Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby III (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993)[1] was an American actor and television director. His career spanned more than three decades, including appearances on stage, in films, and on television series. He is known for his roles in the CBS sitcom My Favorite Martian as Tim O'Hara, in the ABC sitcom The Courtship of Eddie's Father as Tom Corbett, in the NBC crime drama series The Magician as stage Illusionist Anthony Blake, in the ABC mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man as Willie Abbott, and the CBS science-fiction drama series The Incredible Hulk as Dr. David Bruce Banner.[2][3]
A fifth-generation Californian[4] of English descent and an only child,[citation needed] Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby III was born on January 22, 1934, in San Francisco, California.[5] His father, Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby II, was a store clerk. His mother, Jane (née McFarland) Bixby, was a senior manager at I. Magnin & Co. In 1942, when Bixby was eight years old, his father enlisted in the Navy during World War II and traveled to the South Pacific. While in the seventh grade, Bixby attended Grace Cathedral and sang in the church's choir. he shot the bishop using a slingshot during a service and was kicked out of 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. Though he received average grades, he also competed in high-school speech tournaments regionally.[citation needed]
Later, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, his parents' alma mater, and left just a few credits short of earning a degree. He explained that he had only been majoring in pre-law because it was what his parents expected of him, and he finally asked his parents to instead give him five years to find out if he could succeed as an actor.[4] He then moved to Hollywood, California, where he had a string of odd jobs that included bellhop and lifeguard. 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.[1]
While working on other Danny Thomas productions, Bixby would watch rehearsals for The Dick Van Dyke Show, which inspired him to want to be a director as well.[4]
My Favorite Martian and other early roles
Bixby as Tim O'Hara in My Favorite Martian, when an accident turns Uncle Martin back into a baby (season 2, episode 28)
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. The series was hugely popular.[4] By 1966, though, high production costs forced the series to come to an end after 107 episodes. After its cancellation, 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.[4] 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. The series concerned a widowed father raising a young son, managing a major syndicated magazine, and at the same time trying to re-enter the dating scene. 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. Eddie was played by novice actor Brandon Cruz. Cruz and Bixby developed a close rapport that translated to an off-camera friendship, as well. According to Bixby, "The amazing thing is that when we're working in a scene together there's never a thought of conscious acting. Our natural affection for one another is what appeals to the audience."[4] The core cast was rounded out by Academy Award-winning actress Miyoshi Umeki, who played the role of Tom's housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, James Komack (one of the series' producers) as Norman Tinker, Tom's pseudo-hippie, quirky photographer, and actress Kristina Holland as Tom's secretary, Tina. 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. 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.
According to Bixby, his experiences on The Courtship of Eddie's Father helped make him ready for marriage and fatherhood.[4]
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. The death of Bixby's only child, in 1981, drew Bixby and Cruz closer still. The two remained in contact until Bixby's death in 1993.[citation needed] In 1995, Cruz named his own son Lincoln Bixby Cruz.[4]
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. Bill wasn't the first actor to portray a single widowed father, but he became one of the popular ones, because of his easy-going way of this crazy little kid." Prior to Bixby's promotion to director, Cruz said, "He was looking for the best dolly grip, along with the boom operator that if something was called specifically and failed, Bill could be easily angry." On the kind of relationship Bixby had wanted with his co-star, Cruz also said, "Bill would never speak down to me. Bill treated me as an equal. He made sure that we had a lot of time together, just so he could kinda crawl inside my head and see what actually made a kid tick." Upon the death of Bixby's real-life father in 1971, Cruz stated, "He had that type of mentality that the show must go on, thinking it was just a great TV show, after he broke down weeping."[17]
In a 2011 interview with Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith about how Bill Bixby's fame was supposed to posthumously honor him for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Cruz said, "When I found out they were putting this out, I thought, 'It's about time.' Bill Bixby had an amazing body of work, not only Courtship of Eddie's Father, but My Favorite Martian,The Magician,The Incredible Hulk, and so many other things, as an actor, as a director — and he never got an Emmy. He's never been recognized posthumously by the Academy. And he doesn't have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That is criminal.... There are people who have stars that, not to be blunt, but I wouldn't bother spitting on their stars. Bill's talent would take a couple of blocks of stars compared to them. It really demeans the whole thing that Bill is not included."[18]
1973 to 1977
In 1973, Bixby starred in The Magician. The series was well liked, but lasted for only 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 invited a few old friends along to co-star such as Pamela Britton (in her final role), Kristina Holland, and Ralph O'Hara.
