The son of a sales clerk and a department store owner, Bill Bixby wasthe sixth-generation Californian born as Wilfred Bailey Bixby, onJanuary 22, 1934, in San Francisco, California. An only child growingup in the 1940s and 1950s, he attended schools in the same area, tookballroom dance lessons, before attending Lowell High School, where heexcelled in drama. After his graduation from high school, he attendedSan Francisco City College, where he majored in drama. He transferredto the University of California-Berkeley, where he majored in thepre-law program, but never stopped falling in love with his interest inacting. After almost graduating, he left his native San Francisco, totravel to Los Angeles, where he became a lifeguard and a bellhop.

Two years later, in 1959, two executives noticed him and hired himimmediately for commercial work and modeling, in Detroit, Michigan. Atthe same time, he auditioned for theater roles. He joined the DetroitCivic Theatre Company and made his professional stage debut in themusical, "The Boy Friend." Long after his trip to Michigan, hecontinued doing commercial work and made numerous guest appearances onpopular TV sitcoms.

He made his TV debut in an episode ofThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959).He also did many other roles, most notably as "Charles Raymond" inThe Joey Bishop Show (1961).After many guest and recurring roles, he landed a co-starring roleoppositeRay Walston inMy Favorite Martian (1963),in which he portrayed a newspaper reporter playing host to a visitorfrom another planet. After the first season, it became a hit and Bixbybecame a household name to millions of fans who liked the show. Theshow was going well until its cancellation in 1966, which left Bixby inthe dark, for the time being. However, he finally got the chance to goonto the big screen. The first of the four post-"Martian" 60s movies heplayed in was the Western,Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966).The following year, he played inDoctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! (1967)and, soon after, he was approached byElvis Presley to appear in bothBlue Miami (1967), andSpeedway (1968). Afterwards, he onceagain returned to series television, this time playing widowed father,"Tom Corbett", onThe Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969),based on the popular 1963 movie. After its first season, it became amuch bigger hit than his first show and Bixby, heretofore one ofHollywood's most confirmed bachelors, changed his views on marriage andfamily, subsequently taking actressBrenda Benet as his bride and fathering ason. He also tried his hand at directing an episode of the series,called "Gifts Are For Giving," about Norman's highly treasured gift.After completing its second season, Bixby received an Emmy nominationfor Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, but didn't win. By its third seasonin 1972, the show had bad scripts and ABC decided to pull the plug.

Once again, Bixby was not long out of work and was offered a chance tostar in a lead role as "Anthony Dorian/Anthony Blake," on his first andonly NBC dramatic series called,The Magician (1973). The showfocused on Anthony performing magic tricks which helped people who werein trouble, and in real-life, Bill became a fine magician, performingto both children and adults. But sadly, the show was canceled after oneseason due to its expensive costs.

After a seven-year absence from the big screen, he co-starred inanother western, oppositeDon Knotts andTim Conway, inThe Apple Dumpling Gang (1975).Like most of the theatrical movies he did, it was not a blockbuster atthe box office, but was still an average hit. In late 1977, he wasoffered the role of "Dr. David Bruce Banner," in a two-hour pilotcalled,The Incredible Hulk (1977).About a physician/scientist who turned into a green monster whenever hebecame angry, the idea appealed to CBS, and several months later, theypremiered a new science fiction-dramatic series, called,Chôjin haruku (1977).When it debuted as a mid-season replacement, it became the #1 show inthe United States, and in many other countries. His character becamefamous for ripping up shirts each time he turned into the Hulk, playedby bodybuilderLou Ferrigno. Bixby hadwanted to direct some episodes, but the time he had to spend in themake-up chair for the transformation sequences made that problematical,and he managed to helm only one segment, "Bring Me the Head of theHulk," in the fourth season. The series was canceled in 1981 (althoughthe last few episodes didn't air until 1982).

Bixby, once again, came back to series television, acting in, producingand directing his last sitcom,Goodnight, Beantown (1983),on which he played "Matt Cassidy." Chosen for the role of "JenniferBarnes," was one of Bixby's old friends,Mariette Hartley, who had won an Emmyfor her guest appearance inChôjin haruku (1977)as Banner's second wife. The two played co-anchor newscasters of aBoston television station whose sparring on and off the air developedinto friendship and respect. Discounting a brief, inconsequentialreturn to the network's schedule in the summer of 1984, the serieslasted for less than a year, from April 1983 to January 1984.

Bixby now decided to concentrate on directing and worked onWizards and Warriors (1983),Goodnight, Beantown (1983)andSledge Hammer! (1986). Healso directed the pilot for a New York spy series, "Rockhopper." Healso appeared in front of the camera as the host of the daytimeanthology series,True Confessions (1985),which dealt with real-life crises of everyday people. Bixbyadditionally served as host for two shows targeting younger viewers:"Against the Odds," a series of biographies of prominent people,frequently from history, for the Nickelodeon cable channel; and "OnceUpon a Classic," a collection of British TV adaptations of literaryclassics on PBS.

He came back to reprise his role of "Dr. David Banner" fromChôjin haruku (1977)by acting in, producing, and directing the three spin-off movies:The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988),The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989)andThe Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990).He also directed TV movies such asBaby of the Bride (1991)andAnother Pair of Aces: Three of a Kind (1991).

In April 1991, while directing one of his last movies, he became veryill and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent surgery and byDecember, his cancer seemed to be in remission, so he came back toguest star as "Nick Osborne" in a two-hour TV movie/pilot calledDiagnosis of Murder (1992).In mid-1992, while his cancer continued to be in remission, Bixbyreturned to work as a director to direct several episodes of thepopular NBC sitcom,Blossom (1990),where he became the main director of the show. At first, he hid hisillness from the cast and crew, until one of the producers found out,and then he announced publicly that he wanted to continue working untilhe could no longer do so. Prior to going public with his cancer, hedirected a TV movie starringRoseanne BarrandTom Arnold,The Woman Who Loved Elvis (1993),which was his final directing project.

Unfortunately, the cancer returned by mid-1993 and, on November 21,1993, six days after directing his last episode on "Blossom" (1991),Bill Bixby died at age 59 in his home after a two-year battle with cancer. For over 30 years, he was in great demand and his big roles anddirecting credits have been a personal testimony to his fans. His lifeis gone, but his legacy lives on for years to come.