The protagonist of "The Incredible Hulk" lost a son of just 6 years, suffered the suicide of his ex-wife, and failed in his battle against prostate cancer that tortured him until the last minute of his life
Today, Bill Bixby would have turned 85. However, after a life marked by tragedy, the protagonist of The Incredible Hulk left this world victim of prostate cancer in 1993. He had been fighting the disease for two long years, and it had spread to his liver and hip bones. But neither the chemotherapy nor the hormonal treatments he had undergone had worked. And, as he had confessed during the last interview he gave before his death, sometimes the pain was absolutely unbearable.
But, if it is about pain, perhaps the strongest that the actor and director suffered was what hit him right in the heart. In 1971, Bill married actress Brenda Benet, with whom three years later he had his only child: Sean Christopher. Legend has it that, although his alter ego in The Hulk was played by Lou Ferrigno, Bixby did not let the little boy watch the CBS series that catapulted him to international fame between 1977 and 1981, because he did not want him to see his father transforming into a green monster It is that he had a very special connection with that child and he could not bear the idea that nothing could alter it.
The truth is that, in 1980, Bill divorced Brenda. And, since then, his life has become a real drama. In 1981, his son Christopher, just 6 years old, died from an acute throat infection that caused respiratory failure. And, unable to overcome such a loss, his ex-wife committed suicide a year later. Bixby, for his part, took two years to return to work. But he was never able to recover the joy that until then had characterized him.
If he could rebuild his love life? In 1991 Bill remarried Laura Jane Michaels. But, according to what they say, she would have asked for a divorce from her as soon as she found out that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Bixby, however, decided to fight the disease. And, despite his low profile, he made his fight public and was encouraged to speak in the media about the condition he was going through, receiving demonstrations of support from his fans around the world.
In 1992, in the middle of his treatment, Bixby met the nurse Judith Kliban, with whom he became romantically involved and developed a strong spiritual bond. He married her in October 1993, when they both knew that the outcome was imminent. And she was the one who supported him when he could no longer bear the suffering, although he continued working in the direction of a television program, Blossom, on the set of which he collapsed on November 21 of that year.
Born Wilfred Bailey Bixby on January 22, 1934, in San Francisco, Bill was the only child of Jane McFarland and Wilfred Bixby. After high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves, where he was honorably discharged in 1957. And, despite opposition from his parents who wanted him to finish a college degree, in 1959 he moved to Detroit and began to take acting classes.
Thanks to his charisma and good humor, Bill was called to participate in several television series from the '60s. He stood out for his role as Tim O'Hara, Ray Walston's friend, in the comic series My Favorite Martian, broadcast on CBS between 1963 and 1966. He also played Tom Corbett in Looking for Dad's Girlfriend, broadcast on ABC between 1969 and 1972. Later he was Antony Blake in The Magician, a series that was seen on NBC between 1973 and 1974. And, finally, in 1977 he had the opportunity to play Dr. David Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, a character who had to deal with her allergy to colored makeup, but that opened the doors of the international market for her.
The truth is that, as if fate had been forced to balance his life, his professional success was opposed by personal fatalities. And Bill never got over them. Despite everything, in 1983, after losing his son and his ex-wife, he returned to work as an actor, producer, and director of film, theater, and television. And, despite his limitations, he continued working until the last day of his existence. In fact, death found him in the process of writing the script for what would be the fourth film about the adventures of the Hulk, a project that he was never able to finish.
So, as he had requested, Bixby's ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean, along with those of his father and his son. And the memory of him remained with his co-workers, who remained his friends until the day he died, and with his followers, who still honor him today with each of the series of he.