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, which was hosted by Richard Dawson. He had also appeared with Dawson on Cop-Out, an unsold 1972 pilot produced by Chuck Barris, and on the 1972 revival of I've Got a Secret. 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 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.[4]
Bixby starred in the role of Dr. David Bruce Banner in the pilot movie The Incredible Hulk, based on the Stan Lee and Jack KirbyMarvel characters. Kenneth Johnson, the creator, director, and writer, said that Bixby was his only choice to play the part.[20] When Bixby was offered the role, he declined it – until he read the script and discussed it with Johnson.[21] 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. The pilot also starred Susan Sullivan as Dr. Elaina Marks, who tries to help the conflicted and widowed Dr. Banner overcome his "problem" and falls in love with him in the process. In a retrospective on The Incredible Hulk, Glenn Greenberg declared Bixby's performance to be the series' "foremost" strength, elaborating that he "masterfully conveyed the profound loneliness and tragedy of Dr. Banner while also bringing to the role an abundance of warmth, intelligence, humor, nobility, likability, and above all else, humanity."[22]
During the series' run, Bixby invited two of his longtime friends, Ray Walston and Brandon Cruz, to guest-star with him in different episodes of the series. 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. Hartley appears in the well-regarded double-length episode "Married",[22] and subsequently won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance. Future star Loni Anderson also guest-starred with Bixby during the first season. Bixby directed one episode of the series, "Bring Me the Head of the Hulk", in 1980 (original airdate: January 9, 1981). He had been scheduled to direct three episodes, but because playing the lead role in the series took up so much of his time (since The Incredible Hulk involved much more location shooting than Bixby's previous shows), he was forced to cut it down to just the one.[23]
The series was cancelled after the following season, but leftover episodes aired as late as the next June. Bixby later executive-produced and reprised the role in three television movies – The Incredible Hulk Returns, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, and The Death of the Incredible Hulk – the last two of which he also directed, and the first of which he has been said to have unofficially co-directed.[22] Bixby was proud of the series as one that parents and children could watch together, though he did not allow his own son to watch the show for fear that he would be frightened by the sight of his father transforming into a green monster.[4]
Later work
Bixby was executive producer and co-star of the short-lived sitcom Goodnight, Beantown (1983–84). He also directed three episodes of the series. During the same time, Bixby directed several episodes of another short-lived television series, Wizards and Warriors, which aired in 1983. From 1982 to 1984, he hosted a documentary series for Nickelodeon entitled Against the Odds. The series, which was cancelled after only two seasons, consists of short biographies of famous people throughout history. From 1986 to 1987, he hosted the syndicated weekday anthology series True Confessions. In 1987, he directed eight episodes of the satirical police sitcom Sledge Hammer!, including the episode "Hammer Hits the Rock" in season two, where he made an uncredited appearance as Zeke.
Bixby hosted two specials regarding Elvis conspiracy theories and his alleged sightings: The Elvis Files (1991)[24] and The Elvis Conspiracy (1992).[25]
He finished his career by directing 30 episodes (in seasons two and three) of the NBC sitcom Blossom.[26]
Personal life and death
Bixby's first marriage was to actress Brenda Benet.[27] They were married in 1971, and she gave birth to their son, Christopher, in September 1974. They divorced in 1980. A few months later, in March 1981, six-year-old Christopher died while on a skiing vacation at Mammoth Lakes with Benet. He went into cardiac arrest after doctors inserted a breathing tube when he suffered acute epiglottitis.[28] Benet committed suicide the following year.[29] The two deaths profoundly impacted Bixby; years later his home was still filled with pictures of Christopher, and he confessed to reporters that he would often speak to Christopher when he was alone.[4]
Bixby met Laura Michaels, who had worked on the set of one of his Hulk movies, in 1989. They married a year later in Hawaii. In early 1991, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment.[30][31] Though Bixby felt he had recovered following the treatment, a year later the symptoms returned, and Michaels divorced divorced him shortly after.[4][32]
In late 1992, friends introduced Bixby to the artist Judith Kliban, widow of the cartoonist B. Kliban. He married her in October 1993.[33]
In early 1993, after rumors began circulating about his health, Bixby went public with his illness, making several appearances on shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Today, and Good Morning America, among others.[34] He also counselled other cancer patients.[4]
On November 21, 1993, six days after his final assignment on Blossom, Bixby died of complications from prostate cancer in Century City, Los Angeles, California. He was 59 years old.[35]
Director (8 episodes) – "Gifts Are for Giving" (1970) – "Two's Company" (1971) – "Happy Birthday to You" (1971) – "A Brave at Natchanoomi" (1971) – "The Karate Story" (1972) – "The Investors" (1972) – "In the Eye of the Beholder" (1972) – "Time for a Change" (1972)
Director (5 episodes) – "The Cloning of the Green" (1981) – "The Two Faces of Zac" (1981) – "Take My Tonsils...Please!" (1981) – "Change of Venue" (1982) – "I Was a Teenage Loser" (1982)
Director (3 episodes) – "Hooking for Mr. Goodbar" (1983) – "A Felon Needs a Girl" (1983); also Executive Producer – "Peace on Earth" Executive Producer (2 episodes) – "An Old Flame Flickers" (1984)
Director (5 episodes) – "Kiss Me Red"; also Producer – "Boys Are the Best"; also Producer – "Working Life"; also Producer – "Stuttering"; also Producer – "Suspicion"; also Producer Executive Producer (12 episodes) – "Friends" – "Fortune and Fame" – "Alone" – "Head Over Heels" – "Rusted Dreams" – "Tears in the Night" – "The Birthday Party"
Director (8 episodes) – "Play It Again Sledge" (1987) – "Death a Few Salesmen" (1987) – "Hammer Hits the Rock" (1987) – "The Last of the Red Hot Vampires" (1987) – "Icebreaker" (1987) – "Sledge, Rattle 'n' Roll" (1988) – "It Happened What Night?" (1988) – "Here's to You, Mrs. Hammer" (1988)
1 2 Hayward, Anthony (November 24, 1993). "Obituary: Bill Bixby". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
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