William Windom (September 28, 1923 - August 16, 2012) was an American movie, radio, stage, voice, and mostly television actor who's career has lasted for 56 years. Barbara Clare later met a poet and they remained partners until her death. When asked about who hed like to work with the list was not very big. "Pink Panther and Sons": Rocco's last round as the doctor and ticket seller When Bill got the role in My World in 1969 he had already been familiar with James Thurber having read his works when Bill was a teen (his father introduced him to Thurber). He continued guest-starring in series during the 1960s including playing The Major in "Five Characters in Search of an Exit", a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone; Windom considered this guest appearance as his West Coast television debut. Join the WW Studio @ Barc Windom by. LAP-BAND Lee Grossbard Surgery Date: 10/30/2009 Height: 5 feet 3 inches Starting Weight: 244 lbs Weight Lost: 67 lbs Current Weight: 177 lbs Goal Weight: 145 lbs 31.4 Posted June 13, 2014 Thanks, great list! For Bill, his home was his private sanctum and he detested anyone who tried to seek HIM out to donate or buy items. Bill recorded his best chess score at around 1610. His death date was Aug 16, 2012. Bill said he was sorry for the actions of his great-grandfather who sponsored bills that adversely affected the native tribes of the U.S. Bill took whatever roles he could get, even the ones he didnt like because he jokingly admitted he had to eat. I get mine the weekend before I go to work. Bill was certainly California Dreaming while living in a small apartment. Then Shavelson introduced the character again on an episode of The June Allyson Show in 1961. This was the last year the show was shot in New York City before moving to California. Years later, they would visit the Russian Tea Room in New York City when Bill was in town. Decker is killed in the end but his character was resurrected in a fan-made series for the internet called Star Trek: The New Voyages. The Commodore role cemented Bill into the memories of Trek fans. As an actor, you make money by having them know exactly who you are and what youre gonna do and thats what they come back to see again in one form or another. He joked that the photos probably made it onto an awkward Christmas Card. Helping the author present it. William Windom, who played Commodore Matt Decker on Star Trek, also played Dr. Seth Hazlitt, the town doctor of Cabot Cove on Murder, She Wrote. He was that convincing. It was a hard decision to leave her two daughters while she traveled, helping others. Windom played Dr Seth Hazlitt in more than 50. Jacqulyne was 19 years his junior. Bill was also supposed to shoot a film in NYC but that did not happen. Im always out of work., Gives me the heebie-jeebies. (an Ernie Pyle quote that Bill was fond of), The one who gets the clerks job over 25 others is the one who removes the help-wanted sign from the windowIm your man., Im not a theatre worshiper. Bill and Angela Lansbury worked with each other well before Murder, She Wrote. They appeared in the Broadway show Hotel Paradiso.. ), Im not the one-man show type. Bill suffered from Asthma (as a child) and color blindness. Even if it meant placing a hand on the back or shoulder of his fellow castmate. This was around the time he had Elizabeth Taylor in his sites. Koltanowski was blindfolded and played against Bill and beat him. One article mentioned that watching the two was like watching the Odd Couple. They enjoyed it so much they took their tandem wherever they went. Now what can one really do for Richard the III?. Very few sleeping bags have those features., That was fun. He appeared on The Donna Reed Show, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, and Ironside. Bill said if he ever changed his name (for acting purposes) it would be Kirk Kincaid because a good name needs a lot of Ks. Bill was a Professional Artist in Residence at Cal State (1976, 1979, 1982). Several people wondered why the two would separate. Hes absolutely wholesome. He and the 82nd airborne division returned home to the U.S. (after spending 3 months at Biarritz) in January 1946. Bill said he was, at one-time, mistaken for Raymond Burr and Robert Morley in the same day. Elsewhere, Quincy. I was honored. However, there was a rumor that Shatner treated Bill harshly during their Broadway days. Bill used what acting skills he had to avoid being killed. They didnt put an ad in the trades the way people do quite often, they just let it goto Hell with it, they didnt care., Dull, dull, dull drek. (On his Glen Morley character), Not bad television.(talking about his show My World), For my epitaph, I want, Cut!dammit Windom! (because he always horsed around during his shoots), Its a two-way bridge in my mind. Years later he looked back on frat life with disdain because of how discriminatory that life was. Originally Decker was supposed to be stoic and angry when we see him. I can only hope to be half as well remembered. (Bill talking about I Love Lucy actors Vivian Vance and William Frawley). When he lived in California he and a friend would sail to Mexico. Other times hed get a game of chess going with either staff or students. As a student at Williams, Bill read for the play Thunder Rock but never performed in it. Bills other hobbies (besides chess, tennis and sailinghis absolute favorites with sailing taking a slight edge over tennis) included fishing, golfing and bike riding (he used to ride a tandem named dragonfly). Another quote from his dad, Life is teaming with quiet fun. Don Taylor decided to hire Bill and no one knew until the big wigs watched the first daily rushes and said the story was really good and why didnt anyone choose a well-known actor? He even got to work with Carol in at least two different plays. Bill would host chess games at this home, which he moved from in the 1990s. [1] He