Bill Bixby

Bill Bixby (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993), was an American actor, director and frequent game show panelist who starred in three popular American television series that spanned nearly two decades, as Tim O'Hara in My Favorite Martian (1963–1966), as Tom Corbett, the title role in The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969–1972); and as Dr. David Banner in The Incredible Hulk (1978–1982) with Lou Ferrigno. He also starred in The Magician (1973) and in a short-lived comedy, Goodnight Beantown with Mariette Hartley in 1984.

Early life

An only child, he was born as Wilfred Bailey Bixby, a fourth-generation Californian, in San Francisco, California, his father, Wilfred Everett Bixby, was a store clerk and his mother, Jane Bixby, was a department store owner. His father was enlisted in the Navy during World War II and traveled to the South Pacific when Bixby was 8. At the time Bixby lived with his mother in 1942, cousin and aunt and it was his mother who encouraged him to become an actor just like his aunt was. While in the seventh grade, he attended Grace Cathedral and was popular with the church's choir. However, in one notable incident, whilst a member of the choir he shot the Bishop using a slingshot during one service and was kicked off the choir. In 1946, his mother encouraged him to take ballroom dance lessons and from there he started dancing all around the city. While dancing, he attended Lowell High School where he perfected his oratory and dramatic skills as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. He competed in high school speech tournaments regionally. After graduation, against his parents' wishes, he majored in drama at San Francisco City College and attended the University of California, Berkeley, the same university his parents went to. However, he did not graduate. Just four credits short of earning a degree, Bixby dropped out of college and was drafted into the Marines.

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 do commercial work for General Motors and Chrysler.

Stage/Character actor

In 1961, Bixby was in the musical The Boyfriend at the Detroit Civic Theater, returning to Hollywood to make his screen acting debut on an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. As his name became known Bixby became a highly regarded character actors of the 1960s and guest-starred in many TV series such as Ben Casey, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, Dr. Kildare and Hennessey, amongst many others. He also joined the cast of The Joey Bishop Show in 1962. During the 1970s, he made many more guest-appearances on TV series such as Ironside, Insight, Barbary Coast, The Love Boat, Medical Center, four episodes of Love, American Style, Fantasy Island and two episodes of The Streets of San Francisco, on which he was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1976 for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in Drama or Comedy.

My Favorite Martian

Bixby started in the CBS sitcom in 1963 co-starring role as young news reporter Tim O'Hara who befriended an extraterrestrial played by Ray Walston. The show was a ratings winner in its first year and it was ranked #10 for primetime programming. But by 1966, bad scripts and high production costs forced the series to come to an end after 107 episodes.

Film work

After the cancellation of Martian, Bixby starred in four box-office movies: Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966), in which he played the evil, Johnsy Boy Hood, You've Got to Be Kidding (1967), and two of Elvis Presley's movies, Clambake (1967), and Speedway (1968). He also turned down the role as Marlo Thomas's boyfriend in That Girl 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 successful dramedy show, The Courtship of Eddie's Father for ABC. The series concerned a widowed father who wants to spend more time with his young son while dating women and was based on the popular 1963 movie, starring 1950s screen icon, Glenn Ford and Ron Howard. His co-star on the show was child actor Brandon Cruz and the pair had such a close chemistry that they developed a close friendship off the set. The cast was rounded out by Academy Award winning actress Miyoshi Umeki who played the role of Tom's maid, Mrs. Livingston, and James Komack (one of the series' producers) as Norman Tinker, the head of another family.

One episode of the show co-starred Bixby's future wife Brenda Benet as one of Tom's girlfriends. He was nominated for a Emmy Award for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1971, but did not win. The following year, he won the Parents Without Partners Exemplary Service Award for 1972. He also made his directorial debut on the show in 1970.

By its final season, Courtships ratings had slumped, the scripts focused more on Komack's character and this led to friction between star and producer. ABC pulled the plug on the sitcom in 1972 after 73 episodes.

Bixby's relationship with Cruz remained strong after the series ended and Cruz was one of the first people to learn that Benet had given birth to the couple's son, Christopher, two years after the series cancellation.

