This section features facts about and quotes from Bill. The information is based on interviews with Bill and with those who knew him.
Bill was an only child, born in New York City on September 28, 1923. He was named after his great grandfather (his grandfather was also named William) who was a Congressman from Minnesota, a Senator and then Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Harrison and Garfield. His grandfather and uncle were also named William however, Bill did not have a middle name. The elder Windom was a Quaker. He died while giving a speech at the famous Delmonico’s Steak House in New York City in 1891. Ironically Bill would play a Minnesota Congressman in “The Farmer’s Daughter.”
A little about Bill’s family tree: His father, Paul, was an ambulance driver in WWI (he served with the French Foreign Legion) and was a successful architect in the US and Europe. Paul worked for the US Maritime Commission. He graduated from The University of Pennsylvania in 1917 and earned the Croix de Guerre for courage under fire. The war affected Paul emotionally. Bill mentioned that his father was a heavy drinker, rather frail and he died of cirrhosis in 1955. Paul often showed up at events for Bill, drunk. Bill said his father was not very happy about Bill becoming an actor. Bill once gave a comical breakdown of the Windom men: Great Grandfather was Secretary of State, Grandfather was an architect, Dad was a drunk, and Bill was an actor. Bill’s mother, Isobel Wells (nee Peckham), was the daughter of a southern socialite from Alabama. Isobel (affectionately referees to by family as, Lady) worked for the Smithsonian when she and Bill lived in Washington, D.C. However, she was listed in New York census and travel records as Elliot Windom when the family traversed the Atlantic when Bill was a little boy. Elliot was Isobel’s mother’s middle name. Unlike Paul, who did not see Bill’s rising star, Isobel lived to see her son’s career blossom. She died in 1988 at the age of 89. Both parents rest in the Windom Family resting place at The Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Bill said his parents were very much like F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, the lost generation of flappers who enjoyed bending the elbow. Despite his parents lifestyle Bill called the three of them a team and that his parents never let him down.
Because of his dad’s work, Bill spent the first few years of his life living between the US and Europe. He lived in England, France and Spain (during The Great Depression) and also spent time in Portugal, Denmark, Rye in New York, The Bronx, Williamstown, MA (on a relative’s farm), Washington, D. C. and Virginia. According to a 1980s interview, Bill said he lived in Valencia and Mallorca, Spain and learned all the swear words in Spanish. In 1941 Bill made his last trip to Europe as a civilian. Two years later he was serving in Europe as a paratrooper.
Bill suffered from Asthma (as a child) and color blindness.
A popular story told about Bill was that when he was just 3 years old he fell in the Thames River in London and had to be rescued by the actor Lyn Harding. Bill learned to swim and eventually earned a junior life guard badge in the Boy Scouts. When he was older, Bill said winning that badge was a proud moment for him. Coincidentally, in 1946, when Bill was in London he performed a scene from “Richard III” with Harding on his porch. This information was all taken from a playbill from Bill’s Thurber show. Whether this was true or drivle created by his publicist, remains to be seen.
As he got older, Bill would often be sent to live with/spend time with other relatives or close friends. 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 spent a lot of time with the two aunts. Another time he was sent to live with the family’s African American housekeeper. She lived in Warrenton, VA in a segregated section. He later gave an interview where he talked about his 3 months living life as a segregated person. The article was reportedly titled, “I was a negro for three months.” Bill said they were some of the happiest and unhappiest times of his life. Bill had a very high IQ and he was picked on in school by some of the southern boys. At one point Bill almost beat a boy to death and it frightened him so much he avoided confrontations from then on (he mentioned this in his autobiography). To stop the bullying, Bill took on the persona of a jokester and that’s how he stayed until the day he died. Bill admitted to having friends while in school but never really trusting anyone.
Bill’s first taste of acting came (according to his autobiography) at age 9. He was in a minstrel show at Camp Over-all in Overall, Virginia. According to Jim Kovalchick, the camp was an all-boys camp when Bill attended. It later became a co-ed summer camp in the 1940s. Another source mentioned it even became a commune in the 1960s.
Bill said he was most proud of the fact that Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch in “The Wizard of Oz,” was his kindergarten teacher at the prestigious Rye Country Day School in Rye, NY. Apparently he was so rambunctious in class she promoted him a grade just to get rid of him. In 1971 she played his lead character’s housekeeper on the unsold pilot, “Is There a Doctor in the House?” Years later, they would go on dates to the Russian Tea Room in New York City or a French film when Bill was in the city. Bill reportedly had a crush on Hamilton when he was a boy. The dates were innocent enough as Bill was married but he loved women and making them feel special. It was during the dates when Hamilton recalled the school she taught and Bill attended. He was so excited to make the connection.
In 1937, Bill’s mother formally filed for divorce from Paul…the cause was desertion. The divorce was not contested and Bill lived with his mom in Washington, D.C. He spent a summer working in the U.S. Patent office. In 1996 he would file a patent for a type of travel chess game which was approved in 1997.
Also in 1937 Bill was enrolled at the Admiral Billard Naval Academy in New London, CT. He was part of the school’s second freshman class. Bill said he was so happy about this because he could dress like a regular boy (instead of being dressed in knickers) and play around without being coddled about his asthma. Bill attended the academy for 5 years and was his class secretary. He also received high honors for his grades, was a member of The Wheelwatch, was on the track team (he could run the mile in 5:15), the baseball team, the football team (waterboy the first year) and earned a letter in football and track.
Bill also did some acting at Billard. Because he was among the youngest cadets he was often given the female roles. One night, he played a female role and his mom didn’t recognize him. She went back stage and when he held up the bra to her face she commented, “You know, I looked at that girl.” Bill graduated with the class of 1942.
In 1942, Bill was invited to co-star in a play produced by The Wig and Candle Club at the Connecticut College for Women; this was the school’s theater group. Back then the college had to rely on local schools or the submarine base for male actors. Bill received rave reviews for his role as Oscar Wolfe in the play “The Royal Family.” It was a parody of the famous Barrymore acting family. The Oscar character was the only one who was rooted in reality and the family relied upon him like a wet nurse. Bill enjoyed the role because he had to be made up to look like an old man, by at least 5 women from the theater group. A real treat for a man who spent five years at an all-male school.
After Billard, Bill wanted to go to Annapolis but was denied for being color blind. Bill thought he’d get in because he lettered in football and he admitted to a reporter, he just, “wanted to kill.” It was a natural progression since he spent his formative years at a naval academy. Instead Bill went to Williams College in Central Massachusetts, starting in the Fall of 1942. He had family in the Bay State and was related to a well-known lawyer from Boston. Bill was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity (the Delta U’s). Years later he looked back on frat life with disdain because of how discriminatory that life was. Bill said his roommate was turned down because he was Jewish. Bill said if he had any balls he would have told his frat to go to Hell.
As a student at Williams, Bill read for the play “Thunder Rock” but never performed in it. He must have been quite the actor even then because he once admitted that he fooled a classmate by pretending ot be someone else. The classmate really thought Bill was 2 different people, for three months.
Just before college, Bill signed up for the draft (he named his mom Next of Kin) in June of 1942. This was when the country considered lowering the draft from 21 to 18. He specifically considered the Army Specialized Training Program. It required the men to enlist with the Army, complete 13 weeks of basic training and have an IQ above 110 (more than required for officers) before being assigned to a college. The program, at least now, also requires certain physical requirements and prefers soldiers who speak a second language. It also requires the forces to volunteer for Drop School. At the time of the war it wasn’t as stringent so Bill said, “Why Not?” This would have been easy for Bill as he went to military school for 5 years and spoke 2 languages besides English. In February of 1943, Bill was sent to Fort Meyer, Virginia for BCT and then studied at 3 colleges. It was during this time that the Paratroopers were recalled into action, a first since World War I. He received his paratrooper training at Fort Benning in Georgia.
Bill attended 7 colleges pre and post-war: Williams College, The Citadel(ASTP), Antioch(ASTP), University of Kentucky(ASTP), Biarritz American University(where he studied acting), Fordham(post-war) and Columbia(post-war). He estimated it all added up to about two years worth of college courses. Years later Bill wanted to take his one-man Thurber show to The University of Kentucky but never took him up on the offer.
Bill was a paratrooper with the 1st Battalion, 508th parachute infantry regiment Company B, 82nd airborne division. The 508th was activated in Florida, then sent to New York where the unit shipped out in the winter for its final destination in Great Britain. The 508th was known as The Red Devils. The 82nd airborne was known as the “All Americans” and “America’s Honor Guards.” Bill made two combat jumps: Normandy and then Holland. Bill said he was a good machine gunner. He participated in several offensives starting with D-Day, then Operation Market Garden (on which the movie “A Bridge to Far” was based) in the Netherlands, The Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, and deadly fighting in the Hurtgen Forest near the German-Belgian border. These missions occurred in the Fall and Winter when the 82nd had to fight in rain, mud, and waist-deep snow. Some of the men originally didn’t have any winter gear and the only artillery were their guns compared to the heavy German artillery.
Bill mentioned in interviews about his jump into Holland. However, he almost never talked about his first jump on D-Day. Bill and the 508th regiment were stationed in Wollaton Park in Nottingham, England. Bill recalled the top brass giving the unit a pep-talk about D-Day. Bill said it was rather comical to see the two men lecture on what the enemy looked and sounded like. Bill said the lecture sounded like the VD films shown every month to the soldiers. In the end, the Major made it sound like the Germans were better prepared than the Americans. Bill said he thought he saw a fellow soldier try to shoot his foot off with a .45 caliber to avoid the mission. After D-Day the 508th returned to Wollaton Park to prepare for the jump in Holland.
In the Book “All American, All the Way,” Phil Nordyke tells the story of Operation Market Garden. He submitted some questions to Bill and included the answers in the book. Nordyke mentioned PFC William Windom arriving in the town of Werbomont and laying down and falling asleep after a long, intense journey. Bill even recalled a story about a young farm boy who came out with hot coffee for the soldiers to fill their canteens. Bill named one of his boats after a little girl he met in Holland during the war.
In another interview, Bill talked about being on night patrol when one of the soldiers was hit by a hail of German gunfire. Bill and another soldier used some material meant for a shelter and turned it into a makeshift stretcher for the wounded soldier. Bill shared his experiences in several books about the 508th.
Bill was also involved in one of the bloodiest and deadliest battles of World War II: The Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. According to the website, weaponsandwarfare.com, Bill was in Company B and his unit was supposed to gain the higher ground on a hill called 400. As Bill moved around the base he noted, “[Private First Class Joseph G.] Joe Wise, ten yards in front of me, stepped on the first Schu [mine], jumped, hit another, fell, and rolled screaming into more. There was silence, we waited, and at dawn we found we’d been marched through an American minefield as well. I found Lieutenant Jones, a new replacement of two days, a West Pointer, with an enlisted man on flank duty, both missing a foot. I got the medics.”
For his service Bill earned: Combat Infantryman First Award, Bronze Star Medal Ribbon, Army Good Conduct Ribbon, American Campaign Medal Ribbon, Europe/African/Middle East Campaign Ribbon with an arrow denoting Airborne and a star denoting the Bronze Star, The World War II Victory Medal Ribbon, The Army of Occupation Medal Ribbon, The Belgium Croix de Guerre, Basic Parachutist Medal (with 2 stars to show 2 jumps), The Army Presidential Unit Citation, One service stripe, one overseas bar, technician 5 stripes, Belgian Fourragere and Honorably Discharged pin.