was the great-grandson of the United States secretary of the treasury of the same name, whom the actor resembled. End of show. This was according to an interview in 1976. Its first national stop was in Connecticut. However Bill recalled it this way, They mushed the tag. Both rings would eventually move to his pinky finger as they years passed. Then when theres a lull in the conversation bring up the subject. . After the baby was born, Bill proudly said, So far, hes passed muster. He named his son Rebel Russell. As he got older he realized his trophies for sailing and tennis and chess were more important. [1], For the United States Secretary of the Treasury (and this actor's great-grandfather), see, Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 16:47, 1970 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, "William Windom, Emmy Winner and TV Everyman, Dies at 88", "The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment(PIR) Trooper Pictures during World War II", "Is There a Doctor in the House? Bill admitted to lying and cheating sometimes to get a part but he made sure he didnt hurt anyone from the antics. LOS ANGELES (AP) - William Windom, who won an Emmy Award for his turn in the 1969 TV comedy series "My World And Welcome To It" and went on to score guest appearances on several popular shows,. Clare was a well-known interior decorator and specialized in antiques. A chess, tennis and sailing enthusiast, he is survived by four children: Rachel, Heather Juliet, Hope and Rebel Russell.Two step-daughters, Debora and Maggie as well as four grandchildren. In 1964 Bill wrote an article for UPI about Glen Morley, the character and William Windom, the civilian. He filmed his scenes between Wednesday 21 June 1967 and Friday 23 June 1967 on Desilu Stage 9 and Stage 10 . Weeks is sitting back relaxing ( and naked) when he calls Bernard over to the tub to grab the phone and get a good view at the same time. The theatre group,called The Stage Society, was conducted by actor John Houseman and founded by actor Richard Erdman. He is survived by his fifth wife, children: Rachel, Heather Juliet, Hope Teresa and Rebel Russell, two step-daughters: Debora and Maggie, two godchildren, three granddaughters and a grandson. Nobody wants to tear my shorts off. (on being interviewed all over the world and meeting fans), Doing Thurber is exhilarating, like three hours of tennis., Chess and Tennis hold my interest wherever they occur-their applicability to gamemenship and oneupmanship (one of Bills favorite terms) is of particular relish to me., Guys like Robert Redford get their offers a year in advance. He also wished the show sometimes focused on Glens political endeavors. Bill would also play in various competitions and celebrity matches. Now that Im in my 50s, no one under 30 can act., I got parts in a couple of shows and thought show business was a breeze, but after that I fell flat on my face and ended up selling insurance., Its a good life. Producers created his character because they wanted Jessica Fletcher to regularly interact with an intellectual. The producers invited him thereafter to return at the beginning of the second season in a continuing role. This may be a spin by the PR folks as Bill said he didnt take acting seriously until after he enrolled at the University in Biarritz. When Bill played it, we first see Decker as a frightened, catatonic soul. William Windom (September 28, 1923 August 16, 2012) was an American actor. There was never any mention that Bill learned from a particular acting style like Strassberg or Meisner. It was founded by an actress he worked with. He originally got a small role in the show. He signed up for the acting program because he wanted to meet girls. He then added a second jacket and a third to his collection (for colleges he visited 3 times). One of the famous guest lecturers was actress Marlene Dietrich who taught movie acting techniques. One time, when Bill was performing at Cal Tech, a gentleman said his mother didnt like Bill in My World. Bill said he shouldnt have asked but he did and the man said it was because the woman just didnt like Bill in the role. When he was 9 he spent a summer (in Williamstown, Massachusetts) with two eccentric aunts who made him read a Shakespeare play each day and give a report. He once told a reporter he liked well-dressed woman and preferred New York styles over California styles. The scene was a little odd as Weeks is having the bath while his assistant, Bernard is in the room. He later got a copy of the article and it said Bill was clearly, NOT one of Us.. To Bill, acting was a way to be someone else and have fun. Barbara had been married and divorced and had two young daughters. Bill and a friend agreed to try out for the show. Bill played him and Bill won. It was even approved by the California State Corporation Commission. One time the pilot he was flying with gave Bill the controls for a short while. After that he added more patches to the jacket. Patricia kept the home fires burning while Bill traveled for his shows. One of the patent photos is included in the miscellaneous page. Nordyke mentioned PFC William Windom arriving in the town of Werbomont and laying down and falling asleep after a long, intense journey. We were supposed to leave him alone because he couldnt be distracted. Wallach said he and Bill demanded the scene be put back and it was. Bill credits the win to good friend Bill Bixby. So he would give each one a list of prepared questions and answers including Q)Are you a movie star? William Windom, born in Belmont County, Ohio, on 10 May 1827, studied law at Mount Vernon, Ohio, and gained admission to the Ohio bar in 1850. He submitted some questions to Bill and included the answers in the book. He would tell solicitors his grandmother was in the other room dying or he would get junk mail and send them back with other peoples names. However, Bill kept a bronze Staunton set by his pool, ready for a game at all times. I like to say it lets you blow your nose in public, so to speak.