Wilfred Bailey Everett "Bill" Bixby III (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) was an American actor, director, producer, and frequent game-show panelist.
David Banner in the CBS science-fiction drama series The Incredible Hulk. ==Early life== An only child, Bixby was born Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby III, a fourth-generation Californian of English descent, on January 22, 1934, in San Francisco, California.
In 1942, when Bixby was eight years old, his father enlisted in the Navy during World War II and traveled to the South Pacific.
In 1946, his mother encouraged him to take ballroom dance lessons and from there he started dancing all around the city.
After graduation from high school in 1952, against his parents' wishes, he majored in drama at City College of San Francisco. During the Korean War, Bixby was drafted shortly after his 18th birthday.
He served primarily in personnel management with Marine Attack Squadron 141 (VMA-141) at Naval Air Station Oakland, and attained the rank of private first class before his 1956 discharge.
In 1963, he played a sailor with a Napoleon tattoo in the movie Irma La Douce, a romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder based on the 1956 French musical.
He organized shows at a resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and in 1959 was hired to work as a model and to do commercial work for General Motors and Chrysler. ==Career== ===Beginning acting=== In 1961, Bixby was in the musical The Boy Friend at the Detroit Civic Theater, returning to Hollywood to make his television debut on an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
This series was in the vein of other 1960s and 1970s sitcoms that dealt with widowerhood, such as The Andy Griffith Show and My Three Sons.
He organized shows at a resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and in 1959 was hired to work as a model and to do commercial work for General Motors and Chrysler. ==Career== ===Beginning acting=== In 1961, Bixby was in the musical The Boy Friend at the Detroit Civic Theater, returning to Hollywood to make his television debut on an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
He also joined the cast of The Joey Bishop Show in 1962.
In 1963, he played a sailor with a Napoleon tattoo in the movie Irma La Douce, a romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder based on the 1956 French musical.
During the 1970s, he made guest appearances on television series such as Ironside, Insight, Barbary Coast, The Love Boat, Medical Center, four episodes of Love, American Style, Fantasy Island, and two episodes each of The Streets of San Francisco and Rod Serling's Night Gallery. ===My Favorite Martian and other early roles=== Bixby took the role of young reporter Tim O'Hara in the 1963 CBS sitcom, My Favorite Martian, in which he co-starred with Ray Walston.
By 1966, though, high production costs forced the series to come to an end after 107 episodes.
He turned down the role as Marlo Thomas's boyfriend in the successful That Girl, though he later guest-starred in the show, and starred in two failed pilots. ===The Courtship of Eddie's Father=== In 1969, Bixby starred in his second high-profile television role, as Tom Corbett in The Courtship of Eddie's Father, a comedy-drama on ABC.
During the 1970s, he made guest appearances on television series such as Ironside, Insight, Barbary Coast, The Love Boat, Medical Center, four episodes of Love, American Style, Fantasy Island, and two episodes each of The Streets of San Francisco and Rod Serling's Night Gallery. ===My Favorite Martian and other early roles=== Bixby took the role of young reporter Tim O'Hara in the 1963 CBS sitcom, My Favorite Martian, in which he co-starred with Ray Walston.
This series was in the vein of other 1960s and 1970s sitcoms that dealt with widowerhood, such as The Andy Griffith Show and My Three Sons.
The following year, he won the Parents Without Partners Exemplary Service Award for 1972. Bixby made his directorial debut on the sitcom in 1970, directing eight episodes.
One episode of the series co-starred Bixby's future wife, Brenda Benet, as one of Tom's girlfriends. Bixby was nominated for the Emmy Award for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1971.
They were married in 1971, and she gave birth to their son, Christopher, in September 1974.
The following year, he won the Parents Without Partners Exemplary Service Award for 1972. Bixby made his directorial debut on the sitcom in 1970, directing eight episodes.
ABC cancelled the sitcom in 1972 at the end of season three. After the show was cancelled, Bixby and Cruz remained in contact, with Cruz making a guest appearance on Bixby's later series The Incredible Hulk.
It really demeans the whole thing that Bill is not included." ===1973 to 1977=== In 1973, Bixby starred in The Magician.
During the show's popular, although short-lived, production, Bixby invited a few old friends along to co-star such as Pamela Britton (in her final role), Kristina Holland, and Ralph O'Hara. Also in 1973, he starred in Steambath, a play by author Bruce Jay Friedman, on PBS with Valerie Perrine and Jose Perez. Bixby became a popular game-show panelist, appearing mostly on Password and The Hollywood Squares.
He was also a panelist on the 1974 revival of Masquerade Party hosted by Richard Dawson.
