Barbara Jo Allen

Barbara Jo Allen

From Wikipedia Barbara Jo Allen (September 2, 1906 – September 14, 1974) was an actress also known as Vera Vague, the spinster character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. She based the character on a woman she had seen delivering a PTA literature lecture in a confused manner. As Vague, she popularized the catch phrase "You dear boy!" Allen's acting ability first surfaced in school plays. Following her high school graduation, she went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Concentrating on language, she became proficient in French, Spanish, German and Italian. After the death of her parents, she moved to Los Angeles where she lived with her uncle. In 1937, she debuted on network radio drama as Beth Holly on NBC's One Man's Family, followed by roles on Death Valley Days, I Love a Mystery and other radio series. According to Allen, her Vera Vague character was “sort of a frustrated female, dumb, always ambitious and overzealous… a spouting Bureau of Misinformation.” After Vera was introduced in 1939 on NBC Matinee, she became a regular with Bob Hope beginning in 1941. Allen appeared in at least 60 movies and TV series between 1938 and 1963, often credited as Vera Vague rather than her own name. The character she created was so popular that she eventually adopted the character name as her professional name. From 1943 to 1952, as Vera, she made more than a dozen comedy two-reel short subjects for Columbia Pictures. In 1948, she did less acting and instead opened her own commercial orchid business, while also serving as the Honorary Mayor of Woodland Hills, California. In 1953, as Vera, she hosted her own television series, Follow the Leader, a CBS audience participation show. In 1958, she appeared as Mabel, the boss of the flight attendants, in Jeannie Carson's syndicated version of her situation comedy Hey, Jeannie! The program aired only six episodes in syndication. Allen's first marriage was to actor Barton Yarborough. They had one child together. In 1946, the couple co-starred in the two-reel comedy short, Hiss and Yell, nominated for an Academy Award as Best Short Subject. In 1931-32, Allen married Charles H. Crosby. In 1943, she married Bob Hope's producer, Norman Morrell. They had one child and were married for three decades, until her 1974 death in Santa Barbara, California.

  • Title : Barbara Jo Allen
  • Popularity : 2.636
  • Known For : Acting
  • Birthday : 1906-09-02
  • Place of Birth : New York City, New York, USA
  • Homepage :
  • Also Known As : Vera Vague, Marian Barbara Henshall
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Barbara Jo Allen Movies

  • 1959
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    Sleeping Beauty

    Sleeping Beauty

    6.9 1959 HD

    Cursed to die by the evil fairy Maleficent when she was a baby, Princess Aurora is sent into hiding under protection from three good fairies. As she...

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  • 1940
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    The Mad Doctor

    The Mad Doctor

    6 1940 HD

    A reporter sleuths the mystery behind an oft-married Viennese doctor whose wives met mysterious fates.

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  • 1939
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    Moving Vanities

    Moving Vanities

    1 1939 HD

    Leon Errol moves because of a rent increase.

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  • 1942
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    Larceny, Inc.

    Larceny, Inc.

    7 1942 HD

    Three ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers...

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  • 1960
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    Goliath II

    Goliath II

    6.339 1960 HD

    Goliath II is a 6-inch-tall elephant (son of the huge Goliath). He's a big disappointment to his father, but mom is proud of Goliath II anyway....

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  • 1944
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    Girl Rush

    Girl Rush

    5 1944 HD

    During the California Gold Rush, two down-on-their-luck vaudevillians attempt to become wealthy by bringing a girlie show to an all-male western...

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  • 1941
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    Kiss the Boys Goodbye

    Kiss the Boys Goodbye

    5 1941 HD

    New York chorus girl Cindy Lou Bethany becomes frustrated when she prepares for an audition for a Broadway musical, but the auditions close and her...

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  • 1941
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    Ice-Capades

    Ice-Capades

    5 1941 HD

    Bob Clemens is a cameraman for newsreels. Assigned to shoot the Swiss ice skater Karen Vadja, he arrives too late, so decides to film a woman skating...

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  • 1959
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    Born to Be Loved

    Born to Be Loved

    5.2 1959 HD

    Director Hugo Haas reprises the theme of romantic love in this routine yet innocent story of matchmaking. The setting is an overcrowded tenement...

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  • 1942
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    Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

    Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

    1 1942 HD

    In the shanty town called the Cabbage Patch, Mrs. Wiggs scrabbles for survival with her brood of children and hopes for the return of her husband,...

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  • 1945
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    Snafu

    Snafu

    6 1945 HD

    A 14-year-old boy lies about his age and enlists in the United State Marine Corps without his family's consent or knowledge. He is sent into battle...

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  • 1956
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    Mohawk

    Mohawk

    5.6 1956 HD

    An artist working in a remote army post is juggling the storekeeper's daughter, his fiancée newly arrived from the east, and the Indian...