Bill said the only thing he ever took seriously in life was WWII and his portrayal of James Thurber and Ernie Pyle. This is true since many people recall Bill as always joking about life and never being serious. He would later joke about always being 90% happy with life because anything after WWII was a happy time. Bill liked to use percentages.
Bill was proud of his service and fellow soldiers. He kept in touch and visited some of the close friends he made. Bill even sent gifts to their children and grandchildren. He attended some reunions of the 508th and even contributed to the news letter. In one instance, Bill reported on the wife of a 508th soldier who wanted to make a jump with her husband. However, he died before they could jump but the woman did it anyway, in her husband’s honor.
A few times, Bill’s military experience were expressed in some of the characters he played. In his famous “Night Gallery” episode They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar, Bill’s character Randy Lane recalled his coming home from the war in which he was a paratrooper. In a touching episode of “Murder, She Wrote” called Badge of Honor, we learn about Seth Hazlitt’s military service as he recalls being pinned down by German gunfire in the Ardennes.
Bill originally considered staying with the military in some diplomatic capacity (either working in Sweden or Switzerland) or in the forestry service. However he hated heights and flying! According to a newspaper article, he was literally in a foxhole on Christmas Day wondering what he would do if he survived…he decided at that moment to become an actor. However Bill admitted to giving his publicist a lot of fluff material and the office churned it out. This may be a spin by the PR folks as Bill said he didn’t take acting seriously until after he enrolled at the University in Biarritz.
Bill used what acting skills he had to avoid being killed. A sniper was picking off soldiers while Bill served in Holland. So while walking through a field, Bill grabbed his chest, screamed and did a flop on the ground. He was that convincing. Bill said actor/dancer/acrobat Donald O’Connor would have been proud of the stunt. In his later tv roles, Bill’s characters often met an untimely end and he often died rather dramatically!
After the major European fighting, the 82nd was assigned to the occupation of Germany. Bill was stranded in Frankfurt when he learned about the new American University in Biarritz, France. He signed up for the acting program because he wanted to meet girls. A producer from the states was coming over with four actresses who would be the only females at the all-male University. Bill heard actresses had round heels (i.e. they were “easy”) so he signed up to audition for the play “Richard III.” Novelist John Dos Passos said the students at Biarritz were, “the most contented GIs in Europe.” Coincidentally Bill later appeared in the play “U.S.A.” by Dos Passos.
Bill always said his most favorite role of all was Richard III, his first committed acting role at Biarritz. However he actually charmed (or conned) his way into the part. Bill and a friend agreed to try out for the show. The two got tossed out on their ears. They returned for a second chance but the producer told them the names weren’t on the list. Bill charmed his way into a second audition. He originally got a small role in the show. However the star, Richard Whorf, was called back to Hollywood. Bill reportedly beat 400 soldiers for the lead role. One of the directors who appeared at Biarritz, later used Bill in some performances at Fordham University. He described Bill as “rough and tumble” back then. Bill assumed acting would get him out of military duties but he quickly realized acting and rehearsing were harder than he thought!
Bill already knew some French from the time he spent in Europe as a child. He learned more conversational phrases while attending Biarritz.
One of the famous guest lecturers was actress Marlene Dietrich who taught movie acting techniques. Bill mentioned that one of the GI’s who escorted Ms. Dietrich had to do some “interesting” things to help her fall asleep.
Bill and company toured the military camps of Europe with Richard III. He and the 82nd airborne division returned home to the U.S. (after spending 3 months at Biarritz) in January 1946. They marched in a massive parade through the streets of New York City, where Bill decided to take up permanent residence. An army film reel said, of the 13,000 airborne members who parachuted on D-Day only 5,000 were still standing. Bill, luckily, didn’t suffer any physical injuries during his service.
While Bill was living in New York City the director from Biarritz invited Bill to perform at a seminar at Fordham University. Afterwards he was given a letter of introduction to the American Repertory Company in New York City. He never went to acting school other than Biarritz. He learned from his work with ART and Eva LeGalliene. There was never any mention that Bill learned from a particular acting style like Strassberg or Meisner. Bill earned about $60 a week for his performances. He also lived on Charles Street Greenwich Village in an apartment for $26 a month. When times were tough Bill admitted he went without food. However, he joked that when he moved to California he was making more money but getting into debt.
While Bill lived in New York he was able to afford his first boat and even sailed to the Bahamas in it.
One of the Broadway shows Bill recalls fondly was Madmoiselle Colombe. He played the son of an actress and he was, in essence, a cad. His character even seduces his own sister-in-law. Actor Eli Wallach played Julien, the moralistic half-brother to Edouard (Bill). When Julien learns about the affair he goes into a rage and asks was it Edouard’s kiss that did it. Julien grabs Edouard by the neck and kisses him. Apparently the director wasn’t comfortable with this and cut that scene. Wallach said he and Bill demanded the scene be put back and it was. Wallach wrote in his auto-biography, “I chased Windom around the stage, kissed him on the mouth wiped my lips and said, ‘I don’t understand’ and the audience roared. Both Windom and I felt vindicated.”
In 1947, Bill married his first wife, Carol Keyser, who was a dancer/actress. She was working in the theatre across from Bill’s in the musical “Oklahoma!” and was also an understudy in his play “Alice in Wonderland.” Carol originally held the record for most appearances by an actress in color films. Despite making several appearances on Broadway and being part of a national touring company, Bill decided to quit acting the year he married. He had a wife to support and for three years he became an insurance broker working for his father-in-law. He even passed the 6 hour exam to become a broker! However Bill still kept one foot in the theater and did summer stock during his two week summer vacations. He even got to work with Carol in at least two different plays. However, Bill disliked the 9 to 5, shirt and tie environment of the insurance business. This is what gave him the impetus to go back into acting full time.
Bill mentioned that he once filled out an unemployment form stating: Acting $500 per minute, Insurance $500 per month and Dishwashing $500 per year. Bill also said in one year he made $16,000 in NYC but $1000 in one week in California.
Bill’s insurance office was in the Sardi Building in New York. This was hard for Bill as the building was home to the famous Sardi’s restaurant. It was THE place for actors and anyone who was famous had their caricature on the wall. Not a very good reminder for an actor trying to make it in the business.
Even though Bill appeared many times on Broadway during the early years, many shows folded after a handful of performances. One play he worked on (as stage manager) was so bad he ended intermission early to make sure enough of the crowd returned instead of running out. Apparently the move backfired and the critic even mentioned this, rather ingenious move, in his review article!
Bill’s first movie was technically not “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Bill reportedly (according to at least two sources) did some voice work in the Disney cartoon “Fun and Fancy Free” in 1947, but his role was uncredited. Apparently Bill provided the grunt for a bear seen grunting with a group of bears.
Bill admitted to lying and cheating sometimes to get a part but he made sure he didn’t hurt anyone from the antics.
By the early 50’s Bill was doing a lot of live tv work in New York City, military training films and quite a bit of National Tours, especially with the play “Bell, Book and Candle.” His wife, Carol, joined him as she was an understudy but, by 1955, his marriage ended. Bill called the marriage forgettable but perhaps would have been different if there were children. Carol later said they remained friends or at least on friendly terms. Carol Keyser went on to marry two more times and had no children of her own. She was active in creating beautiful gardens for magazines as well as flower arrangements for a variety of celebrities and First Ladies. Carol passed away in 2016, at 92 from congestive heart failure.
During Bill’s early years on tv he was considered, “one of the most promising personalities on the video screen.”
Bill continued to make the rounds in theatres around New England, New York and Philadelphia. Among his fellow thespians was actress Barbara Joyce. She and Bill began working together as early as 1956. There was a spark between them and in 1958 Bill and Barbara took the plunge and got married in Edgartown, Massachusetts on June 30th. She was about 6 years his senior. She and Bill were making names for themselves in various tv projects in the Big Apple.
In the how-not-to-get-a-job department, Bill told some young, aspiring actors how he badly wanted a certain role in the 1958 war film, “The Young Lions.” Being the jokester 24-7, he wrote a letter, wrapped it around a German hand grenade and mailed it to the the producers office. He didn’t get the role but he said he sure got the secretary’s attention. Bill mentioned he wanted to do a one-man show based on “The Young Lions” about the anti-war sentiment and the feelings of the grunts when it came to the lofty officers. Bill said sometimes the enemies were not the ones you were fighting but the ones in your own unit.
Bill said the only shows he enjoyed doing on Broadway were: “Fallen Angels” (featuring actress Nancy Walker and Bill’s friend, Efrem Zimbalist, jr.), “Mlle. Colombe” and “Times Remembered” (in which he was Richard Burton’s understudy).
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. The theatre group,called The Stage Society, was conducted by actor John Houseman and founded by actor Richard Erdman. It was a non profit that ran from 1950-1965. Bill also knew California was where to make the big bucks. Bill had first been in Los Angeles in 1952 when he was touring with the play “Bell, Book and Candle.”
Bill was in love with California and knew it was the place to be. Also, his agent kept him quite busy with a variety of tv guest apperances. Meanwhile, Bill continued to perform in live theatre in LA.
While appearing with the Stage Society in LA, Bill worked for the first time with actor John Astin (“The Addams Family”). The two would work together for many years after. Bill said it was during one of his theatre performances that a casting agent asked Bill to play The Major in “The Twilight Zone” episode Five Characters in Search of an Exit. Richard Widmark had reportedly turned down the roll due to the pay. Bill earned $1000 for it. Coincidentally, Bill and his first wife were photographed with Widmark and his wife during the film premier of “Prince Valliant” at the Roxy Theatre in New York City in 1954.
The appearance on that “Twilight Zone” lead to an unusual but funny anecdote that Bill shared with a reporter. The story, “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” is about 5 people looking for their way out of a door-less room. It turns out each character was a children’s doll thrown into a donation bin. The last shot shows life-sized mannequins/dolls of the “five” characters. The make-up department had to make life masks for all five actors and then place them on life-sized mannequins. Bill said they made two heads of his character and gave them to him afterwards to keep. One day, in December, someone convinced Bill to take some photos with the fake heads. Bill put one head in his shirt and the other coming out of his fly. He says he laid down on the floor while someone took the photos. He joked that the photos probably made it onto an awkward Christmas Card. Bill later donated his “heads” to Universal Studios and they were later thrown away.
By 1961, Bill’s second marriage began to dissolve. He also said the marriage, like the first, was forgettable but may have been different if children were involved. Barbara Joyce continued acting through the 1970s. There are no reports of her remarrying and she never had children. She left acting to focus on collage work and painting. She moved to the Caribbean where she lived for 30+ years, devoting several of her art works and her life to the Baha’i faith. She passed away in 2009 at the age of 92.
Bill was certainly California Dreaming while living in a small apartment. In 1962 his bachelor life came to an end when he fell in love with Barbara Goetz Clare. The two married in 1963. Barbara had been married and divorced and had two young daughters. Bill became stepfather to Debora and Maggie and he relished in the joys of fatherhood. Clare was 11 years Bill’s junior and she was the granddaughter of Louis B. Mayer, the co-founder of MGM. The wedding was held at her parent’s compound and Clare’s parents were reportedly happy with the bridegroom because he was an actor. Clare was a well-known interior decorator and specialized in antiques. She drove a Ferrari and the girls had a French governess since Clare had her career and Bill was busy with “The Farmer’s Daughter.” Bill joked that he drove a VW Bug (Maggie Clare said that’s the only type of car Bill would drive) and the family car was a station wagon. The couple settled in a Spanish-Style home on the beach. Bill said it was the first time he lived in a home as he had been living in apartments prior.
