially titled You'll Never Get Rich during its first season). In Nat Hiken’s biography, the show's creator described the casting of Gosfield's role and the impact he made on the producer and Phil Silvers during his audition:
“The dumpy, remarkably unattractive Maurice Gosfield walked into an open casting call one day, carrying an extensive list of credits. Some of his minor stage parts are verifiable; however, his claims of two thousand radio credits and a hundred TV appearances are harder to confirm... Regardless of his background, Hiken and Silvers knew immediately that Gosfield was perfect for the part. Nat had already chosen Maurice Brenner to play the most downtrodden member of Bilko's platoon but realized at once that Gosfield was the right fit.” Brenner was later recast as Pvt. Irving Fleischman.
In 1959, Gosfield earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He also voiced Benny the Ball in the animated series Top Cat (1961–62), which was partly inspired by the Sergeant Bilko show.
On October 14, 1964, while performing in a play at the New York Theatre, Gosfield experienced repeated loss of balance and drowsiness. He was diagnosed with critical hypertension and prescribed seven medications to be taken lifelong. On October 17, he suffered a heart attack and was rushed to New York Hospital, where he was reportedly unresponsive and received CPR. After admission, his condition improved, and his close friend Arnold Stang (voice of Top Cat) informed him that a Top Cat remake was in development and his role awaited him upon recovery. Tragically, two hours after Stang's departure, Gosfield had a second, fatal heart attack on October 19, 1964. Stang was informed the next morning and conveyed the news to producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who were deeply saddened and decided not to proceed with the new Top Cat series, unable to find a suitable replacement for Benny the Ball's voice.
Maurice Gosfield was laid to rest at Long Island National Cemetery in Suffolk County, New York.