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  • 1944
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    Moon Over Las Vegas

    Moon Over Las Vegas

    1 1944 HD

    A beautiful woman goes to Las Vegas in a scheme to make her husbnd jealous, but once she gets there she becomes involved with another man.

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  • 1944
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    Rosie the Riveter

    Rosie the Riveter

    4.5 1944 HD

    In this romantic wartime comedy, four female defense plant workers share a house with four male workers. The situation is on the up and up as the men...

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  • 1944
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    Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid

    Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid

    1 1944 HD

    High-school student Henry Aldrich hopes to improve his grades by finding a sweetheart for his unmarried teacher.

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  • 1939
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    The Women

    The Women

    7.1 1939 HD

    A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.

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  • 1946
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    Hiss and Yell

    Hiss and Yell

    3 1946 HD

    Vera thinks she's witnessed a man decapitating his wife. Actually, she's only seen magician Bluebeard the Great rehearsing his act. Still convinced...

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  • 1940
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    Village Barn Dance

    Village Barn Dance

    1 1940 HD

    Dan Martin, an unemployed college graduate, drifts into the town of Lyndale, only to learn that the town and everything in it are dominated by...

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  • 1946
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    Earl Carroll Sketchbook

    Earl Carroll Sketchbook

    6 1946 HD

    An aspiring singer and her lover, a songwriter who has desperately resorted to writing radio jingles, have many conflicts on their road to success...

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  • 1940
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    Broadway Melody of 1940

    Broadway Melody of 1940

    6.7 1940 HD

    Johnny Brett and King Shaw are an unsuccessful dance team in New York. A producer discovers Brett as the new partner for Clare Bennett, but Brett,...

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  • 1942
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    Ice Capades Revue

    Ice Capades Revue

    5.7 1942 HD

    Promoter Ann Porter decides to start her own Ice Show despite the efforts of ex-racketeer Duke Baldwin who owns a rival show. Jeff Stewart, a rich,...

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  • 1940
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    Melody and Moonlight

    Melody and Moonlight

    5 1940 HD

    Jane Frazee made her starring film debut in the Republic B-plus musical Melody and Moonlight. The plot is motivated by the show-biz aspirations of...

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  • 1950
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    Square Dance Katy

    Square Dance Katy

    2 1950 HD

    In this musical, an ambitious young singer and her band leave their small hometown to head for the Big Apple in hopes of finding fame and fortune.

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  • 1940
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    Sing, Dance, Plenty Hot

    Sing, Dance, Plenty Hot

    1 1940 HD

    In this musical, a con man makes a good living by promoting bogus charity shows. He gets the communities all revved up and then skips town with all...

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  • 1943
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    Get Going

    Get Going

    1 1943 HD

    Judy King, newly arrived in Washington, applies for a secretary job with a government agency and while being interviewed by Bob Carlton, an agent...

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  • 1941
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    Buy Me That Town

    Buy Me That Town

    6 1941 HD

    A gangster and his mob buy a small-town in this warm comedy. They, tired of trying to make it as big city hoods, buy the town to use as a hideout....

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  • 1944
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    Cowboy Canteen

    Cowboy Canteen

    1 1944 HD

    Song and comedy revue, featuring Western talents, along with a theatrical troupe taking their vacation on the Lazy B Ranch run by Steve Bradley....

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  • 1956
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    The Opposite Sex

    The Opposite Sex

    5.2 1956 HD

    Former radio singer Kay learns from her gossipy friends that her husband, Steve, has had an affair with chorus girl Crystal. Devastated, Kay tries to...

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  • 1940
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    Melody Ranch

    Melody Ranch

    5.5 1940 HD

    His Arizona hometown of Torpedo invites Gene back to be the honorary sheriff of the Frontier Days Celebration.

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  • 1956
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    Columbia Laff Hour

    Columbia Laff Hour

    7 1956 HD

    A Columbia Pictures feature, featuring 4 unedited shorts, released between 1947-1956, featuring Shemp Howard.

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  • 1944
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    Lake Placid Serenade

    Lake Placid Serenade

    1 1944 HD

    On a peaceful, pre-war winter in Czechoslovakia, the genial godfather, Jaroslav Haschek, of Vera Hascheck, presents the young girl with her first...

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  • 1952
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    Happy Go Wacky

    Happy Go Wacky

    1 1952 HD

    Nurse Vera is hired by a patient to help him get rid of some unwelcome relatives living at his house.

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  • 1944
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    Strife of the Party

    Strife of the Party

    1 1944 HD

    Vera Vague (Barbara Jo Allen) locks herself in her garage and has to be freed by her neighbor. Later, she discovers that the wife of her husband's...

