Much of this week has been focused on the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy and I plan to chip in my two cents before the week is out.
However,
I want to mark the anniversary of the passing of another notable
individual. On November 21, it will have been 20 years since the death
of actor/director Bill Bixby. A fixture on American television from the
early 1960s to the early 1980s on shows such as My Favorite Martian, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,and The Incredible Hulk, Bixby was only 59 when he succumbed to prostate cancer in 1993.
It
was the last of these three shows which introduced me to Bixby as a
child in the late 1970’s. I had not read the comic book, but was drawn
to how Dr. David Banner transformed into the Hulk to help himself and
others fight back against those who would do harm to him and the people
he cared about. I also identified with the loneliness and isolation
Banner experienced when he would be compelled to leave yet another town
after the Hulk made his presence known with intrepid reporter Jack McGee
of The National Register (played
brilliantly by the late Jack Colvin) in hot pursuit. This despair was
brought home at the end of every episode with the playing of the late
Joe Harnell’s "The Lonely Man."
Still,
I have to admit that in those days I was more a fan of Lou Ferrigno as
The Hulk than I was of Bixby as Banner. Perhaps I was too big a fan of
Ferrigno. When I tore my pajama top to shreds one night after watching The Incredible Hulk, my parents prohibited me from watching it.
Indeed,
it would be more than 30 years before I saw the show again in re-runs.
You will be glad to know that this time around I was able to refrain
from tearing articles of clothing. Despite the cheesy disco music and
cheesier stunt doubles, The Incredible Hulk still holds up remarkably well.
(Click link below to read more) READ MORE Sphere: Related Content
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment