Wilfred Bailey Everett “Bill” Bixby III (January 22, 1934 − November 21, 1993), was an American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist. His career spanned more than three decades, appearing on stage, in films and on television series. He is known for his roles as Tim O’Hara on the CBS sitcom My Favorite Martian, Tom Corbett on the ABC comedy-drama series The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, stage illusionist Anthony Blake in the NBC crime drama series The Magician, but is perhaps best known for his role as scientist Dr. David Banner on the CBS sci-fi drama series The Incredible Hulk
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Full Name: Wilfred Biley Bixby
Description: Actor, Director, USA
Known For: “The Incredible Hulk”
Location: CA, United States of America
Date Born: 22nd January 1934
Location Born: San fransisco, California, United States of America
Date Died: 28th January 1993
Location Died: Century City, California, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Prostate cancer
Memorial: Bixby died of complications from cancer in Century City, California.
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Bixby, a fourth-generation Californian of English descent, was born in San Francisco, California. His father, Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby Jr., was a store clerk and his mother, Jane (née McFarland) Bixby, was a senior manager at I. Magnin & Company. When Bixby was eight, his father enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and traveled to the South Pacific. He attended Lowell High School where he developed his oratory and dramatic skills as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Though he received only average grades, he also competed in high school speech tournaments regionally. After graduation from high school in 1952, against his parents’ wishes, he majored in drama at San Francisco City College, where he was a classmate of future actress Lee Meriwether. Later, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, his parents’ alma mater, and joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity there. Just four credits short of earning a degree, Bixby dropped out of college and joined the United States Marine Corps after being drafted during the Korean War. Bixby served stateside duty in the Marines and was honorably discharged.[citation needed]
He then moved to Hollywood, where he had a string of odd jobs that included bellhop and lifeguard. He organized shows at a resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In 1959, he was hired to work as a model and to do commercial work for General Motors and Chrysler.
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 became a highly regarded character actor and guest-starred in many 1960s TV series including Ben Casey, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, Dr. Kildare, Straightaway, and Hennesey.
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. But by 1966, high production costs forced the series to come to an end after 107 episodes. After the cancellation of Martian, Bixby starred in four movies: Ride Beyond Vengeance, Doctor, You’ve Got to Be Kidding!, and two of Elvis Presley’s movies, Clambake, and Speedway. He turned down the role as Marlo Thomas’s boyfriend in the successful That Girl (though he later guested on the show) and starred in two failed pilots.
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. The series concerned a widowed father raising a young son, managing a major syndicated magazine while at the same time trying to re-establish himself on the dating scene. This series was in the vein of other 1960s and 1970s sitcoms that dealt with widowhood, such as The Andy Griffith Show and My Three Sons.
In 1973, Bixby starred in The Magician. The series was well liked, but it only lasted one season. An accomplished amateur magician himself, he hosted several TV specials in the mid-1970s which featured other amateur magicians, and was a respected member of the Hollywood magic community, belonging to The Magic Castle, an exclusive club for magicians. During the show’s popular, although short-lived production, Bixby as always, invited a few old friends along to co-star such as Pamela Britton (in her final role), Kristina Holland and Ralph O’Hara.
Returning to television, he 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. In 1977, Bixby appeared with Donna Mills, Richard Jaeckel, and William Shatner in the last episode, entitled “The Scarlet Ribbon”, of NBC’s western series The Oregon Trail, starring Rod Taylor and Andrew Stevens. Bixby directed two of The Oregon Trail episodes.
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. In 1977, He co-starred in the pilot for the television series “Fantasy Island” Bixby also hosted Once Upon A Classic on PBS from 1976 to 1980.
The Incredible Hulk
Although he initially declined the part of Dr. David Banner in The Incredible Hulk because of its comic book origins, on reading Kenneth Johnson’s script for the pilot episode, he was persuaded to change his mind (and agreed to remain involved with the series for as long as Johnson was to be involved). Consequently, Bixby starred in the pilot movie called The Incredible Hulk, based loosely on the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Marvel comic book characters. Its success (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. It became an international hit, seen in over 70 countries.
Bixby hosted two Is Elvis Alive? specials in August 1991 and January 1992, both from Las Vegas.
Bixby made his last acting appearance in 1992, guest starring on an episode of Diagnosis: Murder.
He finished his career by directing 30 episodes (in seasons two and three) of the NBC sitcom Blossom.
Bixby was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment for the disease in early 1991.
Bixby’s cancer recurred and was diagnosed as terminal. On November 21, 1993, six days after his final assignment on Blossom, he died of complications in Century City, California. He was 59 years old. His wife, Judith Kliban, and his longtime friend, Dick Martin, were by his side. His ashes are at Kliban’s Maui estate.
Films include.
My Favorite Martian (1963–1966)
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1969–1972)
The Magician (1973)
The Incredible Hulk (1977-1982)
Goodnight, Beantown (1983-1984)
Speedway – 1968
Clambake – 1967
Both films were Elvis Presley films.
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