In 1962, Bill got the role in a pilot called “The Farmer’s Daughter.” One night in November 1963, Bill was promoting an episode of the show when his voice over was pre-empted by ABC News. It was the day President Kennedy was assassinated. Bill later starred in a movie about The Kennedy’s and their inner sanctum.
Bill told an interviewer that he refused to dye his hair blond for the role of Glen Morley. However, there is a photo from the 1950s when Bill attended the showing of “Prince Valiant” and he was sporting blond or white hair.
Bill had become a household name with his new-found fame. He was also enjoying life with his family at their beach house. The family would have get togethers on the beach with friends on weekends and in 1964 Bill became a first-time father when his daughter Rachel was born. He was 41.
Bill joked that he had a Swedish governess for his tv children and a French governess for his daughter and step-daughters.
In a season 1 episode both Bill and Inger sported matching eye patches. According to Bill Patterson, who wrote Inger’s biography, she allegedly injured her eye while gardening. She was avoiding a bee and turned her face into a rose bush. Bill hurt his eye during a cannon mishap. Yes, he had a small cannon mounted on his boat (his wife bought him the cannon for their bought) and he came close to shooting his eye out. Bill joked that he shot it at German and Japanese freighters by using black powder and toilet paper. The episode featuring the eye patch is The Stand-In.
One of Bill’s favorite food? Oysters. He carried an oyster knife on him when working on “The Farmer’s Daughter.” In fact he had oysters and shellfish, caviar and champagne delivered to the set everyday. He and Inger Stevens ate lunch on the set all the time. Bill said it wasn’t any more expensive than going out to eat. Bill’s shooting day was usually 8am to 7pm four days a week. He also spent time on the road, just like Inger, promoting the show.
Bill became quite popular during his time on “The Farmer’s Daughter.” Fans would write into newspapers asking if he and Inger were an item. Some newspapers reported the two were dating which was never the case as both were married at the time. However, Inger’s marriage was kept a secret because her husband was African-American and, at that time, it would have affected her career. Bill knew of the marriage and it’s possible the tabloids were linking her with Bill and other men to create red herrings. Only after Inger’s death was it revealed that she was married to actor, filmmaker, musician and athlete Ike Jones. He came forward to claim Inger’s estate but had no legal marriage certificate. Only Inger’s younger brother confirmed the marriage occurred in Mexico. Bill and Inger did care for each other and it’s very evident in their on-screen chemistry. Bill would later say Inger was a woman “who held many secrets.” Sadly, he was doing a film in Texas when Inger died and was unable to attend her service.
Bill said he and Inger had great on-screen chemistry and that she was a nice woman and good actress. Bill also said, after her passing, that he didn’t have much to say about it. He wondered whether it was suicide or an accident but he said, “it happens.”
Inger said of Bill, “He’s charming and disarming. He has a Devil-May-Care quality you don’t see on the screen because he’s supposed to be a dignified Congressman.” While it was made known that Inger had relationships with most of her leading men (who were married) there is rumor that the extent of the romances were just that…rumors. It’s been said it was just tabloid publicity but publicity for Inger Stevens, none the less. However, Inger and Bill never had a romantic relationship outside of the show. They were good friends and Bill was devoted to his wife and children.
Bill mentioned his character Glen Morley did not have a specific political affiliation. He also wished the show sometimes focused on Glen’s political endeavors. In one article Bill mentioned that, if he was Congressman, he would: Abolish capital punishment, simplify the collection of federal income tax, reduce crime by fingerprinting every citizen, lower taxes and, to make up for the lower taxes, establish speed limits and allow for a federal lottery game.
Around the time of “The Farmer’s Daughter” Bill began to visit Winona, Minnesota regularly and continued to do so years later. This was the town that his great-grandfather lived. There is also a town named Windom after the elder relative as well as a street in Washington, D.C. One year Bill rode in a celebratory parade in Winona and was joined by wife, Barbara. In 1968 the historical society gave Bill a soldier’s absentee voting ballot from 1864. It was for William Windom Vs. Abraham Lincoln. Bill donated one of his cherished $2 bills in exchange and later donated more items. When Bill visited Winona he even stayed at his relative’s former home. In 1975 he brought his one-man shows to the town and even had a meet and greet with the audience. Bill said he didn’t know much about his famous relative until he read several books written about the statesman.
While Bill loved getting autograph requests and meeting fans he detested getting junk mail and unsolicited phone calls. For Bill, his home was his private sanctum and he detested anyone who tried to seek HIM out to donate or buy items. When Bill was doing his one-man show at a college for Seventh Day Adventists, he even mentioned that he didn’t want to bothered at home by religious groups. Bill suggested they advertise in the paper…if he wanted IT he would find IT. When it came to junk mail/spam calls, Bill found ways to get back at these companies. He would tell solicitors his grandmother was in the other room dying or he would get junk mail and send them back with other people’s names. Another time he would use his own envelope and send the mail right back without postage so the receiver was stuck paying the postage fee.
Bill admitted only 6 of the 101 episodes he did (of “The Farmer’s Daughter”) were any good. He felt Glen was kind of dumb, very dull and stuffy. Bill couldn’t really let loose with the character except in the various dream-sequence episodes.
In 1964 Bill wrote an article for UPI about Glen Morley, the character and William Windom, the civilian. It was syndicated in newspapers around the country.
Bill and co-stars Rory O’Brien and Mickey Sholdar all rode together in the Hollywood Christmas Parade in 1964.
The wedding of Katy and Glen took 3 days to shoot. It was shot on a hot day in July to be aired in November. The show garnered 28 million viewers. It cost the crew $75,000 for 8 electricians, 4 costumers, 2 make up men, 2 hairdressers, a drapery man, 2 script writers, 56 extras, 4 stand ins, 15 actors, 40 bags of rice and a flower man (the flowers were fake). The crew did save $2…by not buying a real wedding license. By the way, Bill rehearsed the scenes in his tuxedo with coattails and huaraches sandals.
Perle Mesta who was known as THE hostess in social circles actually held a pre-wedding party in Washington, D.C. a few nights before the wedding episode aired. Bill, Inger and many dignitaries attended the event. The two actors even cut a large wedding cake.
After “The Farmer’s Daughter” Bill went through a dry spell, saying he only worked for 12 weeks the following year. He changed agents and then he began working regularly, usually as a heavy.
Because of Bill’s popularity during the show, he was invited to the Red Carpet premiere of Elizabeth Taylor’s film, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Bill was not the first choice to play Commodore Matt Decker in the infamous “Star Trek” episode Doomsday Machine. The role was meant for Robert Ryan, who Bill worked with in the film “The Cattle King.” He wasn’t available so they picked Bill. However he and director Mark Daniels talked about the character and gave him more depth. Bill was considered a master at characterization and getting into their psyche. It’s also been reported that Bill, not being a fan of Sci-Fi, wanted to play Decker as campy and cartoonish. Originally Decker was supposed to be stoic and angry when we see him. When Bill played it, we first see Decker as a frightened, catatonic soul. A fellow actor on the show commented on the scene where Decker is almost silently screaming and emotionally falling apart. The actor could not fathom where Bill drew that raw emotion from. It made the character that much more fallible and human. The writer of the episode, Norman Spinrad, said he had to tone down the character of Decker because he would upstage Captain Kirk. 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. Bill enjoyed going to conventions and meeting the fans even though he was never a fan of “Star Trek” nor did he particularly enjoy the shoot. Years later, he realized how much it meant to people and he looked upon the episode in a new light.
While Bill was known for working hard but horsing around, William Shatner was apparently the same way. During a scene on Doomsday Machine, Decker was describing what he saw, “Jim it was huge! It had a maw-” to which Shatner jokingly said, “A maw? Did you see its paw?”
William Shatner said, in his book, he was proud to call Bill a friend since the 1960s. Apparently Shatner would go to “Star Trek” conventions in a strange costume and visit with fans and memorabilia hawkers. No one could tell it was Shatner, except Bill who recognized him immediately. After spending some time talking, Bill yelled loudly, “See ya later Bill! You’re still a very weird man.”
Bill told Shatner the popularity of the Doomsday episode mystified Bill. “I have no Earthly idea. But you’ve got your Elvis phenomenon, your Jerry Lewis phenomenon, your McDonald’s hamburger phenomenon, your Howard Stern phenomenon…I don’t understand them either. The allure of those, all those things eludes me. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist, who am I to judge? To each his own.”
Bill said a “Star Trek” fan group in Australia sent him 100+ questions about his role. Bill said he got bored after a while and finished the request quickly. He later got a copy of the article and it said Bill was clearly, “NOT one of Us.”
Bill said he even went to one of the “Star Trek” movies and that he and his kids enjoyed it. He also knew that Decker’s son made an appearance in the first “Star Trek” movie to which Bill joked that he should have been invited back for all the money the film made.
Bill was not a fan of the shoot. He admitted to working well with the director although some sources claim there was some difficulty during the shoot. Bill also admitted that he harbored some ill feelings towards Shatner from their days on Broadway. Shatner was the star of a play called “The World of Suzie Wong.” Windom was the understudy and that may have ruffled Bill’s feathers during that time of his career. He later admitted he was wrong to feel this way. However, there was a rumor that Shatner treated Bill harshly during their Broadway days.
Around 1968, Bill and Barbara agreed it would best for them to divorce. It was finalized in July of 1968. Barbara Clare later met a poet and they remained partners until her death. The couple moved to New Mexico where Barbara raised and bred rare Peruvian Paso horses. Barbara died in 2017 while attending a horse championship in Oklahoma, she was 82 years old. Bill and Barbara remained on good terms as they shared custody of Rachel and he still remained close to his two step-daughters.
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 reportedly memorized the Walter Mitty skit way back then. Bill even said his dad was a lot like Thurber…similar humor and appearance (hard drinker, embittered, a good artist and frail). Bill credited his father with inspiring a lot of the mannerisms Bill injected into the John Monroe character.
Bill admitted some of the Thurber had to be watered down to be palpable to the audience. However Bill thought Don Knotts or Wally Cox would be a good John Monroe if Bill was casting the show.
Bill was not the FIRST actor to play John Monroe, based on the Thurber cartoons. “My World” creator Melville Shavelson said he introduced the character in an episode of “Goodyear Theatre” back in 1959. Actor Arthur O’Connell (who would work with Bill) played Monroe. Then Shavelson introduced the character again on an episode of “The June Allyson Show” in 1961. This time Orson Bean (who would work with Bill years later) played Monroe. Neither episodes did well. Then Shavelson brought up the character a third time, to producer Danny Arnold. HE suggested Bill and it took off from there.
Sheldon Leonard was the executive producer of “My World” and he also wanted Bill for the role. Bill originally said he didn’t know how he got chosen for the show. Then, a few interviews later, he recalled his appearance in another Leonard tv show “My Friend Tony.” In the episode Bill played a gay criminal/kidnapper. Bill assumed this is how he got onto Leonard’s radar.
