Benedict Gimbel Jr. (1899 – February 6, 1971) was an American businessman, department store executive, and founder of one of the first radio stations in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Biography

Benedict Gimbel Jr. was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Philadelphia, the son of Birdie (née Loeb) and Benedict Gimbel Sr. His grandfather was

Adam Gimbel Adam Gimbel (1817–1896) was the founder of the Gimbel Brothers Company. Biography Gimbel was born to a Jewish family in Bavaria in 1817 where he worked in the local baron's vineyard.Gimbel Brothers Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the compa ...

retailing family. His father worked as an executive at the family business and killed himself in Hoboken in 1907 despondent after being charged with a serious crime. Gimbel attended public schools in Philadelphia as well as the Thorpe School in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

and the boys’ boarding school La Villa in

Ouchy Ouchy is a port and a popular lakeside resort south of the centre of Lausanne in Switzerland, at the edge of Lake Geneva (french: lac Léman). Facilities Very popular with tourists for the views of nearby France (Évian-les-Bains, Thonon), ...

, Switzerland. He attended the Wharton School at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

but left during his sophomore year to join the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

where he reached the rank of sergeant. He finished his studies when he returned and then went to work for the family business in Philadelphia. In 1921, he resigned as vice president and board member of Gimbels Brothers to serve as the first president and manager of

WIP WIP or WiP may refer to: Political parties * Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta, a political party in Alberta, Canada * Western Independence Party of Manitoba, a former Canadian provincial political party * Western Independence Party of Sas ...

radio, one of the first radio stations in Philadelphia. The station started broadcasting on March 17, 1922 from its studio above the Gimbels department store in Philadelphia. In 1931, WIP purchased

WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...

and consolidated all broadcasting at the WIP studios. In 1932, the station was transferred to the newly formed company, the Pennsylvania Broadcasting Company, as it was fully profitable on its own, In 1958, Gimbel put together an investor group (including

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

) and purchased WIP from Gimbels for $2,500,000. In 1960,

John W. Kluge John Werner Kluge (; September 21, 1914September 7, 2010) was a German-American entrepreneur who became a television industry mogul in the United States. At one time he was the richest person in the U.S. Early life and education Kluge was bo ...

Metromedia Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMo ...

bought WIP for $4.500,000; Gimbel remained as a vice president.

Personal life

Gimbel was married thrice. His first marriage was to Ethel S. (née Nathanson) with whom he had a son, Edward "Ted" Nathanson (his son took his mother's maiden name after his parents divorced). In 1931, he married actress

Sally Phipps Sally Phipps (born Byrnece Beutler; May 25, 1911 – March 17, 1978) was an American actress. Early life and career The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Edward Bogdon, Sally Phipps was born Nellie Bernice Bogdon in Oakland, California on M ...

; they divorced in 1935. His third wife was J. Jessie Kane. Gimbel died on February 6, 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gimbel Jr., Benedict 1899 births 1971 deaths American Jews Gimbel family