Bill erwinErwin had a long-running career in film, television and theater with dozens of roles in episodic TV. He was nominated for an Emmy Award as outstanding guest actor in a comedy series in 1993 playing the cranky Sid Fields in a “Seinfeld” episode titled “Old Man.”He also had roles in the TV series Growing PainsGunsmoke Highway to Heaven Perry MasonThe Golden Girls Twilight Zone Zane Grey Theater Who’s the Boss and many mre.
Erwin became a favorite of the devoted fans of “Somewhere in Time,” the romantic time-travel drama starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, and he was featured in a documentary accompanying the film’s 20th anniversary DVD.William Lindsey Erwin was born Dec. 2, 1914, in Honey Grove, Texas, and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin in 1935He studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and performed there and at the Laguna Beach Playhouse and La Jolla Playhouse beginning in 1940.
Erwin continued acting on local stages over the decades and received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award in 1983 for his performance in “Old Friends” at the Actors ForumHe also played Arthur the Bellman in the 1980 film “Somewhere in Time,” a time-traveling romantic drama starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Erwin returned many times to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., the film’s setting, to participate in annual fan celebrations.The Texas native had a long career on stage, working on Broadway and locally in southern California. Among his numerous TV commercials was a Dreyer’s Ice Cream spot in which he played an old man notified by his wife that “Dessert’s ready, it’s Dreyer’s Ice Cream.” That prompted Erwin’s chair-bound character to leap up and break dance.