(on playing the heavy). Later on, when he took up windsurfing, he wanted to start a chapter of the National Windsurfing Association. She lived in Warrenton, VA in a segregated section. About 20 years later, Bill was using the trophy as a door stop. Not exactly the right movie for the song. Bill, luckily, didnt suffer any physical injuries during his service. When Bill was in the military they were in the process of changing the information on dog tags. One man asked him, Dont you like playing with boys? and Bill said, I dont like to play with boys, do you? Bill even flew to Hawaii to play in a tennis charity event hosted by Hawaii 5-0s James MacArthur (he and Bill worked on the film The Angry Breed and two episodes of Hawaii 5-0.). In the book, Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor by C. David Heymann, Burton was in Rome filming Cleopatra when he invited Tunder to be with him and even offered her a small role. She moved to the Caribbean where she lived for 30+ years, devoting several of her art works and her life to the Bahai faith. He graduated from The University of Pennsylvania in 1917 and earned the Croix de Guerre for courage under fire. History When he and his brother, Richard, were young, they both tried to sign up to join the navy, but were turned down because they were both too drunk and young. The 508th was known as The Red Devils. I have no Earthly idea. Don Taylor said Weve got to do this other ending for the tower, or for whatever. The tag in the original script, the way we wanted to film it, shows the bar destroyed by the wrecking ball and my character standing on a cement slab with rain pouring down, thats all. One of the directors who appeared at Biarritz, later used Bill in some performances at Fordham University. Bill said he got bored after a while and finished the request quickly. The thing was, he looked and sounded just like his father. Bill even said a well-dressed woman made him look good as he was a sweat-shirt type of guy. Bill said the lecture sounded like the VD films shown every month to the soldiers. He called up Thurbers wife for content and he called friend Hal Holbrook for advice on one-man shows. It made the character that much more fallible and human. [4] Later, in 1975, he guest-starred as George Kane, a desperate drug dealer, in the series finale of Mannix in the episode "Hardball". Bills mother, Isobel Wells (nee Peckham), was the daughter of a southern socialite from Alabama. One of Bills chess-playing friends was actor Claude Akins. To stop the bullying, Bill took on the persona of a jokester and thats how he stayed until the day he died. before gaining acclaim for his recurring role on the CBS mystery series Murder, She Wrote (1986-1996), portraying Dr. Seth Hazlitt of Cabot Cove opposite Angela Lansbury. Bill was in a play (in New York City) called U.S.A. when he was asked to perform the show at UCLA in California. Bill and Lange would later work together on an episode of Murder, She Wrote called The Big Kill. A very familiar face to television viewers, actor William Windom, has died from congestive heart failure at the age of 88. Birth Sign Libra. They confuse me.. According to a newspaper article, he was literally in a foxhole on Christmas Day wondering what he would do if he survivedhe decided at that moment to become an actor. He likes to keep the camera rolling after the take is over to see what you will do. If you got 90% of them to stand up and give you a hand thats terrific. Speaking of Jack Lemmon, theres an unusual connection between he and Bill even though they never worked together. Bill was always happy to give to a worthy cause. He then considered doing the same in Santa Barbara. Richard Widmark had reportedly turned down the roll due to the pay. Bill rated his most favorite and best performances in this order: Richard III (his first official acting role), Randy Lane from Night Gallery and his Thurber one-man shows. When he showed up most of the people didnt know who Bill was. He died at his home in Woodacre, California, on August 16, 2012. His first leading role came in the sitcom The Farmer's Daughter (19631966), a series based on the 1947 film about a young Minnesota woman (played by Inger Stevens) who became the housekeeper for a widowed congressman (Windom). Bill had a very high IQ and he was picked on in school by some of the southern boys. When Julien learns about the affair he goes into a rage and asks was it Edouards kiss that did it. However he actually charmed (or conned) his way into the part. ), Earn money, even if its at McDonalds. Bill liked to talk in percentages like Sturgeons Law. 1012 5th Ave, Windom, MN 56101 His shirts were baggy and loose and he often wore bathing suits, sarongs, sandals or moccasins. The role was meant for Robert Ryan, who Bill worked with in the film The Cattle King. He wasnt available so they picked Bill. He said if he did direct he would need complete control. A real treat for a man who spent five years at an all-male school. Television is like acting with a wet raincoat. I dont even know her name. Third, Jack Lemmon played the Thurber lead in the film The War Between Men and Women instead of Bill, who starred in the Thurber tv show. Im a glutton for punishment, but nothing else. (on quitting smoking, drinking and then going on a diet in 1970.) Woman), If the public had said Wow! But they didnt. It was shot on a hot day in July to be aired in November. (He props his elbows on the edge of the table with his forehead resting on his fists as if in prayer.) Ironically, Bills character, Dr. Seth Hazlitt, on Murder, She Wrote replaced Akins character, Ethan Cragg as Jessicas Cabot Cove Buddy. Bill says Bixby was on the nominating committee. 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