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(1934–1992). American actor.
Directed
and acted in: "Bring Me the Head of the Hulk" (1981), episode of The Incredible
Hulk; Trial of the Incredible Hulk (and co-produced) (tv movie)
(1989); Death of the Incredible Hulk (tv movie) (1990).
The Incredible Hulk
was trapped in television's "Family Hour" during a period of great concern over
excessive violence, so that the series could never achieve its potential
impact; I recall one episode, for example, where the change into the Hulk was
implausibly triggered by an obdurate telephone operator. But Bixby was
painfully convincing as the lonely, distant drifter with a desperate secret in
his eyes. Afterwards, he tried to return to niceness in the lame comedy Goodnight,
Beantown, but perhaps, after his performance as Banner, he could never play
such a role effectively again. He then starred in in three Hulk movies,
directing the last two, and was working exclusively as a television director
when he died in 1993.
Bixby's other ventures near the genre,
aside from inane guest appearances on Fantasy Island, The Ghost and
Mrs. Muir, and Sledge Hammer, came in episodes of The Twilight
Zone, Night Gallery, and Tales of the Unexpected. He also
portrayed a crime-solving stage magician in the short-lived series The
Magician, undoubtedly, Bill Bixby could relate to playing a master of illusion.
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