Bill Idelson

 was a writer on Bewitched. He wrote the fourth season episode, If They Never Met (1968) with Sam Bobrick.

Biography
Bill Idelson was a television actor, writer and producer. He was born on August 21, 1919, in Forest Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

He co-starred as a kid in the popular radio show “Vic and Sade,” where he was inspired to become a writer by the show’s creator, Paul Rhymer. The show ran from 1932 to 1944 and had seven million listeners at its peak in the early 1940s.

Idelson appeared in episodes of television shows including “Dragnet,” “Perry Mason,” “The Twilight Zone,” “My Favorite Martian,” “The Odd Couple,” “Happy Days” and “Will & Grace.” He played Rose Marie’s boyfriend on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” for which he also wrote several episodes.

The first script Idelson sold was for “The Twilight Zone” (the one in which Bill Mumy spoke to his deceased grandmother on a toy telephone). He went on to write for shows including “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Get Smart,” “The Odd Couple,” “Love American Style,” “M*A*S*H,” “Happy Days” and “The Bob Newhart Show.”

Two of his scripts won Writers Guild awards for episodic comedy: “Get Smart” and “The Andy Griffith Show,” for which he also shared an Emmy nomination for comedy series in 1971.

His television producing credits include “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Anna and the King,” “The McLean Stevenson Show” and “Love, American Style.”

He taught writing workshops and mentored many writers. A book version of his workshop, “Bill Idelson’s Writing Class,” was released on December 30, 2007, by Bear Manor Media. Idelson also wrote a novelized version of his experiences as a World War Two pilot, “Gibby,” published by Bear Manor on April 5, 2017.

Bill Idelson died on December 31, 2007, in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 88. He was predeceased by his daughter, television writer and actress Ellen Idelson, who died in 2003. He was survived by his wife of fifty-six years, Seemah Wilder, three sons and three grandchildren.