In 1974–1975, he directed four episodes of the eighth season of Mannix, guest-starring as Mannix's friend-turned-villain in one of the episodes. In 1975, he co-starred with Tim Conway and Don Knotts in the Disney movie The Apple Dumpling Gang, which was well received by the public. Returning to television, Bixby worked with Susan Blakely on Rich Man, Poor Man, a highly successful television miniseries in 1976.
They were married in 1971, and she gave birth to their son, Christopher, in September 1974.
In 1974–1975, he directed four episodes of the eighth season of Mannix, guest-starring as Mannix's friend-turned-villain in one of the episodes. In 1975, he co-starred with Tim Conway and Don Knotts in the Disney movie The Apple Dumpling Gang, which was well received by the public. Returning to television, Bixby worked with Susan Blakely on Rich Man, Poor Man, a highly successful television miniseries in 1976.
In 1974–1975, he directed four episodes of the eighth season of Mannix, guest-starring as Mannix's friend-turned-villain in one of the episodes. In 1975, he co-starred with Tim Conway and Don Knotts in the Disney movie The Apple Dumpling Gang, which was well received by the public. Returning to television, Bixby worked with Susan Blakely on Rich Man, Poor Man, a highly successful television miniseries in 1976.
He played a daredevil stunt pilot in an episode of the short-lived 1976 CBS adventure series Spencer's Pilots, starring Gene Evans.
Bixby directed two episodes of The Oregon Trail. In 1976, he was honored with two Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in Drama or Comedy for The Streets of San Francisco and the other for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Series for Rich Man, Poor Man. Bixby hosted Once Upon a Classic on PBS from 1976 to 1980. ===The Incredible Hulk=== Bixby starred in the role of Dr.
It really demeans the whole thing that Bill is not included." ===1973 to 1977=== In 1973, Bixby starred in The Magician.
In 1977, he co-starred in the pilot for the television series Fantasy Island; starred in "No Way Out", the final episode of the NBC anthology series Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (known in the United Kingdom as Twist in the Tale); and appeared with Donna Mills, Richard Jaeckel, and William Shatner in the last episode, "The Scarlet Ribbon", of NBC's Western series The Oregon Trail, starring Rod Taylor and Andrew Stevens.
The success of the pilot (coupled with some theatrical releases of the film in Europe) convinced CBS to turn it into a weekly series, which began airing in the spring of 1978.
Bixby directed two episodes of The Oregon Trail. In 1976, he was honored with two Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in Drama or Comedy for The Streets of San Francisco and the other for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Comedy or Drama Series for Rich Man, Poor Man. Bixby hosted Once Upon a Classic on PBS from 1976 to 1980. ===The Incredible Hulk=== Bixby starred in the role of Dr.
Bixby directed one episode of the series, "Bring Me the Head of the Hulk", in 1980 (original airdate: January 9, 1981).
They divorced in 1980.
The death of Bixby's only child, in 1981, drew Bixby and Cruz closer still.
Bixby directed one episode of the series, "Bring Me the Head of the Hulk", in 1980 (original airdate: January 9, 1981).
A few months later, in March 1981, six-year-old Christopher died while on a skiing vacation at Mammoth Lakes with Benet.
He also worked on the series with his friend, movie actress Mariette Hartley, who later starred with Bixby in his final series, Goodnight, Beantown, in 1983.
During the same time, Bixby directed several episodes of another short-lived television series, Wizards and Warriors, which aired in 1983.
From 1983 to 1984, he hosted a documentary series for Nickelodeon entitled Against the Odds.
From 1983 to 1984, he hosted a documentary series for Nickelodeon entitled Against the Odds.
From 1986 to 1987, he hosted the syndicated weekday anthology series True Confessions.
From 1986 to 1987, he hosted the syndicated weekday anthology series True Confessions.
Benet committed suicide the following year. Bixby met Laura Michaels, who had worked on the set of one of his Hulk movies, in 1989.
In early 1991, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment.
He was divorced in the same year. In late 1992, friends introduced Bixby to the artist Judith Kliban, widow of the cartoonist B.
Wilfred Bailey Everett "Bill" Bixby III (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) was an American actor, director, producer, and frequent game-show panelist.
The two remained in touch until Bixby's death in 1993.
He married her in October 1993, just six weeks before he collapsed on the set of Blossom. In early 1993, after rumors began circulating about his health, Bixby went public with his illness, and made several appearances on shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Today, and Good Morning America, among others. ==Death== On November 21, 1993, six days after his final assignment on Blossom, Bixby died of complications from prostate cancer in Century City, Los Angeles.
In 1995, Cruz named his own son Lincoln Bixby Cruz. Brandon Cruz said of the show that developed a professional father-son relationship, compared to that of The Andy Griffith Show, "We dealt with issues that were talked about, but were never brought up on television.
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