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  • 1944
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    She Snoops to Conquer

    She Snoops to Conquer

    1 1944 HD

    Vera Vague (Barbara Jo Allen) is a reporter aiming to march her editor boss down the aisle. He agrees to marry her if she can uncover a key spy. She...

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  • 1945
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    Calling All Fibbers

    Calling All Fibbers

    1 1945 HD

    Vera pretends to have been injured in an auto accident in order to get out of two conflicting engagements.

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  • 1943
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    You Dear Boy!

    You Dear Boy!

    1 1943 HD

    Vera pretends to be insane in order to get out of a prearranged marriage.

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  • 1945
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    The Jury Goes Round 'n' Round

    The Jury Goes Round 'n' Round

    1 1945 HD

    Vera is one of many of a group of jurors who must work together to come up with a decision whether or not a man is guilty of murder.

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  • 1944
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    Doctor, Feel My Pulse

    Doctor, Feel My Pulse

    1 1944 HD

    Vera, a hypochondriac, mistakes an escaped lunatic for a physician who can help "cure" her.

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  • 1946
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    Reno-Vated

    Reno-Vated

    1 1946 HD

    After Vera divorces her husband, she marries her lawyer.

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  • 1947
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    Cupid Goes Nuts

    Cupid Goes Nuts

    1 1947 HD

    Vera plays twin sisters of opposite personalities.

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  • 1946
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    Headin' for a Weddin'

    Headin' for a Weddin'

    1 1946 HD

    Vera and Claire vie for the affections of a handsome millionaire cowboy.

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  • 1949
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    Miss in a Mess

    Miss in a Mess

    1 1949 HD

    Vera Vague marries a man who is the twin-image of an escaped ax-murderer. The key word here is "escaped", as that guarantees that Vera will get...

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  • 1949
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    Clunked in the Clink

    Clunked in the Clink

    1 1949 HD

    Vera's husband thinks she ahs been killed in a plane crash, unaware she has been arrested for speeding on the way to the airport.

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  • 1950
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    Nursie Behave

    Nursie Behave

    1 1950 HD

    Vera Vague, in the All-StarComedy works for the district attorney, and when his two-timing fiancee and her boyfriend try some trickery, Vera steps in...

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  • 1949
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    Wha' Happen?

    Wha' Happen?

    1 1949 HD

    Suffering from amnesia, Vera thinks she's responsible for a burglary.

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  • 1951
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    She Took a Powder

    She Took a Powder

    1 1951 HD

    Vera's fiancee tries to cure her of her hypochondria.

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  • 1942
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    Priorities on Parade

    Priorities on Parade

    1 1942 HD

    Band leader Johnny Draper auditions his band, the Dixie Pixies, at the Eagle Aircraft Co., hoping to be hired to play for the workers in the plant....

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  • 1963
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    The Sword in the Stone

    The Sword in the Stone

    7.241 1963 HD

    Wart is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for...

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  • 1941
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    Design for Scandal

    Design for Scandal

    5.2 1941 HD

    A newsman (Walter Pidgeon) falls in love on Cape Cod with the judge (Rosalind Russell) his angry boss (Edward Arnold) expects him to discredit.

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  • 1943
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    Swing Your Partner

    Swing Your Partner

    1 1943 HD

    Caroline Bird, the crotchety and stingy owner of Bird Milk Products, is not amused when her employees at the Dairyville factory, the oldest plant in...

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  • 1939
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    Kennedy the Great

    Kennedy the Great

    1 1939 HD

    A short film about a family man who realizes he's a bore at social gatherings so he purchases a trunk full of magic tricks hoping to soon be the life...

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  • 1991
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    Disney’s Coyote Tales

    Disney’s Coyote Tales

    6 1991 HD

    Through redubbed footage of The Coyote's Lament, the coyote's relationship with man and dog is shown from the coyote's point of view, as seen in...

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  • 1974
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    The Three Stooges Follies

    The Three Stooges Follies

    1 1974 HD

    Released to theaters in 1974, this collection of vintage Columbia short subjects included: "Yes, We Have No Bonanza" with The Three Stooges; "Violent...

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  • 1960
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    Surfside 6

    Surfside 6

    5 1960 HD

    Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered on a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and...

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  • 1953
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    General Electric Theater

    General Electric Theater

    6 1953 HD

    General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was...

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  • 1957
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    Maverick

    Maverick

    6.8 1957 HD

    The Maverick boys - Bret, Bart, Beau and Brent - are a clan of well-dressed dandies, gamblers who'd much rather make their money playing cards than...

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  • 1954
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    The George Gobel Show

    The George Gobel Show

    7 1954 HD

    The George Gobel Show is an American television series hosted George Gobel that aired on NBC from 1954 to 1960.

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