Biography

December 11, 1931 · New York City, New York, USA

Howard Sobel

Performed as a comic known in New York City as "Howie" Storm, often appearing in New York City industrial show productions. After his audition, he would be cast in a scripted featured appearance with cast members and singers, dancers and fellow actor-performers in these industrial showcases.

Was boyhood friends with Lou Alexander, and when they got out of high school they formed a comedy team called Storm and Gale and played nightclubs in the Miami area.

His wife is the widow of Robert Ridgely.

[on working with Lucille Ball and Robert Osborne and Dick Kallman of the Desilu Players] Robert Osborne was an actor at that time and his lover was a guy named Dick Kallman who was the most evil human being I ever met. Obnoxious and mean. He always had Lucy's ear. He and Osborne were always together. For instance, we'd be rehearsing and something wouldn't work. You'd say, "I don't know if this stuff is going to work" And within two minutes Lucy was walking through the back saying, "What do you mean it doesn't work!" Kallman would get on the phone and call her and tell her that I was complaining about the material. What we were doing was going through the regular rehearsal process. But it was bizarre. Dick Kallman was killed in his apartment in New York. They never found the killer. He was shot. When I said to Roger Perry, who had been one of the Desilu Players... I ran into him years later... I said, " Did you hear about Dick Kallman? He was killed." Roger said, "Yeah!" With a big smile.