Bill married Jacqulyne Dean Hopkins in October of 1969. He even joked that his second daughter was conceived during the honeymoon in Hawaii. Jacqulyne was 19 years his junior. They met at a party held by Lina Grumette’s. She opened up an intimate chess club in her Hollywood home. Jacquelyne had just gotten out of a relationship and a friend of hers took her to the party. In an interview with “TV Guide” she said Bill kept asking her out and admitted it took several dates before she fell for him. Bill designed his wife’s wedding band and had the jeweler save a piece of the scrap gold which Bill used as a fob for his watch. The couple leased a home (in Malibu) not far from his former co-star, Inger Stevens on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Also down the road, Bill’s third wife, his daughter and two step daughters. Bill and Jacqulyne even developed an interest in riding a tandem bike. They biked along a 45 mile Hawaiian desert and camped out on the trip. The couple also designed and built a cabin in the woods of Carmel. It seemed that Bill had found a relationship where his wife wasn’t in the acting business or working hard on a career. Jacqulyne was an interior decorator who was described as a young wife cooking for Bill and eagerly awaiting his return home.
In August of 1969 Bill traveled to Hawaii to shoot his first “Hawaii 5-0.” While in Hawaii, Bill said people would walk up to him and congratulate him and he didn’t know why. Turns out a rerun of the wedding episode of “The Farmer’s Daughter” had recently aired.
Because “My World” was Bill’s first starring vehicle he got the star treatment. A private dressing room and a studio breakfast each day. He would go over his lines while listening to the stereo and sipping tea.
In the summer of 1970 Bill became a father for a second time. He joked he was nervous about the due date because he and his wife were doing a lot of traveling. Between Spring and early Summer he went to Windom, MN to be part of a parade, then to Houston to shoot the film “Brewster McCloud,” L.A. for the Emmy’s and then right back to Houston. Bill was also supposed to shoot a film in NYC but that did not happen. Bill was hoping the baby would arrive on Emmy night so he could name the baby Emmy (that didn’t happen). The baby arrived in the early summer and her parents named her Heather Juliet.
Bill won his only Emmy for “My World” in 1970 even though it had already been cancelled. Bill credits the win to good friend Bill Bixby. Bill says Bixby was on the nominating committee. In fact “My World…” was competing with Bixby’s “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” for Best Comedy Series and “My World” won. Shortly before the Emmy’s Bill told a reporter (when asked if he’d like to win), “You bet your sweet Bippy! Anyone in this business is a liar or a fake if he says he doesn’t care if he wins it.” Years later Bill admitted that was egotistical and the win became much less important to him. Bill said, “I was grateful. I was honored. But, I was not in giggle heaven. I’ve gotten more personal satisfaction winning a sailing trophy or a chess trophy.” In fact, he used the statue as a door stopper in his dressing room for the show “Parenthood.”
In 1970, the winner in the female comedy category was Hope Lange for “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” which had also been cancelled after switching from NBC to ABC. Bill and Lange would later work together on an episode of “Murder, She Wrote” called The Big Kill.
Upon winning the Emmy, Bill said in his speech, “What can I say? I’m not drunk, got a tux and can travel.” He was referring to the fact that his show just got cancelled and he was making a plea for work.
After losing the show and winning the Emmy, Bill said he just stared at the statue and said, “I may never work again.” He said the cloud of despair (failing) always hangs over an actor’s head. Bill hated to be idle and not working.
There were several connections to Bill at the Emmy’s that year. Karen Valentine, who worked with Bill in the show “My Friend Tony,” won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (for “Room 222”) and Paul Bogart won for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama for the TV Movie “Shadow Game” which Bill co-starred along with William Shatner. Bill and Bogart had worked on earlier projects.
Bill didn’t even have time to enjoy the win because he had to fly back to Houston for an early morning shoot on “Brewster McCloud.”
Bill would hardly describe himself as a fashion plate and neither was James Thurber or the John Monroe character. So most of the costumes John wore were Bill’s clothes that he wore to the studio. Bill especially enjoyed it if he could wear comfortable shoes like moccasins (which John sometimes wore) or sandals.
Bill, like the John Monroe character, really had a poodle and a bloodhound at home. He also joked about having 9 people to support including two children, a wife, 7 puppies, a cat and a housekeeper to take care of.
Bill was giving one of his many interviews about “My World…” and the subject came upon Bill’s appearances in “Gunsmoke.” The article said Bill, now that he had his own show, would not have to worry again about Jim Arness sticking a script to Bill’s forehead with chewing gum. Apparently that really did happen. Bill worked 3 times with Arness versus 5 times with his brother, Peter Graves. Bill blames “Gunsmoke’s” popularity for the reason “My World” failed. Bill ended up doing a third episode of “Gunsmoke” after “My World.”
Journalist/Commentator Keith Olbermann was a fan of James Thurber. During one of his “Countdown” shows in 2010 Olbermann mentioned that Bill sent him a personal note because Olbermann used to read from Thurber at the end of the shows. Olbermann said Bill was his inspiration for reading Thurber.
Not only did Bill take up tandem bike riding during this time but he also took up windsurfing.
The creators of “My World” planned on doing a movie after the show was cancelled. They told Bill he would not be the star because it required a big-name draw. It was made with Jack Lemmon and called “The War Between Men and Women.” Instead of being named John, Lemmon’s character was Peter and he was courting a divorcee with children. Peter also interacted with the B&W cartoons like John Monroe. The only carry-over from the show was actress Lisa Gerritsen, who played the character of Linda in the movie and Lydia in the tv show.
Speaking of Jack Lemmon, there’s an unusual connection between he and Bill even though they never worked together. First, Bill played the warlock Nicky Holroyd in the National Touring performance of “Bell, Book and Candle.” When Hollywood turned it into a film, Lemmon played Nicky. Second, in an episode of “The Farmer’s Daughter” called Nej, Nej, A Thousand Time Nej, Glen and Katy are on a plane and the film playing on the flight stars Jack Lemmon. 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. Fourth, Bill co-starred on the short-lived sitcom “Brothers & Sisters” which starred Chris Lemmon, Jack’s son.
In 1971 Bill got a shot at another potential series: “Is There A Doctor in the House?” The studio told him to lose 7 pounds in order to look youthful and romantic. His wife joked with him that he would lose weight for tv but not for her. Ironically he played a crusty New England doctor and the show was shot in Mendocino, CA. The town later became Cabot Cove, ME on “Murder, She Wrote” in which Bill was the crusty Dr. Seth Hazlitt. Sadly, “Doctor” did not sell when it first aired or when it was repeated in the summer.
For the first time in his career Bill did a nude scene. It was in the film “Brewster McCloud.” His character, Haskell Weeks, is in the hot tub when he receives a phone call about the Houston Strangler. The audience only sees him from the waist up but, when he moves you can see Bill is not wearing anything. This little bit of trivia was featured in several newspapers around the country. The scene was a little odd as Weeks is having the bath while his assistant, Bernard is in the room. 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 actor playing Bernard could not keep a straight face!
It was during this time that Bill began working with Jimmy Stewart on a few projects. Bill had a deep admiration for Stewart. The two worked together in the film “Fool’s Parade” and in the tv shows “Hawkins” and “The Jimmy Stewart Show.” Bill said Stewart would even cue Bill if he missed a line or covered up for Bill. “He is one of the sharpest studies. I don’t care how old he gets or how old he sometimes says he is. I have never been up against such controlled energy, such disciplined precision. He makes it all seem effortless. This man is going to be around for the long haul. For him, there’ll not only be a second, but a third and a fourth wind!”
Bill could only say his lines if someone spoke to him first. If he was speaking first, Bill would recite the stage direction and then his line. When shooting an episode of “The F.B.I.” Bill acted out the sound affects of a helicopter and they had to re-shoot the scenes to cut out his sound effects. There are also a few occasions in his performances where you can see his character fumble or search for the line or even step on a fellow character’s line.
Bill said he was never anything like the characters he played. However, when playing the President in “Escape From the Planet of the Apes” he walked around with an air of importance. When he came home at night, his wife had to tell him to stop it and just play with the kids as he’d always done. However, Bill always added a little touch of compassion to his characters. Even if it meant placing a hand on the back or shoulder of his fellow castmate.
In 1971 Bill appeared on The Johnny Carson show. This was the last year the show was shot in New York City before moving to California. Also appearing on the show: Redd Foxx and Diane Keaton. Unfortunately NBC did not archive the episodes and taped over them. The Carson people told me less than 1% of episodes before 1972 still exist. Sadly Bill’s appearance is gone forever.
By 1972 Bill decided to take his love of Thurber on the road. He called up Thurber’s wife for content and he called friend Hal Holbrook for advice on one-man shows. Holbrook told Bill to get a good agent and not wear any makeup. So Bill got Holbrook’s agent and was very successful. Bill said he made more money with his one man show ($2500 per appearance) than he did with tv guest shots.
One time, when Bill was performing at Cal Tech, a gentleman said his mother didn’t like Bill in “My World.” Bill said he shouldn’t have asked but he did and the man said it was because the woman just didn’t like Bill in the role.
Bill said he was, at one-time, mistaken for Raymond Burr and Robert Morley in the same day. Another time, when lost in Michigan, Bill stopped at a bar and the bartender asked, “Did anyone ever tell you, you look like that actor William Windom.”
He once said, out of 100 reviews of his one-man show he only received 5 bad ones. His favorites? The one’s he created himself.
In 1973, Bill became a dad for the third time when his daughter, Hope Teresa, was born.
Bill worked hard perfecting the Thurber show. It’s first national stop was in Connecticut. Bill didn’t know it but Mrs. Thurber was in the audience. She and Bill had been corresponding but he didn’t know what she looked like. He met her after the show and admitted he was relieved he didn’t know she was in the audience or he would have been nervous. Bill would take the show on the road for 100 days during the school year (later reducing it to 50 days), doing most shows on college campuses. Sometimes he would walk around college campuses wearing another school’s sweater, as a joke.
Bill had the opportunity to work with two Hollywood legacy families: He worked with Janet Leigh in the tv movie “The House on Greenapple Road” and then worked with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, in the 80s in the films “Grandview, U.S.A.” and the film short “Welcome Home.” Bill also worked with actor Ed Begley in an episode of “Name of the Game” and later worked with his son, Ed Begley, jr., in the Disney Film “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t,” an episode of “St. Elsewhere” and in the 1990s sitcom “Parenthood” where they played father and son.
When Bill visited the colleges he would buy a souvenir, usually a patch. His first patch was in 1972 from Cottey College For Women in Nevada. Then he received a windbreaker from Pepperdine University in Malibu. After that he added more patches to the jacket. He then added a second jacket and a third to his collection (for colleges he visited 3 times).
Whenever Bill did a live performance he had to work off his nervous energy first, so he would play a game of tennis a few hours prior to showtime. Other times he’d get a game of chess going with either staff or students. One time he played 20 games consecutively for 3.5 hours. When he had to leave (for his one-man show) he won 3 games and lost 3 games. Another time he prepared for a tennis game by giving an interview, in a bar, eating popcorn and drinking rum and Cokes. He said drinks made the games go better for him.
Bill was not a fan of flying but did do it for work purposes or to see the world. When he did his Thurber shows he would rent a car and drive several hours to performances. One time the pilot he was flying with gave Bill the controls for a short while. Bill later joked that after that experience he was 50% closer to learning how to fly.
When Bill traveled for his one-man shows he was able to live out of one suitcase: a few change of clothes, tennis clothes, sneakers and a mouth harp to keep him company. He preferred staying as a guest in the college dorms too (only difference, no tv or Kleenex compared to hotel rooms). Overall Bill was low maintenance.
Bill was extremely laid back in all aspects of his life. He never liked wearing button shirts, ties or suits. He preferred to buy his pants for $5 at the Army/Navy store. His shirts were baggy and loose and he often wore bathing suits, sarongs, sandals or moccasins. In fact, during a stop over down south, Bill was wearing no shoes and only some shorts and a windbreaker when he walked into the hotel cafe. They threw him out because of the way he was dressed. He once told a reporter he liked well-dressed woman and preferred New York styles over California styles. Bill even said a well-dressed woman made him look good as he was a sweat-shirt type of guy. He even wore some of his own clothes when playing John Monroe.
Bill also didn’t have extravagant taste went it came to cars, either. He drove a VW bug during “The Farmer’s Daughter,” then he drove a Gremlin before buying his dream car…an Army jeep in the 1980s. He painted it white, put his Paratrooper unit on the back and even had an airborne sticker on it. Apparently owning a jeep was a dream of his for 40 years. He also got $350 for the Gremlin.
In 1974, Bill was filming a tv movie when he met Patricia Fehrle Tunder, one of the producers. She said it was love at first sight, for both of them. Tunder was originally a Copacabana dancer and actress who was earning money to pay for college and graduate school.
Bill and Jackie’s marriage came to and end and Bill moved out. He filed for divorce in July of 1975. The divorce made the papers all over the country. Jacqulyne later told a newspaper that material possessions and the luxuries Hollywood brought, were no longer sources of joy or happiness. She lived in the cabin she and Bill built in Carmel and volunteered countless hours at local nursing homes. Around 1981 Bill sold the cabin and Jacqulyne gave up all her material possessions to travel two years with a religious group. After that she returned to Carmel and changed her name to Gabrielle Esperanza. On a visit to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico with her youngest daughter, she was heartbroken by the poverty. She devoted the rest of her life to raise money and supplies for the people of Cabo San Lucas, especially the children. Gabrielle set up a non-profit project and lived her life as a missionary with no home of her own or any possessions. Gabrielle never re-married or had any more children. When she got sick she returned from Mexico to Monterey and passed away in 2000 at the age of 57.
Bill and Patricia married on New Year’s Eve 1975. The two remained married until his death in 2012. She was 16 years his junior. She became Bill’s business manager but later went on to earn a theology degree. Patricia kept the home fires burning while Bill traveled for his shows. He always called her at a specific time to talk about their day even though they were miles apart. Besides being a former dancer and actress Pat is also a writer and painter. She now offers life coaching and she gives past life readings.
Bill once said he didn’t like it when articles referred to him as having multiple marriages…he said it made him sound fickle! In the 1969 “TV Guide” interview an unamed friend was quoted as saying, “Bill goes through women like Kleenex!” Whether this was a joke remains to be seen. Bill was not known in Hollywood as a ladies man but it did take him time to find his true love.
In 1978, Bill became a father for the last time. He was certain the baby would be a girl because that’s all he had and he enjoyed having daughters. However an ultrasound showed just the opposite. After the baby was born, Bill proudly said, “So far, he’s passed muster.” He named his son Rebel Russell. Bill said the name was not common and it was easy to pronounce. Bill and his wife later learned that Rebel had autism. He went to private schools and later attended public high school where he took a mix of specialized and regular classes.
Bill was very well known by friends and co-stars for having a quirky sense of humor. Once he wanted to buy a rock off the coast of Connecticut but the government turned him down. He then considered doing the same in Santa Barbara. He did end up buying an island in Windom, Minnesota for $1 and turned it into a bird refuge.
Some of Bill’s many friends included Maureen Stapleton, Henry Jones, Bill Bixby, Carl Betz (Bill attended Betz funeral), Inger Stevens, Jack Lord and Efrem Zimbalist, jr. He was best man at Zimbalist’s wedding in 1956.
Bill once did a tv interview in Washington, D.C. and, for reasons unknown, wanted to do it while standing in a pond. So Bill and the female reporter were standing knee-deep in water and he actually started to interview her. Bill figured the viewers were more interested in this woman they watched every night compared to a traveling actor.
In 1978, a young college student managed to sneak his way onto the set at Universal and not only slept in one of the offices…many people thought he was an executive! He met Bill and confided in Bill about the ruse. Bill encouraged the man even more. Bill also took the man out to lunch several times as the man was running out of money.
Bill made the rounds of many tv shows during the late 60s, the 1970s and 1980s and this helped him book tickets for his one-man shows. Often times he’d make multiple appearances on a single series. For the tv show “Medical Center” he made 5, total. The first was as a rich man who was suffering from internal bleeding and eventually died of it. That was for the pilot to “Medical Center.” After that he played a fugitive who’s sick son needs a blood transfusion, a psychic who has an image of his wife’s upcoming surgery, a surgeon who’s going through male menopause and a widowed father dying of Hungtington’s disease. Bill and Chad Everett (Dr. Joe Gannon) were good friends and Chad appeared several times on “Murder, She Wrote.” Bill appeared 4 times on “The F.B.I.” which starred his very good friend, Efram Zimbalist, jr. Bill played a cold-blooded assassin, an ex-convict hoping to score one more big heist, an embezzler on the run and a man who bank rolls a series of armored car robberies.
Bill used to convince his friends he was a wine connoisseur but he really only studied one specific wine thoroughly. So, it sounded like he knew everything! Bill even told a reporter to read the encyclopedia for 10 minutes on an esoteric subject. Then when there’s a lull in the conversation bring up the subject. He also enjoyed learning obscure facts like who were the batters before Casey went to bat or how many steps at the Capitol Building.
Bill said he never had interest in directing or producing. He said if he did direct he would need complete control. When asked about who he’d like to work with the list was not very big. At one point he wanted to work with Jonathan Winters or Benny Hill but it never happened. However, during a celebrity tennis tournament Bill was called to the desk. He was told Winters requested to be Bill’s partner. Bill called it a memorable honor. He also admired Burlesque comics (and pig bladders), W.C. Fields, Peter Sellers and Bob Newhart. Bill and Newhart later worked together on an episode of “Newhart.” As for actors he also admired Keenan Wynn, Jack Carter, Bert Lahr and comedian Alan King, “Jewish character actors.”
Bill was far from a TV connoisseur. He admitted to indulging in “Benny Hill” (for the jokes and the pretty girls), “Hee Haw” (the jokes and the pretty girls) and “The Lawrence Welk Show.” However he usually just watched a few minutes at bedtime. He preferred Public Television.
Bill said if he ever changed his name (for acting purposes) it would be Kirk Kincaid because a good name needs a lot of K’s. Another name? Break Windom. Also if he wasn’t an actor he’d be a tree surgeon because they’re useful.
Bill told one reporter that Bill found an investment firm called International National Corp. so that the business cards read INC., inc. It was even approved by the California State Corporation Commission. There’s no information that such a company exists, though.
Bill DID create a company in 1976, it was called Illegitimi Non Carborundum. Filings show he was the company CEO and his wife president. There is no direct translation for the Latin name because the words are not latin. The Illegitimi can translate to illegal or, in the case of people, a bastard. Non would mean no or not and Carborundum is a type of stone used in grinding. So the whole phrase loosely means “Don’t let the Bastards grind you down.” It was used by a US Army General in World War II and by presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.
Bill was a great story teller. He often told stories to his children and, at one point, he and his fifth wife were thinking about collaborating on a children’s Christmas book. This was according to an interview in 1976.
Bill had a high IQ and was a member of MENSA. This way, when academics would ask him about his schooling, he would point to the MENSA button he wore proudly. Although he described himself as not being a “joiner” he was a member of many groups: The United States Chess Federation, Lina Grunette’s Chess Set Club, The Actors Equity Association (lifetime member as of 1959), The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Corinthian Yacht Club, Malibu Yacht Club and the Catboat Association.
Bill even created his own, unique club called “The Seven C’s.” This stood for “The Carbon Creek Corinthian Chess, Canoe and Conundrum Club.” He said the motto was Free Booze and No Dues. Bill reportedly mentioned this on his appearance on “The Johnny Carson Show.” In one of his catamaran’s Bill used to keep a small suntan lotion bottle in it, filled with rum, “I always have a few smiles along the way.”
Bill said he was proud member #196 of the Richard III Club. It was founded by an actress he worked with. Richard III was Bill’s favorite “heavy” role. Of the club Bill said, “There’s something about the useless gesture that appeals to me. Now what can one really do for Richard the III?”
In his career, Bill portrayed members of The Army, Navy and Air Force. He never portrayed a Marine or member of the Coast Guard.
Bill was very passionate about the tv and film industry especially when it came to fair use of an artists image and bigotry in the acting industry. Bill co-authored two published papers with Dr. Sharlene L. McEvoy: “SAG and AFTRA: The Case for Merger of the Entertainment Unions” and “A Tale of Two Cases: Rights of Publicity Vs. The First Amendment.”
Bill was ambidextrous and joked about his left-handed tennis lob. When he performed his one-man shows at colleges he would play the women’s tennis teams. He thought they’d be easy to beat. One man asked him, “Don’t you like playing with boys?” and Bill said, “I don’t like to play with boys, do you?” Bill even flew to Hawaii to play in a tennis charity event hosted by “Hawaii 5-0’s” James MacArthur (he and Bill worked on the film “The Angry Breed” and two episodes of “Hawaii 5-0.”). Bill even played with actor Chad Everett whom he worked with 4 times on “Medical Center” and later on two episodes of “Murder, She Wrote.”
Bill was always happy to give to a worthy cause. One time he donated one of his boats to the Sea Scouts at Newport Beach. However he didn’t realize the scouts already had 43 other boats at their disposal. He also donated his time to a variety of causes including a reading-for-the-blind program.
Bill’s other hobbies (besides chess, tennis and sailing…his absolute favorites with sailing taking a slight edge over tennis) included fishing, golfing and bike riding (he used to ride a tandem named “dragonfly”). He got started on the tandem bike while on his honeymoon with wife Jacqulyne. They enjoyed it so much they took their tandem wherever they went. In fact he and Jacqulyne, took the bike on an inaugural train trip Amtrak sponsored in 1971. It was a new run from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. One day they put 45 miles on their bike.
Bill collected $2 bills with his great grandfather’s picture, copies of art work by Eugene Louis Boudin, various hats that he wore in his performances, rudders of his boats, harpoons, tillers (from the boats he owned. He even had the name of port, trophies and dates of accidents burnt onto the tillers), oars, ocean paraphernalia and, in later years, swagger walking sticks.
Although Bill treasured his Jeep he was never a fan of anything with an engine. He preferred bikes over cars and sail boats over motorized craft.
Besides boats Bill owned an outrigger and a windsurfing board. He also won many sailing trophies, tennis trophies and chess accolades. Bill raced his outrigger every weekend during the season when he lived in Malibu. Later on, when he took up windsurfing, he wanted to start a chapter of the National Windsurfing Association. He started so early in the sport, his board number was 1210. By the 1980s these numbers were in the 6 digits.
