Harvey Gabor is a recurring character in the Jem animated series. He is the multimillionaire father of Phyllis Gabor, better known to the world as "Pizzazz". He is a very busy businessman, who always gives his daughter exactly what she wants, except what she really needs, which is simply love and affection.
He was voiced by Walker Edmiston.
History[]
Mr. Gabor is an extremely rich business tycoon, who raised his own daughter, Phyllis, alone. He was first introduced in the episode Starbright (Part 1), when Roxy suggested that if she was as rich as Mr. Gabor she would make her own movie, which gave Pizzazz the idea to do just that and ask her father to buy her a movie studio as her birthday present (although Mr. Gabor kept ownership of the company).
Harvey's family had a modest origin, being born in the working class and having nine other siblings. However, by the time he was 20, he had already become a billionaire business tycoon. His business affairs are mainly related to oil,[2] although he's known to be involved in other industries and own other companies as well.
Harvey married a woman named Gail Nye at the age of 24, with whom he had a daughter they called Phyllis. However, since he always was occupied on business affairs and traveling far from home, he never really gave his wife the attention she deserved, so she soon ran away from home, leaving him to take care of Phyllis on his own.
Unfortunately, the same lack of attention that her mother suffered from Harvey fell on Phyllis as well. Being constantly occupied and not having the time to bring up his daughter properly, Mr. Gabor limited himself to always give her anything she wanted, no matter how absurd that thing was, as long as it meant he could get her off his hair for a short while and bring him some peace to keep on working, giving them both a false sense of temporary happiness.
Being an executive, Mr. Gabor is always busy with his business. He did not have much time for Pizzazz as a child and does not have much time for her as an adult. Nevertheless, even if he may not have time for her, he supports her a lot with her music career, even though he sticks to the belief that music is only a hobby for her. He substituted love and affection with gifts, providing her with anything she wanted, which is what caused her materialistic and selfish behavior.
Despite all this, a slight hope of redemption could still be seen for Pizzazz. In the episode Father's Day, she genuinely asks her father if there's anything special he wants to do for "Father's Day". However, Harvey quickly dismisses her, telling her that he can't do anything the next day because he has to meet a man for some business regarding horses, and instead turns the tables around telling her that if she wants to buy him something that's fine... as long as it's not too expensive because after all it's his money.
Later in this episode, during a trip to the stables, Kimber falls off the horse she was riding, and Harvey –who happened to be riding nearby with his business associate– hurries to attend her and sends Aja to get a doctor. Once she regains consciousness at the ranch house, Harvey and Kimber quickly develop a bond with each other, in a similar manner as if they were father and daughter. Unfortunately, due to the unexpected accident, The Holograms are no longer able to travel to Video's hometown in time, where they were supposed to perform that night. Hearing this, Harvey privately arranges the band to be taken there in nothing else but a Concorde. Unfortunately, The Misfits happened to be in the same town while accompanying Clash, and when Pizzazz saw her very own father accompanying The Holograms, things between them took a turn for the worse, with Pizzazz confronting him for preferring to bond with the "enemy" instead of spending time with her.
Gallery[]
_-_01.png "Harvey Gabor - Starbright (Part 1) - 01.png (685 KB)")
_-_01.png "Harvey Gabor - Starbright (Part 3) - 01.png (842 KB)")
_-_02.png "Harvey Gabor - Starbright (Part 3) - 02.png (601 KB)")
Trivia[]
- According to Christy Marx, many characters from the Jem animated series were named after people who had been involved in holography and related sciences. Harvey's last name, Gabor, possibly comes from Dennis Gabor, a Hungarian-British electrical engineer and physicist, most notable for inventing holography, for which he later received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- 'Gabor' is both a given name and surname of Hungarian origin, which could imply Harvey or his family come from Hungary.
- Mr. Gabor is the only known familiar of Pizzazz to appear in Jem.
- It is unknown how the situation between him and Mrs. Gabor started; however, Christy Marx mentioned one time that she ran away, opening the possibility of bringing her back, although this was never concreted in the series.
- He is always busy, traveling or in the company.
- He has many business related to oil, but is also involved in other industries and owns other companies as well for what can be seen in the series.
- He always tries to please Pizzazz, only if this brings him some peace.
- He always supports Pizzazz and her ideas to put Eric Raymond in the head of her projects sponsored by him.
- In one episode, he bought Pizzazz her own movie studio as a birthday present, regardless if he was convinced it was a poor investment.[2] He kept legal ownership of the company, though.
- He also once bought Starlight Music for Pizzazz.[1]
- He has nine other siblings.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 As seen in the episode The Day the Music Died.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 As seen in the episode Starbright (Part 1): Falling Star.