Bill Erwin
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2011) |
Bill Erwin | |
|---|---|
 Erwin c. 1918 | |
| Born | William Lindsey Erwin December 2, 1914 Honey Grove, Texas, United States |
| Died | December 29, 2010 (aged 96) Studio City, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, cartoonist |
| Years active | 1941–2010 |
| Spouse |
Fran MacLachlan
(m. 1948; died 1995) |
| Children | 4 |
| Signature | |
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William Lindsey Erwin (December 2, 1914 – December 29, 2010) was an American film, television and stage actor with over 250 television and film credits. A veteran character actor, he is widely known for his 1993 Emmy Award-nominated performance on Seinfeld, portraying the embittered, irascible retiree Sid Fields. He also made notable appearances on shows such as I Love Lucy and Star Trek: The Next Generation. In cinema, his most recognized role is that of Arthur, a kindly bellhop at the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel, in Somewhere in Time (1980).[1]
Erwin was a self-taught cartoonist, published in The New Yorker, Playboy, and Los Angeles. He won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award,[1] four Drama-Logue Awards, Gilmore Brown Award for Career Achievement, Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters' Diamond Circle Award, and Distinguished Alumnus Award from Angelo State University.
Early life
Erwin was born in Honey Grove, Texas,[2] to Lee Eugene and Ida Mae (née Lindsey) Erwin. He had a sister named Mary Gene Cosper.[3] He attended San Angelo College[citation needed] before earning his bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Texas, graduating in 1935.[1] He completed a masters of theater arts[citation needed] at California's Pasadena Playhouse in 1941. After serving as a Captain in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II, Erwin returned to Hollywood to resume his acting career.[4] His first film role was in the 1942 film You're in the Army Now.
Career
Stage
Erwin acted in productions at the Pasadena Playhouse, the Laguna Beach Playhouse, the La Jolla Playhouse, and other venues in the Los Angeles area.[1]
Film
In the late 1950s, Erwin was in such films as Man from Del Rio (1956) and The Night Runner (1957), before playing Jack Nicholson's father in The Cry Baby Killer, Nicholson's first starring role in 1958. The long out-of-print film was released on DVD on November 22, 2006. He had credited small roles in films such as The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970), How Awful About Allan (1970), Candy Stripe Nurses (1974) and Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977), before he co-starred alongside Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour in the 1980 romantic fantasy Somewhere in Time as Arthur Biehl, the Grand Hotel's venerable bellman, and attended annual reunions of cast, crew, and fans of the film at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan.
Erwin also appeared in numerous films by John Hughes, with cameos in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), She's Having a Baby (1988), Home Alone (1990), and Dennis the Menace (1993). Hughes often paired him with Billie Bird playing his wife. His later film career included roles in Invitation to Hell (1984), Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994), Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), Menno's Mind (1997), Chairman of the Board (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), Inferno (1999) and A Crack in the Floor (2001).
Television
His television credits were far more numerous in the 1950s, having appeared in such television series as I Love Lucy, Crusader, Trackdown, Colgate Theatre, Perry Mason and The Rifleman. In the 1960s, Erwin appeared in television series such as: The Andy Griffith Show, Mister Ed, Maverick, The Twilight Zone, 87th Precinct, My Three Sons, The Fugitive, Leave it To Beaver and Mannix.
In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he appeared in Barnaby Jones, Cannon, Gunsmoke, Married With Children, E/R, Highway to Heaven, Who's The Boss?, Growing Pains, Full House, The Golden Girls, Moonlighting, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The Drew Carey Show. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Erwin played Dr. Dalen Quaice, a friend and mentor of Dr. Beverly Crusher. He was the first character to disappear in the episode "Remember Me".
In the Seinfeld episode ("The Old Man"), for which Erwin received an Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series,[5] he played Sid Fields, who participates in the Foster-A-Grandpa Program, which pairs him with Jerry Seinfeld. Erwin's crochety, aggressive, foul-mouthed character ensures that the relationship is doomed from the beginning. Erwin later reunited with Michael Richards when he guest-starred on the short-lived The Michael Richards Show. In the 2000s, Erwin appeared on Monk, The West Wing, The King of Queens, Everwood and My Name Is Earl.
