Image Credit: Everett CollectionBill Erwin, a character actor whose resumé included everything from Gunsmoke to Everwood, died at his home in California on Dec. 29. He was 96.
Erwin was nominated for an Emmy for his role as Sid “The Old Man” Fields on a 1993 episode of Seinfeld, the role for which he is perhaps best remembered:
He was also the knowledgeable bellhop in the 1980 romance drama Somewhere in Time, in which his character helped Christopher Reeve’s time travel to find love. When the film became a cult classic, Erwin regularly attended fan gatherings in Michigan.
One of Erwin’s early roles was on the classic “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” episode of The Twilight Zone:
He appeared on several episodes of Gunsmoke, The Fugitive, Perry Mason, Growing Pains, Highway to Heaven, and Just the Ten of Us, as well as more recently appearing on episodes of Monk, The West Wing, Just Shoot Me!, and My Name Is Earl.
To my knowledge Bill Erwin is NOT in this episode of the Twilight Zone. The actor playing the “old man” part is Jack Elam.
Yes he is. He’s the one with the wife. Remember, this is one of his early roles.
Rest in Peace Sir …
He was in the episode, he was the married man in the grey suit …
DJ,
According to IMDB.com, Bill Erwin was in the episode as the character Peter Kramer.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734693/
Mr. Erwin is the man in the older couple. That’s definitely him.
Sad to say, I thought this was Bill Irwin, prior to seeing the photo, and let out an audible “Oooh.” I actually don’t know who Bill Erwin is. Is this bad?
You’re not alone – I had the same reaction. I hadn’t heard of Bill Erwin either, but I would have been very sad if Bill Irwin had died.
Me too!
Got to love Jack Elam in that TZ episode…wish they’d have had the full thing on instead of the clip. Now I have to go and find it somewhere. I could’nt place the Seinfeld episode until I saw the clip…that was a great one!
I was thinking Bill Irwin also who was he on Senfield
Bill Irwin will always be remembered by me as “Arthur” in Christopher Reeve’s “Somewhere In Time” movie. WHAT a GREAT actor!!! Rest in peace.
RIP Sir
I hope when I die, it’s followed by the phrase “he was 96″ That’s a good run
Bill Erwin was in fact in the “Real Martian …” episode of The Twilight Zone (he may have also been in “Mr. Denton on Doomsday” and “Walking Distance”). He did not play the old man at the bar (as a previous poster accurately stated, that is Jack Elam). In “Martian” Erwin was the male half of the older couple at one of the diner tables.