RIP Bill Daily.

September 13, 2018 8:39 AM

Actor Bill Daily has died at age 91. He was best known as Roger in I Dream of Jeannie and Bob Newhart's neighbor. He also appears in this early episode of "My Mother the Car." How he landed the role in I Dream of Jeanie. Episode of Match Game featuring Bill Daily shenanigans. I Dream of Jeannie reunion interview. Variety obit. Hannah's Bill Daily web site.
posted by Melismata (39 comments total)

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posted by hijinx at 8:45 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by Gelatin at 8:57 AM on September 13, 2018

I watched a lot of both as those shows as a kid.

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posted by Chrysostom at 9:05 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by Devoidoid at 9:09 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by Faint of Butt at 9:15 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 9:15 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by Splunge at 9:30 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by Krazor at 9:41 AM on September 13, 2018

He appeared on every television show throughout the 1970's, I'm sure of it. Always the same lovely character.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 9:51 AM on September 13, 2018 [3 favorites]

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posted by cazoo at 10:06 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by dhalgren at 10:11 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by bryon at 10:17 AM on September 13, 2018

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posted by queensissy at 10:36 AM on September 13, 2018

The Match Game link really, really brightened my day.
I watched that dang thing everyday; it's the best game show ever. Change my mind.

Rest in peace, my fellow Bill.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 10:40 AM on September 13, 2018 [5 favorites]

In a more interesting timeline, someone would have had the imagination to cast him as Cliff Barnes.

Even so, the Pearly Gates undoubtedly burst open as he barged in, exclaiming, "Hi God!"

RIP the definitive Goofy Next-Door Neighbor / Wingman and perfect comic timing guy. No more goo-to-go in the house.
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posted by zaixfeep at 10:47 AM on September 13, 2018 [1 favorite]

Another inhabitant of my childhood gone. It's getting lonely in there.

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posted by Thorzdad at 10:59 AM on September 13, 2018 [3 favorites]

I had no idea he was 91; count me as another person bewildered by the stars of their childhood growing old and dying.

Godspeed, Major Healey.


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posted by TedW at 11:05 AM on September 13, 2018 [3 favorites]

I loved him and was really sad to hear this news. He perfectly played gentle befuddlement, and I always smile when I think of Howard Borden.

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posted by holborne at 11:09 AM on September 13, 2018 [2 favorites]

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posted by Sphinx at 11:37 AM on September 13, 2018

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I liked how the makers of Newhart's next series (the one that was 'all a dream', y'know?) had him guest star as a guy who just moved in the town and assumed he was Bob's character's best friend.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:59 AM on September 13, 2018 [2 favorites]

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posted by jim in austin at 12:01 PM on September 13, 2018

My dad's name was Howard. Bill's was the funny one.

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posted by rhizome at 12:39 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by daybeforetheday at 12:55 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by evilDoug at 1:14 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 1:18 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by get off of my cloud at 1:50 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by Windopaene at 2:28 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by pjmoy at 3:35 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by gudrun at 6:17 PM on September 13, 2018

A classic Howard scene: Holding up a wall.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:49 PM on September 13, 2018 [2 favorites]

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posted by kinnakeet at 7:05 PM on September 13, 2018

He was my favorite on Jeannie. And "Hi Bob!" was a meme avant la lettre.

Thanks for many happy hours, Major.

aav.

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posted by the sobsister at 8:17 PM on September 13, 2018

Lots of people “work in showbiz”. Bill Daily *worked* in showbiz. Writer. Actor with dyslexia. Director. Producer who hired Bob Newhart in a pinch. Announcer. Ran a daily variety show.

But my favorite part of his amazing obit (below) is this: “He was …very proud to note that his first two children … were adopted”. To be a quiet evangelist for adoption, and to do it so thoroughly that your obituary keeps spreading that message after you've died, is to be a gentle force for good in the world.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bill-daily-dead-i-dream-jeannie-newhart-show-star-was-91-939514
posted by NumberSix at 8:33 PM on September 13, 2018 [4 favorites]

Still amazed that My Mother the Car ever made it onto TV.
Plop plop, no fizz fizz.

Star Trek, OS, 79 episodes. I Dream of Jeannie, 139 episodes. A very strange time in TV history.

*makes all the cartoon sound effects*
posted by Twang at 9:27 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by riverlife at 9:56 PM on September 13, 2018

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posted by filtergik at 3:52 AM on September 14, 2018

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posted by james33 at 7:29 AM on September 14, 2018

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posted by bjgeiger at 1:02 PM on September 14, 2018

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posted by detachd at 1:05 PM on September 15, 2018