Bill had a beautiful photo taken of him on his favorite outrigger at sunset. He had it made into a postcard (see photo on the Miscellaneous page) and used it for autographs.
Bill named his first boat “Wika” after a little girl he met in the Netherlands during the war. Bill was very much a free spirit when it came to sailing. He would take sailing trips/fishing trips with only a good friend joining him. When he was living on the east coast, he and a friend sailed along New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. When he lived in California he and a friend would sail to Mexico. He sailed all over the world.
Bill learned Chess from his father and beat him after playing only 4 games. Bill would also play in various competitions and celebrity matches. In 1960, Bill once played against well known chess player Georges Koltanowski. Apparently he would play several games at once, blindfolded. Koltanowski was blindfolded and played against Bill and beat him. Later on, Bill played chess by mail and had six games going with the same man in Canada! He had what he called “The Windom Method” of playing chess: Know three openings and allow fate to do the rest (this was his theory around 1964). One of his chess games was even published in a chess magazine. Bill recorded his best chess score at around 1610. When he traveled for his one-man shows he would always ask people where he could find a good chess game.
Bill often played chess with The Duke, John Wayne. They first met when Bill was playing in a celebrity tennis tournament that Wayne was playing. The Duke was in a private trailer between rounds when Bill went and knocked on the door. Bill said he heard the Duke liked to play chess, the actor looked him over and said, “Get in here.” Wayne had someone go out and buy a chess set at that moment. Bill beat Wayne 5-0 and the actor slammed the game board across the table. Bill kept the chess set as a memento but joked that it was missing two pieces.
On one of his trips to New York City, Bill stopped by the famous Marshall Chess Club on West 10th Avenue. Bill walked in only to find one elderly gentleman. Bill played him and Bill won. He got up and the man asked for another game to which Bill said, “No, I want to be able to say that I’ve won all my games at the Marshall.”
Bill loved chess so much that the home he had in Van Nuys, CA had the front foyer tiled like a chess board with engraved pieces. Bill was away during his one-man shows when the tile installer arrived. Bill had to call home and tell his wife how he wanted the tiles placed. Bill would host chess games at this home, which he moved from in the 1990s.
Bill preferred to play with a Ganine chess set instead of the traditional Staunton. Ganine was a Georgian-Russian-American sculptor. However, Bill kept a bronze Staunton set by his pool, ready for a game at all times.
One of Bill’s chess-playing friends was actor Claude Akins. He would come over to Bill’s Van Nuys home to play the games. One article mentioned that watching the two was like watching the Odd Couple. Bill in his swim trunks, t-shirt, ever the extrovert. Meanwhile, Akins dressed casually with hair perfect and a quiet demeanor. Ironically, Bill’s character, Dr. Seth Hazlitt, on “Murder, She Wrote” replaced Akins character, Ethan Cragg as Jessica’s Cabot Cove Buddy. It was reported that Akins wanted more money for his role.
Bill told a story about the time he watched a game between an A-list actor and the actor’s aide. Bill wanted to play the actor, who always refused such requests. Bill said the game between the two was terrible. Afterwards, Bill asked the aide to play him. They did and Bill noted the aide was quite good. Bill then asked why was the game with the actor so bad. The aide made a “shush!” motion and Bill pretty much figured it out.
Chess can be a dangerous game, at least in Bill’s case. He was known for playing a game during downtime at the theatre. When he was in “Alice in Wonderland” he was playing a game while waiting for his cue to go on stage (he played the White Rabbit and Man in the paper hat). He heard the cue and had to run down several stairs. However a couple was sitting at the bottom and Bill jumped over them and cracked his head open. Needless to say he didn’t go on that night but he had a head scar as a reminder.
Bill’s love for chess was made evident in his many tv shows. “The Farmer’s Daughter,” “My World and Welcome To It” and “Murder, She Wrote” all featured plot lines where Bill’s characters either played chess or discussed the game of chess. He would carry a set with him to his shoots.
Bill would often play in The Memorial Day Classic Chess Tournament in LA as part of the celebrity tournament. He also played in similar tournaments around the state and in New York City.
Bill filed a patent for a travel chess set with the U.S. Patent office in 1996. The set was cylindrical with the pieces in various 3D geometric shapes. The patent was approved in 1997 for a 14 year term. One of the patent photos is included in the miscellaneous page.
In 1981, Bill became the guest speaker at a banquet held by the “Harvard Law Review.” Originally Walter Matthau was supposed to speak. The Review’s managing editor Ed Schallert (son of actor William Schallert) had it all set up. However Matthau hurt his back during a film and Bill took his place. When he showed up most of the people didn’t know who Bill was.
One article pointed out that Bill didn’t like to wear jewelry. However, he always wore his dog tags, according to one of his daughters. They were clearly visible in the 1980s especially during his time on “Murder, She Wrote .” Over the years he seemed to add to the necklace. Sometimes he wore a small circular medal with the tag, another time his bronze star was visible and in the early 2000s he wore a square shaped medal. When Bill was in the military they were in the process of changing the information on dog tags. For example, in a photo from the early 2000s Bill’s dog tag had five lines of information. This would have been Bill’s full name, military ID number, date of his inoculation, blood type, religion, next of kin (his mom) and address. The military later reduced the information on the tags to remove the next of kin and address. In a season 2 episode of “Murder, She Wrote” eagle eyed fans will notice Bill is wearing a dog tag with only two lines of information. Bill also wore a white band made of rope, on his left hand, and sometimes his wedding band. Both rings would eventually move to his pinky finger as they years passed. The white rope ring was something he picked up on his travels. It was made of nautical rope and this reminded him of his sailing days. He never took it off.
Bill truly honored and cherished his fifth marriage because he wore his wedding band more times on film than he ever did previously, even if his character wasn’t married. Also, there may have been changes over the years regarding the wearing of jewelry on film and tv.
Bill was considered for a role in the Sterling Silliphant film “A Walk in the Spring Rain.” It was for the role of Roger which ended up going to Fritz Weaver. This may have been the trip to NYC Bill was supposed to make in 1970 when expecting his second daughter.
Bill had a few trademarks in his roles that fans with a good eye would notice. His characters often smoked a pipe or cigar. Bill was partial to pipe smoking but also rolled his own cigarettes, smoked pack cigarettes and smoked cigars. His characters often wore bow ties and the face of their watch was often inside the wrist (anterior side of the wrist). When his characters were upset he’d purse his lips. When they were angry he’d clench his jaw or pout his lips.
Bill told a reporter the one role he always wanted was the boss in “Death of A Salesman” because that was the ultimate heavy role.
Bill was named as a character in a detective noir book called “Final Cut” by Pamela Chais. It’s a novel about the inner workings of Hollywood. One of the characters, a young nubile named Glenda Deering was happy to be invited to a B-list party with William Windom sunbathing on one lounger (pink and perspiring) and Rosemary Clooney on the other side.
Bill, like his father, rolled his own cigarettes (which Bill is seen smoking on an episode of “Dallas”) and shaved with a straight razor (one belonged to his famous great grandfather the other was given to Bill by actor Efrem Zimbalist, jr). The elder Windom showed Bill how to roll cigarettes. When Bill was on “The Farmer’s Daughter” he would often get tobacco samples from so many companies he had to tell them to stop. Bill also smoked a pipe, which he used for some of his tv and movie characters and was a fan of cigars especially when doing his Ernie Pyle shows.
Bill was on tour with his shows when he spoke with some Native American students. 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 didn’t like because he jokingly admitted he had to eat. He even appeared in commercials for Maxwell House, Esso, Honda and Step Saver Floor Wax. Bill admitted he did draw the line at doing deodorant commercials.
Bill never considered himself an “actor.” To him it was something he enjoyed doing and it was easy money, “Acting is my line of work, NOT my life’s work.” His first love was the live stage but admitted it was tv and movie roles that filled the theatre seats. He mentioned turning down just a few roles because he was busy with something else. He even turned down Broadway.
As mentioned earlier, Bill only took one thing seriously: World War II. After that, he extracted all the joy he could from life. When it came to work, he was like a kid in a toy store. When it came to his children, he was another playmate. Friends and family have said Bill was a pixie who would see how much he could get away with or that he was a consummate jokester. Sometimes he’d have to do more than one take because he’d laugh during the scene or sometimes he’d play a joke on the set. This may have been frustrating to some people but overall Bill is always remembered for making people laugh.
He was known as “Willie the Weeper” around Hollywood. That’s because his characters could easily be reduced to tears when it came to confessing a crime or infidelity.
Bill often commented on how he would forget lines or marks, flub lines or make jokes during filming. However, he was such a versatile actor and so well-liked by cast and crew that he left quite an impression on many production companies, producers, directors and writers. He worked more than once with director Don Taylor, writer Abby Mann, writer Stephen J. Cannell, producer Norman Lear, producer Aaron Spelling, creators Richard Levinson and William Link and actors Clint Eastwood, Ed Beagley, jr., Lloyd Bochner, Andrew Duggan and Sada Thompson to name a few.
Bill had a fascination with certain musical instruments. When traveling for his one-man shows, he would play a mouth harp in his spare time. One time, when appearing on “Super Password” he brought a small horn used in fox hunting and, in a photo from the set of “Early Bird Special,” he was playing another mouth instrument.
Bill once said he cried at “Swan Lake” but he was a good machine gunner. He could also cry on cue. When Bill did a good-bye scene with young actress Lisa Gerritsen (“Lancer” episode) he started to cry. After the scene, Lisa asked Bill, “How do you do that?” Bill said, “I didn’t learn to cry in public until I was 28, when I got over being embarrassed.” He considered her question as a great compliment. Lisa later played Bill’s daughter on “My World…”
Two of Bill’s unusual performances would be from the 1980s. In a two-part episode of “Barney Miller” called Contempt, Bill played an inmate sharing a cell with Barney. However, Bill laid on the top bunk and only his feet were visible. The rest of his body was hidden in the shadow. It was more of a voice-over than an appearance. Then, in the tv show “Matt Houston,” Bill made an appearance in a season 1 episode called The Good Doctor. His character, Dr. Walter Belkamp, was shot and killed within the first 10 minutes of the episode. However, Bill made an appearance in the season 2 episode Heritage as the same character.
Bill joked that sometimes he would get calls at the last minute to appear in a tv role so he never had time to read over the scripts. If he did get a script he would take his pages and weigh them on a scale to figure the role’s heft.
In 1981 Bill and several other actors and actresses joined the strike conducted by members of the Writers Guild.
An ex-model and friend of Bill’s had this to say about him back in 1969, “He’s darling. He’s absolutely unaffected. He’s a boating enthusiast; He’s happiest out on his catamaran. He’s a good tennis player. He’s very informal; He’s the kind who would come to a formal dinner in loafers. He’s very New England. He’s absolutely wholesome. If I were painting him in abstract, I’d do him in red, white and blue.”
Bill actually participated in his own Obituary for “The New York Times.” Shortly before his death, a journalist contacted him for an interview and later used snippets in Bill’s obituary in 2012.
Bill was not only a father of 4 and stepfather of 2 but he was also a Godfather to two girls.
Bill was not known for his singing prowess however he did sing on a few occasions: The 1947 Broadway show “Alice in Wonderland” (hear a clip on the Miscellaneous page), the film “Goodbye, Franklin High” (see the clip on the Miscellaneous page) and the tv show “Flamingo Road” (Also a clip on the Miscellaneous page).
