Television
In The Dick Van Dyke Show Idelson played Herman Glimscher, the milquetoast boyfriend of Sally Rogers (Rose Marie). "Herman could never marry because his mother wouldn't sign off on it yet, and when he had a date with Sally Rogers he brought his mother a couple of times," show creator and co-star Carl Reiner told The Los Angeles Times. He re-created the role in the first decade of the 21st Century for a reunion show of The Dick Van Dyke Show, with Herman finally married to Sally as she joins her former colleague Rob Petrie (Van Dyke) to write a new special for their megalomaniacal former boss, Alan Brady (Reiner).
Idelson continued television acting for a few years during and after The Dick Van Dyke Show, guest starring on episodes of Dragnet, The Twilight Zone, My Favorite Martian, The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Perry Mason and Will & Grace.
He wrote some episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, leading him to further writing work on episodes of The Twilight Zone, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Andy Griffith Show, Get Smart, The Odd Couple, M*A*S*H and Happy Days. He received two Writers Guild Awards for best episodic comedy, one for an episode of Get Smart and the other for an episode of The Andy Griffith Show.
He also found a niche as a producer, with credits including The McLean Stevenson Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Anna and the King and Love, American Style.
He was the author of three books, The Story of Vic and Sade, Gibby (an autobiographical novel about a fighter pilot) and Bill Idelson's Writing Class.
Idelson died in a Los Angeles hospital of complications from a hip injury.
Read more about this topic: Bill Idelson
Famous quotes containing the word television:
“We cannot spare our children the influence of harmful values by turning off the television any more than we can keep them home forever or revamp the world before they get there. Merely keeping them in the dark is no protection and, in fact, can make them vulnerable and immature.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)
“Anyone afraid of what he thinks television does to the world is probably just afraid of the world.”
—Clive James (b. 1939)
“Cultural expectations shade and color the images that parents- to-be form. The baby product ads, showing a woman serenely holding her child, looking blissfully and mysteriously contented, or the television parents, wisely and humorously solving problems, influence parents-to-be.”
—Ellen Galinsky (20th century)