- Dick Wilson
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For other people named Dick Wilson, see Dick Wilson (disambiguation).
Dick Wilson Born Riccardo DiGuglielmo
30 July 1916
Preston, Lancashire, England, United KingdomDied 19 November 2007 (aged 91)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, United StatesYears active 1956 – 1989, 1999 Spouse Meg (? - 19 November 2007) (his death) 3 children Children Melanie Wilson,Stuart Wilson. Wendy Wilson Dick Wilson, born Riccardo DiGuglielmo (30 July 1916 – 19 November 2007), was a British-born American character actor who played the role of finicky grocery store manager Mr. (George) Whipple in over 500 Charmin toilet paper television commercials (1965–1989, 1999).[1]
Contents
Biography
Dick Wilson was born in Preston, Lancashire, England to an Italian father, Aldo DiGuglielmo, and an English mother, Victoria Wilson. His father performed in vaudeville; his mother was a singer. In late 1916, his father moved the family to Hamilton, Ontario where he spent his childhood in the Corktown neighborhood and on the Mountain, attending Queen Victoria and Sacred Heart Schools. He had a Hamilton Spectator newspaper route and got his start in show business with a part-time job at CHML radio in Hamilton at age fifteen. Not wanting to be typecast as Italian, DiGuglielmo anglicized his first name and took his mother's maiden name as a surname when performing.[2]
Wilson graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design and then became a comic dancer in vaudeville. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force early in World War II and served as a fighter pilot against the German Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in 1940. After the War, he moved to the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1954. After the War he worked as an acrobatic dancer in New York City before heading to California in 1954 for movie and TV work.[2]
Wilson made numerous appearances as several characters on the television sitcom Bewitched (usually as the drunk) and McHale's Navy, sometimes a neighbor or other stock character, various episodes between numbers 33 and 247. He played a similar character in Disney's The World's Greatest Athlete in 1973. Also Wilson appeared on Hogan's Heroes and The Bob Newhart Show.[2]
Wilson was quoted as saying, "I've done thirty-eight pictures and nobody remembers any of them, but they all remember me selling toilet paper." Wilson made more than 504 commercials as Mr. Whipple, earning U.S. $300,000 annually and working only twelve days a year.[2]
In an interview with ABC News on 22 April 1983, he mentioned that the first series of commercials for Charmin toilet paper he appeared in were filmed in, appropriately enough, Flushing, New York.[3]
He described acting in commercials as "the hardest thing to do in the entire acting realm. You've got 24 seconds to introduce yourself, introduce the product, say something nice about it and get off gracefully."[4]
In appreciation for his performance of the recognizable character, Procter & Gamble famously provided Wilson with a free lifetime supply of Charmin.[5]
Death
Wilson died at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, United States, on 19 November 2007[6] at age 91.
Wilson is survived by his wife, Meg, and children, Stunt coordinator Stuart F. Wilson, Wendy, actress Melanie Wilson, and five grandchildren. He was buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.
Filmography
- The Adventures of Jim Bowie - Woodsman (1956)
- The Tattered Dress (1957) - First Jury Foreman
- Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre - Alex (1958)
- Sergeant Preston of the Yukon - Beaver Louie (1956–1958)
- Wagon Train - Bartender (1958)
- The Texan - Norm Seevey (1958)
- Tales of Wells Fargo - The Cafe Owner (1959)
- The Untouchables - Sheriff Wilson (1959)
- M Squad - Max (1958–1960)
- Maverick - Crenshaw (1960)
- The Millionaire - Sullvian (1960)
- Bat Masterson - Tobias Tinker (1961)
- The Deputy (1961)
- The Lawless Years - Charley (1959–1961)
- The Bob Cummings Show (1961)
- Checkmate - Clerk (1962)
- Our Man Higgins - Fletcher (1962)
- The Virginian - Bartender (1962)
- Perry Mason - Prisoner (1963)
- Diary of a Madman (1963) - Martin
- Ben Casey - Jake Martin (1963)
- Glynis - Danny (1963)
- The Twilight Zone - Clock Mover (1959–1963)
- The Great Adventure (1964)
- What a Way to Go! (1964) - Driscoll
- Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1964)
- My Living Doll - Salesman (1964)
- My Favorite Martian - Charlie (1963–1964)
- Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - Clerk #3 (1964)
- John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965) (as Richard Wilson) - Frobish (Whitepaper's assistant)
- The Fugitive - Berger (1965)
- The Loner - Bartender (1965)
- Gidget - Mr. Lefferts (1965)
- The Munsters - Al (1965)
- McHale's Navy (1962) TV Series - Dino Baroni (1965–1966)
- Our Man Flint (1966) - Supervisor of conditioning
- The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) - Bandmaster
- My Mother the Car - Jenkins (1966)
- The Jean Arthur Show - Angelo Liguori (1966)
- The Hero (1966)
- Occasional Wife - Waiter (1967)
- That Girl - Clerk (1967)
- Caprice (1967) - Headwaiter
- Petticoat Junction - Airline Clerk (1967)
- The Flying Nun - Joe (1967)
- Stay Away, Joe (1968) - Car salesman
- The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) - Black Eagle (Indian chief)
- Get Smart - Creevley (1966–1968)
- Mayberry R.F.D. - Ralph Carr (1968)
- The Queen and I - Man (1969)
- I Dream of Jeannie - Dockweiler (1966–1969)
- Bracken's World - Harry (1969)
- The Good Guys - Ira (1969)
- The Partridge Family - Cowboy (1971)
- Hogan's Heroes - Captain Gruber (1966–1971)
- Marcus Welby, M.D. - Health Faddist (1971)
- Nanny and the Professor (1971)
- Love, American Style - Mr. Hutton (segment Love and the Bashful Groom ) (1971)
- McMillan & Wife - Simon Mehlin (1972)
- Getting Away From It All (1972) (TV) - Kirk Lecount
- Bewitched - Drunk (1965–1972)
- The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) - Drunk in bar
- Love Thy Neighbor (1973)
- Adam-12 - Louis Nelson (1973)
- The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton (1974) (TV) - Mr. Hodges
- Disneyland - Mr. Hodges (1974)
- The Bob Newhart Show - Man (1973–1975)
- Maude - Man (1975–1976)
- Tabitha - Mr. Green (1977)
- Fantasy Island - Minister (1978)
- The Pirate (1978) (TV) - Drunk
- Alice (1979)
- Presenting Susan Anton (1979) TV Series - Regular
- Better Late Than Never (1979) (TV)
- Quincy, M.E. - Car salesman (1980)
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) - Store Manager
- Get Out of My Room (1985)
- Mathnet - Grocer (1987)
- Square One TV - Grocer (1987)
References
- ^ Associated Press Obituary
- ^ a b c d Foley, Doug (2007-11-20). "Corktown lad became TV's Mr. Whipple". The Hamilton Spectator. Archived from the original on 2007-11-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20071122145832/http://www.thespec.com/article/284326. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Gates, Anita. Dick Wilson, Squeezer of Tissue Rolls on Television, Dies at 91. The New York Times. 20 November 2007.
- ^ Earthtimes.org Obituary
External links
- Dick Wilson at the Internet Movie Database
- An interview with Dick Wilson
- Obituary in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Categories:- 1916 births
- 2007 deaths
- American actors
- Canadian television actors
- Canadian film actors
- Canadian World War II pilots
- English emigrants to Canada
- Royal Air Force airmen
- People from Hamilton, Ontario
- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
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