On his last film, Bill listed his resume as the following: “1945: Richard III, 1970 Emmy (Outstanding Performance By A Lead Actor in A Comedy Series). The rest is a cornucopia of: Broadway-Off Broadway-Road-NYTV-Marriage-Sailing-Tennis-Chess-Astronomy-Parenting-Traveling-Films-CalTV-Radio-700+one man shows of “Thurber & Pyle”-Food-Distilled Waters-Pipe-Cigars-$2 bills-Grandparenting-6 Years Naval School-6 Colleges-WWII Paratrooper B Co. 508 Holland and Belgium-Horses-Dogs-Show Biz-One Upmanship-Anon. Charity-Humor. And here I am talking to you!”
According to Buzzfeed.com one of the writers of “Twin Peaks” named the character Windom Earle after Bill and after the character Earle in the film “High Sierra.”
Bill said he felt most accomplished when his name appeared in “The New York Times” crossword. His “Murder, She Wrote” character also made it into many newspaper crossword puzzles.
Bill’s last, full-length movie was the heartwarming “Yesterday’s Dreams” written, produced and starring Kevin Foster. Bill’s last filmed appearance was in 2006, in a Master’s Thesis film by Jesse Wheeler called “Just.” Bill suffered some health setbacks in 2008, he recovered but not completely. He passed away a few weeks short of his 89th birthday on August 16, 2012. One month later, fans were invited to two memorial services in his honor. 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. Bill’s wish was to have his ashes placed at his tombstone in the family plot in Washington, D.C. His widow, who has since moved on with her life, still has the ashes and has yet to fulfill the final request.
In 1988, Bill had a rook tombstone placed at the family plot and was made of Nubian Marble. He also had a bronze marker created. At the time, he kept it in his backyard at his home in Van Nuys. It was meant to be installed on the rook tombstone and it featured the following: WW, Wika, 22 and two chess flags. The WW were his initials, Wika the name of a little girl he met in Holland and later used as the name of his first boat, and 22 for the year he was conceived.
In an interview Bill gave several years ago he shared this funny story about a blooper during a “Murder, She Wrote” scene. He and Angela were in Seth’s car ( which was just a shell of a car while scenery video played in the background) and Jessica was supposed to say a line about “The pretty flashing lights at night.” She ended up saying, “Look at all the flashing nights,” and Bill said “Yes and the mooning maids aren’t bad either.” The two broke out laughing and it took about 20 minutes for them to get back on track!
Bill and Angela Lansbury worked with each other well before “Murder, She Wrote.” They appeared in the Broadway show “Hotel Paradiso.”
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.
Bill felt that actors should learn by doing and observing and not by taking classes. Bill was a great observer of the human condition and felt that everyone had something to teach to someone.
Coincidentally, a writer named Gerry Lekas wrote a Country song called “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar.” It talks about memorable times but nothing specific from the episode. Oddly enough the song appeared in the 1980 film “Night Shift” with Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton. They played clerks in an NYC morgue who decide to run a prostitution business. Not exactly the right movie for the song. It’s likely in the scene where Shelly Long’s character is entertaining a cowboy in her apartment and there’s music playing in the apartment. Lekas was interviewed by “The Chicago Tribune” and mentioned nothing about the “Night Gallery” connection to his song. He did say he was a writer and had been a fan of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone.”
Bill would get so many, “I know you, I’ve seen you before” responses from fans. So he would give each one a list of prepared questions and answers including Q)Are you a movie star? A)No. A movie star is instantly recognizable by his face or name.
Bill was a Professional Artist in Residence at Cal State (1976, 1979, 1982).
Bill was a ham radio enthusiast and amateur astronomer.
Bill was 5′ 10″ tall, sometimes stated 5′ 11″.
“Variety” called Bill the master of detailed characterization. Bill once referred to his career as that of a Journeyman actor. In 2008 he wrote his autobiography and entitled it “Journeyman Actor.”
Bill said he never took acting seriously but took the work of Ernie Pyle and James Thurber very seriously. When Bill visited Ernie Pyle’s hometown of Dana, Iowa he visited the barn Pyle wrote about. On a rusty nail was a ring used to lead a horse. Bill took it and later hung it on a hangar he had from Thurber’s house.
To Bill, acting was a way to be someone else and have fun. He said he worked hard but he’d be damned if he took acting seriously. When he won his Emmy he admitted he truly wanted it. About 20 years later, Bill was using the trophy as a door stop. As he got older he realized his trophies for sailing and tennis and chess were more important. Acting was a way to make money and have fun and Bill had such a quirky personality it just worked. Bill didn’t care if he was an A-list actor, if he had a star on the walk of fame, or if he won an Emmy/Golden Globe/Oscar.
Bill liked that Ernie Pyle was on the ground, in the mud with the grunts like Bill in World War II.
Bill played so many doctors he finally became a real doctor. He received a Doctorate of Humanities and Letters from Buena Vista University in Iowa.
Bill often said he didn’t mind being a regular in a tv series but guest appearances were fun and less stressful.
Bill was a regular on five series: “The Farmer’s Daughter,” “My World…,” “Brother’s and Sisters,” “Murder, She Wrote,” and “Parenthood.”
Bill’s only lead series (to air a full season) was “My World…” He said Inger was the lead on “The Farmer’s Daughter” (he did have second billing) and he was only a co-star on “Brothers & Sisters,” “Murder, She Wrote,” and “Parenthood.” Bill was given the opportunity to lead in two other tv series: “Is There a Doctor in the House?” and “Heck’s Angels” but they never made it past the pilot airing. He almost got the lead in “The Prime of Life” but was replaced by McLean Stevenson likely before a pilot was even filmed. Finally he was more of a “special” co-star for the series “Landon, Landon and Landon,” and “Quick & Quiet” since he played a ghost. The shows were meant as vehicles for the younger stars.
One of the actresses, Marilyn Tokuda, who appeared in “Brothers & Sisters” had this to say about working with Bill, “I was a big fan of William Windom’s. I grew up watching him on ‘The Farmer’s Daughter’ He was so nice.”
Bill considered work a vacation because he could sit on the beach at home when he wasn’t working.
“My father loved me but I don’t know if he liked me.” (commenting on how is father was a lot like James Thurber.)
“I’ve done many death scenes since then, but that’s still my favorite.” (referring to faking his death while on patrol during World War 2 to avoid a German sniper.)
“I’m not the one-man show type. I don’t put on lamp shades at parties. I’m not a one-line comic. Once I got into it, I realized I liked it better than working with other actors. I’m kind of a loner.”(on disliking one-man shows, at first)
“I’ve been fired so many times, even by myself!” (Bill talking about the cancellation of “My World…”)
“I DO NOT recite Thurber in the bathroom. I know it too well.”
“They pretty much say what I would say if I were going to criticize my own stuff: ‘Yeah, Yeah, okay but who needs Windom? I’d rather read it.”(on some of his negative reviews)
“That ‘Star Trek’ episode was a piece of crap. But for what it was, it wasn’t all that bad.”
“I don’t turn into the people I portray. I’m not the dim-wit I played on ‘Star Trek.”
“Well here I am–five boats and three wives later.” (interview in 1964)
“The best salary I made in New York was worse than the worst salary I made out here.” (on acting in California during the early 60’s)
“It makes me nervous to stay in the town where I was, and I sleep much better in the town where I’m supposed to be.”
“Who the Hell can remember a name like William Windom? It sounds like two pillows lodged in someone’s mouth.”
“My goals in life are very limited. I just want to survive.”
“When I take out my pocket (chess) set on an airplane, it usually isn’t long before somebody is willing to whip my ass.”
“They’ve tried to nail me down but they’ve never done it.” (about his various roles)
“None of my kids are content with acting. They’re content with letting daddy do it.”
“I can’t see Richard Burton wearing a lampshade.”
“The trouble with stardom is the formula for getting it is the same for a nervous breakdown!” (upon his fame due to “The Farmer’s Daughter.”)
“I haven’t made up my mind about that yet.” (when fans would ask his opinion on a certain political subject.)
“I used to be a star back then. Now I’m trying to get back to it.” (talking about his first acting role and referring to his fame on “The Farmer’s Daughter.”)
“It touched a nerve, fed a need and has been a private oasis for me since I was 15.” This was a “quote” found in the press release for Bill’s Thurber show. When an interviewer read this quote back to him, Bill laughed saying, “Now who talks like that really? I knock out a paragraph of junk for my PR folks and the next thing I know it’s all over the country.”
“It’s a highly gambling type of existence.” (talking about acting)
“The only thing I’d rather do than sleep.” (on playing chess)
“…I can’t afford the luxury of turning down jobs. So I do a lot of stuff I shouldn’t just to make money. I like it all, it’s fun for me, even the junk.”
“Put in the proper perspective. It’s one tiny world in a universe we don’t know the end of.” (referring to acting and not taking it seriously)
” ‘What is it all but a trouble of ants in the gleam of a million million suns?’ Sums it up neatly for me.”
“If I were in ‘Alice’ or ‘Dallas,’ I could read the phone book and pack them in.” This was in reference to filling theatre seats for his performances of “Thurber” and “Ernie Pyle.” Bill had always said his first love was live theatre but it was tv and movies that paid the bills and put an audience into the theatre seats. However Bill had forgotten that he WAS in two episodes of “Dallas” when he said this. He actually admired the J.R. character because Bill liked really heavy characters. Bill worked with actor Larry Hagman during their early years on the stage.
“Likable plus 45 cents gets you a cup of coffee. They want something that’s effectively the same. As an actor, you make money by having them know exactly who you are and what you’re gonna do and that’s what they come back to see again in one form or another. I’m not a star; there are only about 25 stars in the whole world. You run into trouble even with people like Liv Ullmann, a fine actress, but how many people in Africa ever heard of or care about Liv Ullmann? It’s good acting, wonderful, so who cares? Bring on Mickey Mouse.”
Bill liked to talk in percentages like Sturgeon’s Law. “I maintain that 90 percent of what you do in this world whether it’s the bagels you eat, clothes you wear, adults you meet when you’re little, plays you go to or are in, 90 percent is horse crap. Five percent is just godawful and you wish you could forget it, five percent is memorable, so you better enjoy the horse crap because nine out of ten hours in your life are gonna be spent in horse crap. So fine, but don’t go around giving it first prizes! The first prizes are too valuable — they’re really for only for that five percent — of people, food, clothing, time, weather, age — whatever you want to name in your life.” Bill admitted that “Star Trek” fell in this 90%.
Another percentage quote from the 1970s, “five percent of anything, haircuts, television scripts, love affairs is all man should expect to get in an imperfect World.” Bill had a bit more pristene version of this quote: “If 5% of the people you meet, the books you read, the haircuts you get, are really a memorable experiences, you’re getting your full share, you’ve no complaints.”
“The only other thing I do well is cast a Hawaiian fish net, but you can’t make much money.”
“I wanted to carry a spear.” (on why he tried out for “Richard III” at Biarritz, besides wanting to meet the only girls there)
“Acting is a half-time job. The other half you spend worrying about work. I’m always out of work.”
“Gives me the heebie-jeebies.” (an Ernie Pyle quote that Bill was fond of)
“The one who gets the clerk’s job over 25 others is the one who removes the help-wanted sign from the window…I’m your man.”
