Bill Erwin

**William Lindsey Erwin** (December 2, 1914 – December 29, 2010) was an American film, television and stage actor and cartoonist with over 250 television and film credits. A veteran character actor, he is widely known for his 1993 Emmy Award-nominated performance on *Seinfeld*, portraying the embittered, irascible retiree Sid Fields. He also made notable appearances on shows such as *I Love Lucy* and *Star Trek: The Next Generation*. In cinema, his most recognized role is that of Arthur, a kindly bellhop at the Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island)|Mackinac Island Grand Hotel, in *Somewhere in Time (film)|Somewhere in Time* (1980).

Erwin was a self-taught cartoonist, published in *The New Yorker*, *Playboy (magazine)|Playboy*, and *Los Angeles (magazine)|Los Angeles*. He won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, four Drama-Logue Awards, Gilmore Brown Award for Career Achievement, Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters' Diamond Circle Award, and Distinguished Alumnus Award from Angelo State University.

## Early life

Erwin was born in Honey Grove, Texas, to Lee Eugene and Ida Mae (née Lindsey) Erwin. He had a sister named Mary Gene Cosper. He attended Angelo State University|San Angelo CollegeTemplate:Citation needed before earning his bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Texas, graduating in 1935. He completed a masters of theater artsTemplate:Citation needed at California's Pasadena Playhouse in 1941. After serving as a Captain in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II, where he made cartoons for Curtis Le May's 1944 Combat Crew Manuel, Erwin returned to Hollywood to resume his acting career. His first film role was in the 1942 film *You're in the Army Now*.

## Career

### Stage

Erwin acted in productions at the Pasadena Playhouse, the Laguna Beach Playhouse, the La Jolla Playhouse, and other venues in the Los Angeles area.

### Film

In the late 1950s, Erwin was in such films as *Man from Del Rio* (1956) and *The Night Runner* (1957), before playing Jack Nicholson's father in *The Cry Baby Killer*, Nicholson's first starring role in 1958. The long out-of-print film was released on DVD on November 22, 2006. He had credited small roles in films such as *The Christine Jorgensen Story* (1970), *How Awful About Allan* (1970), *Candy Stripe Nurses* (1974) and *Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo* (1977), before he co-starred alongside Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour (actress)|Jane Seymour in the 1980 romantic fantasy *Somewhere in Time (film)|Somewhere in Time* as Arthur Biehl, the Grand Hotel's venerable bellman, and attended annual reunions of cast, crew, and fans of the film at the Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island)|Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

### Television

In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he appeared in *Barnaby Jones*, *Cannon (TV series)|Cannon*, *Gunsmoke*, *Married With Children*, *E/R*, *Highway to Heaven*, *Who's The Boss?*, *Growing Pains*, *Full House*, *The Golden Girls*, *Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting*, *Star Trek: The Next Generation*, *Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman* and *The Drew Carey Show*.

In the *Seinfeld* episode ("The Old Man (Seinfeld)|The Old Man"), for which Erwin received an Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series, he played Sid Fields, who participates in the Foster-A-Grandpa Program, which pairs him with Jerry Seinfeld. Erwin's crotchety, aggressive, foul-mouthed character ensures that the relationship is doomed from the beginning. Erwin later reunited with Michael Richards when he guest-starred on the short-lived *The Michael Richards Show*. In the 2000s, Erwin appeared on *Monk (TV series)|Monk*, *The West Wing*, *The King of Queens*, *Everwood* and *My Name Is Earl.*

## Personal life

Erwin was married to actress and journalist Fran MacLachlan Erwin from 1948 to her death in 1995. They lived in the Hollywood Hills and had two sons, Michael and Timothy, and two daughters, Lindsey and Kelly.

## Death

Erwin died from natural causes at his home in Studio City, Los Angeles|Studio City, California on December 29, 2010 aged 96. He lived near the production lot where *Seinfeld* was filmed.

## Filmography

### Television

3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Seinfeld" actor Bill Erwin dies at 96. Reuters, via Yahoo.com, January 3, 2011.
5. ↑ ("Bill Erwin" search results). Television Academy.