Bill Healy was born on August 30 1927 in Des Moines, Iowa. His father died when he was very young and as a result Bill Healy was raised by his mother and various other relatives. In 1939 his family moved to Chicago. After graduating from Lane Technical High School, Mr. Daily pursued a career in music as a bassist with various jazz bands. It was during Bill Daily's career as a musician that he began performing stand-up comedy. During the Korean War he was drafted into the United States Army and served in an artillery unit before being transferred to an entertainment movement.
Following his service, Bill Daily studied stage and direction at the Goodman Theatre School in Chicago. He worked at WGN on Chicago Cubs games and was later hired as an announcer and floor manager at WMAQ in Chicago. There he wrote and performed on a daily variety show called Club 60. He continued to perform stand-up comedy during this period. It was at this time that he met Bob Newhart, an accountant who was just starting out in stand-up comedy. He hired Mr. Newhart for a Chicago-area television awards ceremony, where Mr. Newhart performed his famous "Abe Lincoln Press Agent" bit. On his days off Bill Daily would travel to Cleveland to write, direct, and perform on The Michael Douglas Show. Steve Allen appeared on the show in 1963 and, after seeing one of Bill Daily's bits on the show, invited him to appear on his syndicated show. Bill Daily then appeared on The New Steve Allen Show. His appearance on the show soon led to other job offers.
Following his appearance on The New Steve Allen Show, Bill Daily guest starred on Bewitched, My Mother the Car, and The Farmer's Daughter. It was in 1965 that he began playing one of his most famous roles, that of Captain Roger Healy on I Dream of Jeannie. During the run of the show Roger was eventually promoted to major. In 1969 he appeared in the TV movie In Name Only.
In 1971 Bill Daily starred in an unsold pilot titled Inside O.U.T. In the early Seventies he guest starred on the TV shows Getting Together, The Mary Tyler Moore Show (in an episode that was a backdoor pilot for a show that didn't sell), and Love, American Style. In 1972 he began playing another one of his most famous roles, that of airline navigator (later pilot) Howard Borden on The Bob Newhart Show. He guest starred on the shows Flying High, $weepstake$, CHiPs, and The Love Boat.
In the Eighties, Bill Daily starred on three short-lived shows: Aloha Paradise (playing an assistant manager at a resort in Hawaii), Small & Frye (on which he appeared as Dr. Hanratty), and Starting from Scratch (on which he played veterinarian Dr. James Shepherd). He had a recurring role on Alf as psychiatrist Dr Larry Dykstra. He reprised his role as Roger Healy (now a Colonel) in the TV reunion movie I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later. He guest starred on the shows The Powers of Matthew Star, Trapper John M.D., Comedy Factory, Newhart, and The Munsters Today.
In the Nineties Bill Daily guest starred on the TV shows Bob, George & Leo, The Naked Truth, and Caroline in the City. He appeared on The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary Special and the TV reunion movie I Still Dream of Jeannie.
From the Sixties into the Eighties, Bill Daily was a panellist on a number of game shows, including The Hollywood Squares, Tattletales, and Match Game. Aside from The Mike Douglas Show (on which he appeared regularly from 1962 to 1964), he also appeared on several talk shows, including Della, The Dick Cavett Show, Dinah!, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. A life-long fan of stage magic, in 1983 he hosted a series of syndicated specials on magic titled Bill Daily's Hocus-Pocus Gang. From 2006 to 2009 he was a guest host on Thursday mornings on Albuquerque radio station KBQI.
It might come as a surprise that while Bill Dailly had a large number of television credits, he only appeared in a few movies. He appeared in The Barefoot Executive (1971), Alligator II: The Mutation (1991), and Horrorween (2011).
Bill Daily was named the director of the New Mexico Film Commission in 1987.
Bill Daily was a talented comedian with a gift for playing off-the-wall characters. Indeed, he played two of the most memorable characters in television history. On I Dream of Jeannie Roger Healy was a womaniser who always wanted to make a quick buck, and the only person besides Tony Nelson who knew that Jeannie was a genie. On The Bob Newhart Show Howard Borden was good natured, but somewhat inept anywhere except the cockpit of a plane. Over the years he played a number of lovable but slightly absurd characters, everything from a wholly incompetent Minneapolis city councilman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Dr. Dykstra on ALF (who was very close in disposition to Dr. Robert Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show). Few actors have the honour of starring in two classic sitcoms and playing a recurring role on a third. Bill Daily was able to do so because he was just so extremely talented.
This sad news makes me feel old.
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