Other media
After Erwin began his theatrical career with the Laguna Beach and La Jolla playhouses in 1940, he worked as ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's stage manager for Bergen's 1941 tour of the country.[4] Erwin dryly recalled, "I was in charge of the dummies." [citation needed]
Personal life
Erwin was married to actress and journalist Fran MacLachlan Erwin from 1948 to her death in 1995. They lived in the Hollywood Hills and had two sons, Michael and Timothy, and two daughters, Lindsey and Kelly.
Death
Erwin died from natural causes at his home in Studio City, California on December 29, 2010. He lived near the production lot where Seinfeld was filmed.[3]
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1941 | Always Tomorrow: The Portrait of an American Business | Sam Tompkins | Uncredited |
| 1941 | You're in the Army Now | Soldier | Uncredited |
| 1948 | The Velvet Touch | Howard Forman | |
| 1949 | Easy Living | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1949 | Battleground | Warrant Officer | Uncredited |
| 1951 | Double Dynamite | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1952 | Holiday for Sinners | Usher | Uncredited |
| 1956 | Man from Del Rio | Roy Higgens | Uncredited |
| 1957 | The Night Runner | McDermott | |
| 1957 | The Shadow on the Window | Policeman | Uncredited |
| 1957 | House of Numbers | Bank Teller | Uncredited |
| 1957 | Jet Pilot | Sergeant | Uncredited |
| 1957 | Witness for the Prosecution | Juror | Uncredited |
| 1958 | Gun Fever | Bartender | |
| 1958 | The Cry Baby Killer | Mr. Wallace | |
| 1958 | The Buccaneer | Civilian | Uncredited |
| 1962 | Rome Adventure | Elderly Guest | Uncredited |
| 1962 | Terror at Black Falls | Hugh 'Squint' Edwards | |
| 1963 | Under the Yum Yum Tree | Teacher | Uncredited |
| 1964 | The Brass Bottle | Middle-Aged Man | Uncredited |
| 1968 | Counterpoint | Trumpet player | Uncredited |
| 1970 | The Christine Jorgensen Story | Pastor | |
| 1974 | Candy Stripe Nurses | Principal | |
| 1977 | Sixth and Main | ||
| 1980 | Somewhere in Time | Arthur Biehl | |
| 1981 | Dream On! | ||
| 1984 | Invitation to Hell | Walt Henderson | TV movie |
| 1984 | The Bear | Alabama Alumni | |
| 1986 | Stewardess School | Orchestra Conductor | |
| 1987 | Planes, Trains and Automobiles | Man on Plane | |
| 1988 | She's Having a Baby | Grandfather | |
| 1988 | Silent Assassins | Dr. London | |
| 1988 | The Land Before Time | Grandfather | Voice |
| 1988 | A Place to Hide | ||
| 1990 | Home Alone | Man in Airport | |
| 1990 | The Willies | Old Man | |
| 1990 | The Color of Evening | Priest | |
| 1991 | Night of the Warrior | Coco | |
| 1991 | The Entertainers | Sam | |
| 1992 | Unbecoming Age | Old Man | |
| 1993 | Dennis the Menace | Edward Little | |
| 1994 | Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult | Conductor | |
| 1995 | Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead | 70-Year-Old Man | |
| 1997 | Menno's Mind | Mr. Lewis | |
| 1998 | Chairman of the Board | Landers | |
| 1998 | Art House | Monty | |
| 1999 | Forces of Nature | Murray | |
| 1999 | Inferno | Eli Hamilton | |
| 2000 | Stanley's Gig | Jules | |
| 2000 | Down 'n Dirty | Janitor | |
| 2001 | Cahoots | Frenchy | |
| 2001 | A Crack in the Floor | Harold | |
References
- ^ a b c d "Character actor got Emmy Nod". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. January 1, 2011. p. 21. Retrieved July 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 229. ISBN 9781476625997. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ a b ""Seinfeld" actor Bill Erwin dies at 96". Reuters, via Yahoo.com, January 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Lentz, Harris M., III (2011). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2010. McFarland. p. 123. ISBN 9780786486496. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "("Bill Erwin" search results)". Emmy Awards. Television Academy. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
External links
- Bill Erwin at IMDb
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1914 births
- 2010 deaths
- Male actors from Texas
- American male film actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- American military personnel of World War II
- Angelo State University alumni
- Disease-related deaths in California
- People from Honey Grove, Texas
- People from Studio City, Los Angeles
- University of Texas at Austin alumni
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- United States Army Air Forces officers
- American cartoonists
- The Twilight Zone Guest Appearances