Chatsworth Osborne, Jr.

Chatsworth T. Osborne, Jr., is the millionaire dilettante in 35 of the 142 episodes of CBS's situation comedy series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. The character, played by Steven Franken, was introduced midway through the first season and returned as a recurring character in the second, third, and fourth seasons of the program, 1960-1963. Franken was twenty-eight when he began portraying Chatsworth, then a seventeen-year-old.

Dobie Gillis producers limited Chatsworth's appearances to about once a month, for there was a fear that the popular character might dominate the series if he were cast weekly.

Chatsworth is depicted as a cousin of Milton Armitage, played by Warren Beatty, in the first season of the program, 1959-1960. Unlike Milton, who is dark and foreboding, Chatsworth is light-hearted, entertaining, and even sympathetic. He spars in a gentle way with the plebeians Dobie Gillis, played by Dwayne Hickman, and Maynard G. Krebs, the beatnik role portrayed by Bob Denver.

Chatsworth claims to speak eighteen languages, including Mandarin Chinese, then rarely mentioned in the United States. Though a blueblood, he attends public school at his family's insistence to round out his personality.

The talented Doris Packer played his matronly mother, known as much for her distinct voice ("You nasty, nasty boy!") as for her imposing physical presence. Oddly enough, Packer had also played Clarice Armitage, Milton's mother, although there was never any mention of the two being twin sisters.

In the series, Chatsworth follows Dobie and Maynard from high school to junior college to a stint in the United States Army.

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh often refers to political commentator Tucker Carlson as Chatsworth T.Osborne, Jr., because of similarity in dress and bearing.

References

• http://home1.gte.net/res09cc9/chatsworth.htm
• http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/dobie-gillis.htm