“I’m not a theatre worshiper. To me it’s not a cathedral–it’s a bawdy house (brothel) but I love it.”
“You need a lot of junk in between to appreciate what is good.” (on getting good roles)
“The lack of recognition never bothered me and I was always more interested in the character roles.”
“He was considered a completely honest man in a rather corrupt era.” (referring to his great grandfather)
“I tend to go overboard. I go too far and then let the director bring me back to where he wants me. It’s like focusing a telescope.”
During an interview when promoting “My World…” Bill was asked if he liked camping, “I’m too old for that. I like a place where I can take off my shoes, have a shower and a cocktail. Very few sleeping bags have those features.”
“That was fun. They would put Darryl Hannah up on a platform 50 feet in the air and film over her shoulder to give her the perspective of height. I was down below so it looked like she was a giant. It wasn’t a very good movie, but fun to do.” (his role in HBO’s “Attack of the 50ft. Woman”)
“If the public had said ‘Wow!’ But they didn’t. Instead they said ‘Isn’t that charming? And that isn’t enough.” (Bill on the cancellation of “My World…”)
“I’m a glutton for punishment, but nothing else.” (on quitting smoking, drinking and then going on a diet in 1970.) This may have been for the pilot “Is There a Doctor in the House?” since the network wanted him to lose a few pounds to look more youthful.
“I like John. He likes to keep the camera rolling after the take is over to see what you will do. Fun sets to work on.” (working with John Hughes)
“I went to a law school lecture in L.A. given by W.C. Fields, jr. He was a very serious attorney. The thing was, he looked and sounded just like his father. I swore if I ever got in trouble, I was going to hire him to defend me. No jury in the world would convict you with W.C. Fields as your lawyer!” (on doing research for “To Kill a Mockingbird”). Bill was a big fan of W.C. Fields and other burlesque-type comics. He had 5 photos of Fields in his private dressing room when starring on “My World.”
“No matter what I get involved in I always enjoy it while it lasts.”
“When I was 30, I thought no one over 50 could act. Now that I’m in my 50’s, 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.”
“It’s a good life. I have a good time.” (on his 100 days a year traveling with his one-man shows. Years later he reduced it 25 days a year.)
“Earn money, even if it’s at McDonald’s. Work.” (advice to young actors)
“Television is getting better all the time, but it’s a slow, gradual process. It has it’s moments of shear genius and its moments of shear stupidity.”(1982)
“It gives you a chance to stretch yourself, to raise more Hell. I like to say it lets you blow your nose in public, so to speak.”(on playing the heavy)
“When you get down that far, it’s all ice cream. What flavor do you like? I have seen Laurence Olivier make mistakes, and I’ve seen high school students, with no training at all, who are lousy actors, have a moment that’s electric! Wow! You can see the same actor do the same part well and then the same part badly in the same play maybe a week apart. And don’t blame it on the audience, pal, that’s the oldest excuse in the world.” (when asked about his favorite actor).
“Helping the author present it. The actor is a puppet.” (on an actor’s responsibility)
“A real softy. He’s nothing like his on-screen persona in real life. Just a great guy. I’ve played tennis with him on many occasions. Clint can’t play very well, so I like playing against him. He used to have his own tennis tournament (which Bill and wife Jacqulyne used to play in). Always like to play against him. He is great to work for. I just did one movie with him [“True Crime”]. Small part, played the bartender.” (on Clint Eastwood)
“The girl who played the little red-neck [the alleged rape victim Mayella Ewell] and I were working together at night in a play in L.A.(Tennessee Williams’ “Period of Adjustment”). We would do the film during the day and the play at night. She would change from a back-woods red-neck to an elegant socialite at night. It was a lot of fun.” (on working with actress Collin Wilcox Paxton the actress from “To Kill a Mockingbird)
“You have a nice time because people are very nice, basically. I travel a lot and I see a great many of them in all parts of the country and it’s always a treat. Everybody has something worthwhile to offer, for at least ten seconds, maybe ten hours, maybe ten years, whatever, but they all have that spark that’s worthwhile. I’m no longer a sex object. 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 Bill’s favorite terms) is of particular relish to me.”
“Guys like Robert Redford get their offers a year in advance. I get mine the weekend before I go to work. The guy who squeezes the Charmin is more famous than I am.”
“If the world were divided into grasshoppers and ants, I’d be a grasshopper. It’s always been a snap.” (on wanting the life of an actor versus any other life)
“No one of proven intellectual superiority has ever been an actor.” (Bill quoting H.L. Mencken)
In a program for a Star Trek Convention in 2005, Bill described his career as, “95% approval and a few arrows along the way.”
“They said–‘Thanks, we’ll pass. It isn’t going to draw that many listeners.’ And they were probably right.”(why ABC or CBS didn’t pick up “My World” after cancellation.)
“Peck cracked me up one day. We were sitting at tables side by side. We were supposed to leave him alone because he couldn’t be distracted. This was a serious scene. Greg would sit at the table like this. (He props his elbows on the edge of the table with his forehead resting on his fists as if in prayer.) Now I have to do something to make the scene interesting because I’m just sitting there. The focus is on Greg. So I drape one leg over the arm of my chair, I pull my tie loose to one side and I chew on a pencil. Well this goes on for several days as we film the scene over and over. Finally Peck says to me out of the side of his mouth, (imitating Mr. Peck) “Hey Bill, do you think this would be too much?” At which point his elbow slips off the table like he has fallen asleep.” (on the set of “To Kill a Mockingbird”)
“There are two essentials, two and two only, to have any performance in the world in any medium. One is the audience and two is the author. The rest fills in. The two essentials are someone to have the idea to say it and someone to hear it. Without either one of those two, you have nothing.“
On actors he didn’t like: “They must have three things wrong with them: they must be bad actors, then get wealthy from it and be a miserable (deletion) offstage.”
“A couple of punches in the nose from some kids, and you learn: Don’t make waves. You learn to giggle, have a little fun, make people laugh, and it takes you a long way.” (Talking about being bullied during school).
“I’m Peter Pan. I’m still the little boy playing in the sand and it’s okay, because I’m an actor.”
“They were Flapper types, from the Hemingway-Fitzgerald era. They never let me down at all. I may have had to shepherd them around and get them out of trouble, but we were a team. They were strong alcoholics.” (on his parents).
“I promised my feet during the war that if they ever got me out of that mess I’d never be mean to them again. And I haven’t. That’s why I pamper them in sandals.” (an interview in 1965)
“It’s easier to talk to 100 or more strangers than it is to three members of your family. They confuse me.”
“It’s not meaningless.” One of Bill’s favorite Thurber quotes. Bill almost said this when he received his Emmy but decided not to.
“Don’t work at anything you don’t like (for very long).”
“I like people-everyone of them has a nugget to offer you. The worst bum on the street has something of a sparkle if you just give it a second to come out. Even if it’s only a belch, it’s a belch you’ve never heard before. If you want to do a good belch someday, he just showed you how.”
“Don’t tell me the audience was eating out of your hand…Bull@$%*. If you got 90% of them to stand up and give you a hand that’s terrific. But the other 10% have something to offer too.” (on not getting a swelled head)
“Half of Hollywood must have worked with them…the older half. They were well-armed and well-preserved straight men for my generation. I can only hope to be half as well remembered.” (Bill talking about “I Love Lucy” actors Vivian Vance and William Frawley). Bill worked with Vance on an episode of “The Lucy Show.”
Bill said he could cry on cue but nothing he did ever touched him emotionally except the “Night Gallery” episode Tim Riley’s Bar. Bill said the scene where he’s hallucinating that it’s post-war America got him worked up. The scene was supposed to be a “Welcome Home” party Bill’s character was imagining. All the actors were people Bill had never met before including the woman playing his wife. He showed up to the set and began the scene and Bill said: “My God! That girl-and her face, and her acting-has stuck in my mind ever since. I went into that scene, and did it, and I fell in love with that girl. I didn’t see her afterwards. I don’t even know her name. I’m not a guy who is easily moved, certainly not on a TV or movie set. But that really got me.” The actress, Susannah Darrow said she was mesmerized by Bill’s voice. She was told, after her scene, she could leave and she did. She thought it’s what she had to do and wished she and Bill were able to talk after the scene.
Universal did not want Bill for the Tim Riley episode because he wasn’t well known. 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 didn’t anyone choose a well-known actor? Bill said, “I felt forced down their throat. I think they wanted to use Troy Donahue or one of their stable people and Director Don Taylor told them, ‘Use Windom or lose me!’ They relented. Don had been an actor, and his directorial skills were built in. He was hands-on with the crew, hands-off with the actors. He was loud, direct and fair. He was open to ideas and closed to bull@!$#.” Bill said the episode was compromised by a “a happy, mushy ending” which Serling was not happy about either.
(CONT.) Apparently the editor took some creative liberties with the film. Neither Taylor, Bill or Serling intended the ending. However Bill recalled it this way, “They mushed the tag. Don Taylor said ‘We’ve 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, that’s all. End of show. No last-minute rescues in that version. Lane is left as a man who can’t live in the past and is unwilling to live in the present.” The actress who played Randy’s wife agrees with this story. However, Taylor said the “happy ending” always existed and research shows the original story by Rod Serling and a further revision done long before filming, included the happy ending. Bill and Serling never met, just talked once on the phone. However they both share the distinction of being WWII Paratroopers.
Of the famous episode Bill said, “It’s the only piece of film I ever bought since moving to Hollywood in 1961. I wanted to show my children their old man at his best!” Don Taylor had directed Bill on several projects including the most dramatic episode of “The Farmer’s Daughter” called Past Perfect. Katy finds the diary of Glen’s late wife and we get to see, in flashback, how the couple met and what led to her death. Inger Stevens played Katy and the late wife, Anne.
The “Night Gallery” episode was nominated for an Emmy but not the writers or actors. Bill said Universal dropped the ball, “Here was a chance to take advantage of the nomination, and I felt they didn’t give it any publicity. They didn’t put an ad in the trades the way people do quite often, they just let it go–to Hell with it, they didn’t 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)
“It’s a two-way bridge in my mind. I give some young people the benefit of my experience and I get from them the ideas they have. Saves me from becoming an old fogey.” (on his college circuit travels)
“This is the easiest way I’ve heard to make money. Whenever they want me to do something I don’t want to do, I just reach down and feel the sand in the cuff of my pants, and then I say, ‘OK, anything you want.” (Bill during an interview in 1964)
“You’re going to end up with holes in your shoes, a flower in your buttonhole and smiling on the Rialto.” (Bill quoting his father who was disappointed in Bill’s acting career choice). Another quote from his dad, “Life is teaming with quiet fun. Just keep your eyes open. It’s all there waiting.”
“Performing is like bull fighting, in a sense. You can get gored, not physically but mentally. If you mess up or don’t do it right, of if you’re slow or sloppy the bull will get you.”
“The Stage is like dancing with a girl. Movies are like dancing with a chair. Television is like acting with a wet raincoat. But the girl won’t show up to dance with you unless she’s seen you work out with the chair and raincoat.”
Bill once said his creed in life was: “To be either actively happy or actively unhappy. I like to think that 90% of the time I’m actively happy. I’m always ready for the worst but I’m not frightened to death of life.”
On Tv and stage acting: “One pays the rent; the other satisfies the ego.”
“I’m only happy when I’m working. Free time makes me nervous.”