| |
|---|---|
| Dick Wilson | |
| Credits | |
| Roles | Mr. Solow Frank O'Hara Mr. Potter Neighbor Man in Bar Montague Harry Customer Drunk in Bar Drunk Mr. Green (Tabitha) |
| Biographical Information | |
| Birth Name | Riccardo DiGuglielmo |
| Birthdate | July 30, 1916 |
| Birthplace | Preston, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom |
| Death Date | November 19, 2007 (age 91) |
| Death Place | Woodland Hills, California, United States |
Dick Wilson played multiple characters in eighteen episodes of Bewitched, mostly drunks (1965-1972). He played Paul Thurston's neighbor Mr. Green (also a drunk) on two episodes of the Tabitha television series (1977-1978).
Biography[]
Born Riccardo DiGuglielmo in Preston, Lancashire, in 1916, he moved with his family to Canada when young and grew up in Hamilton, Ontario. He graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, before landing a job designing scenery for a dance school, following his parents into show business – his Italian father was a vaudeville entertainer and his English mother a singer. Instead of a salary, he accepted dance lessons, which led him into a twenty-year vaudeville career under the name Dick Wilson (his mother's maiden name).
During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He became an American citizen in 1954 and found regular employment on screen, usually in one-off character roles. He was seen in popular series such as Wagon Train (1958), Maverick (1960), Perry Mason (1963) and The Munsters (1965), before a short run as the Italian Dino Baroni (1965-66) in McHale's Navy. Wilson also took five different roles in Hogan's Heroes, as well as appearing in eighteen episodes of Bewitched, often as a drunk.
His films included the Vincent Price picture Diary of a Madman (1963), the romantic comedy What a Way to Go! (1964), the Elvis Presley vehicle Stay Away, Joe (1968) and the sci-fi fantasy The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981).
From 1964 until 1985, he presented the Charmin toilet tissue commercials, making more than five-hundred commercials as Mr. George Whipple, a man consumed with keeping bubbly housewives from fondling toilet paper. The punch line of most spots was that Whipple himself was a closeted squeezer.
Dick Wilson died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Fund Hospital in Woodland Hills. He was survived by his wife Meg, son Stuart, and daughters Wendy and Melanie.
Credits[]
Bewitched Episodes[]
- Mr. Solow in "Ho Ho the Clown"
- Frank O'Hara in "Samantha's Wedding Present"
- Mr. Potter in "The Salem Saga", "Samantha's Hot Bedwarmer" and "Darrin on a Pedestal"
- Neighbor in "George Washington Zapped Here (Part 1)"
- Man in Bar in "A Change of Face" and "Is It Magic or Imagination?"
- Montague in "The Very Informal Dress"
- Harry in "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
- Customer in "Toys in Babeland"
- Drunk in Bar in "Samantha the Bard"
- Drunk
Tabitha Episodes[]
- Mr. Green in "Halloween Show" and "Tabitha's Party"
Sources[]
- Dick Wilson on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on February 28, 2020.
- Hayward, Anthony. "Dick Wilson: Character Actor" obituary, The Independent, November 27, 2007. Retrieved on March 7, 2020.
- Associated Press. "Dick Wilson, Mr. Whipple of Charmin ads, dies", The Hollywood Reporter, November 20, 2007. Retrieved on March 7, 2020.