After Courtship

In 1973, Bixby starred in The Magician, playing Anthony Dorian, but the series only lasted one season. He became a popular game show panelist, appearing mostly on Password and The Hollywood Squares. He was also a panelist on the revival of Masquerade Party, that was hosted by Richard Dawson (of Hogan's Heroes and Family Feud fame). He had also appeared with Dawson on "Cop-Out." The following year, he co-starred with Tim Conway and Don Knotts in the 1975 movie, The Apple Dumpling Gang. Unlike the previous movies that Bixby starred in, this one received mediocre ratings. An accomplished amateur magician, Bixby also hosted several specials in the mid-1970s which featured other amateur magicians.

The Incredible Hulk

In late 1977 Bixby starred in a two-hour pilot movie called The Incredible Hulk. Its success (coupled with some theatrical releases of the film in Europe) convinced CBS to turn it into a weekly science-fiction series which began airing in early 1978. The series was a hit and was seen in over 70 countries.

Bixby's character, Dr. David Banner, was a scientist/physician who, after an overdose of gamma radiation, turned into a green monster (played by bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno) when he became angry. This involved a physical transformation in which Banner split open his shirts and shoes as he changed. Bixby felt that the make-up requirements for his part were onerous. Although it was a courageous move to star in a science-fiction series Bixby decided to take the risk after reading the script. The pilot episode featured Banner's popular catch phrase, "Mr McGee, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." This was shown as part of the credit sequence for each episode. The show made Bixby into a pop icon of the 1980s.

During the show's run, he also invited two of his long-time friends, Ray Walston and Brandon Cruz to guest star with him in different episodes of the series. He also invited two more of his friends to guest star. In one episode, Loni Anderson (of WKRP in Cincinnati fame) played a dead model whom Dr. Banner suspected he had killed as the Hulk and Mariette Hartley (who would later star with Bixby in his last show, Goodnight Beantown) played the one-time wife of Dr. Banner who was a psychiatrist who had a problem of her own. In 1981 he directed one episode of the show but not soon after this the series was cancelled. Bixby was disappointed that his character was not cured of his condition in the final episode.

After Hulk

After finishing Hulk, Bixby turned more towards directing, from his own short-lived comedy, Goodnight, Beantown with Mariette Hartley to the successful satirical police sitcom Sledge Hammer! In addition Bixby directed two of the three Hulk TV revivals in the late '80s and early '90s. He was also lead director on the TV sitcom Blossom.

Private, later life and final days

Bixby lost his father in 1971 a month before his first wedding. Wilfred Bailey II died of a massive heart attack and Bixby scattered his ashes in the Pacific off the island of Maui. He was married three times: to actress and former MISS USA Brenda Benet in 1971, who gave birth to their son Christopher on September 25, 1974. In addition to their earlier appearance together in Bixby's earlier sitcom, Benet guest-starred with him on The Incredible Hulk in 1980 just before they were divorced. On March 1, 1981, Bixby's six-year-old son Christopher died suddenly of a rare throat infection. His ashes are also scattered in the Pacific off the island of Maui as were his grandfather's. Benet herself committed suicide in April 1982.

Nine years later in 1989 he met and fell in love with Laura Michaels, who had worked on the set of one of his Hulk movies. The couple married a year later in Hawaii. In early 1991, Bixby was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment for the disease. He was divorced in the same year. In late 1992, friends introduced him to an artist named Judith Kliban, the widow of B. Kliban, a cartoonist who died of cancer. He married Judith in late 1993, just six weeks before he collapsed on the set of Blossom.

In early 1993, after rumours began circulating about his health, Bixby decided to go public with his illness, discussing his disease and the energy needed to keep him alive. As a result, he made several guest appearances on shows such as, Entertainment Tonight (where he made 2 guest appearances), The Today Show, and Good Morning America amongst many others.

Unfortunately Bixby's cancer recurred and was diagnosed as inoperable. Six days after his final assignment, directing an episode of Blossom, Bill Bixby died from complications arising from prostate cancer in Century City, California on November 21, 1993. His wife and another longtime friend of Bixby's, Dick Martin were both by his side. After his death, Bixby's ashes were scattered in the Pacific off the island of Maui, just as his father and son's were. A week after Bixby's death Judith's and Bill's family were joined by many mourners at a private memorial, including Bob Newhart, Dick Martin, Mike Connors, Lou Ferrigno, Kenneth Johnson, Paul Williams, Mariette Hartley, Harry Nilsson (who sang The Courtship of Eddie's Father theme song), Ray Walston, Richard Crenna Brandon Cruz and Miyoshi Umeki. The entire cast of Blossom showed up with the exception of Mayim Bialik.

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