Bill Daily, sidekick on "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Bob Newhart Show", dies at 91

LOS ANGELES – Bill Daily, the comic boyfriend of the men of the series "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Bob Newhart Show", has died, a family spokesman said Saturday.

Daily Moyer told The Associated Press that Mr. Daily died of natural causes in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Tuesday at his home where he lived with his son, J. Patrick Daily.

Daily was not a household name, but it was a family face, familiar to millions of baby boomer viewers in the 1960s and 1970s from two of the greatest shows of the era.

He played Major Roger Healy in the five seasons of "I Dream of Jeannie" from 1965 to 1970. Healy was Major Anthony Nelson's astronaut partner of Larry Hagman while the two men were trying to contain the antics of Jeannie a bottle and was played by Barbara Eden.

Eden tweeted Friday night that Daily was "our favorite astronaut".

"Billy was great to work with," said Eden. "It was a funny and kind man who kept us all on our guard.I am so grateful to have known and worked with this rascal."

Two years later, he landed a very similar role and ran even longer on "The Bob Newhart Show," playing Aviator Howard Borden behind Newhart psychologist, Dr. Bob Hartley, for 140 episodes between 1972 and 1978.

Newhart, now 89, said in a statement on Saturday that he and Daily were friends since the two men were trying to do comedy in Chicago in the 1950s and Daily was a comedian who could do something on the sitcom .

"I called our man." Every time we had problems with a series scenario, we asked Bill to make an appearance, "said Newhart. "He was one of the most positive people I have ever known and we will miss him very much."

The scenes recorded daily instead of stealing them like other acolytes of the time. He specialized in the support, increasing the comic moments of his co-stars – his character Newhart was, rightly, a co-pilot – with an awkward warmth.

Actor James Urbaniak called him "king of affable vulnerability" on Twitter on Friday.

But like all the co-stars of long-time shows, he had his own occasional episodes, including one where he stole the role of Jeannie's master at Hagman.

Daily was born in Des Moines, Iowa, but grew up in Chicago, which he still considered his hometown. He said that he was still a class clown despite the loss of his father while he was still a kid.

Before acting, he tried to get into show business as a jazz bassist, playing in a combo called "Jack and the Beanstalks". The appearance in variety shows l & # 39; attracted in standup comedy then in comedy.

He landed unique roles in the shows of the early 1960s, such as "My Mother the Car" and "Bewitched", which brought him to the attention of the creators of "I Dream of Jeannie. "

He said that his early work was derived – and not very good.

"I was doing Bob Hope and Bing Crosby," Daily said in an interview in 2003 with the US Television Archive. "I was terrible, I think I was funny, but I did not know what I was doing."

After "Jeannie", he returned to the main roles, including that of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", before his old friend Newhart came looking for a sidekick.

On "The Bob Newhart Show", Howard Borden of the Daily was the neighbor on the other side of the room who was still trying to borrow something, like Kramer on "Seinfeld" two decades later.

He said the writers and his co-stars made the game easy.

"I just think the scripts were written so beautifully," Daily said in the television interview. "And Bob was a straight man and brilliant, he would give you everything."

Daily appeared later in the game shows and in the meeting specials for his two shows and, later, went out with his co-stars on the convention circuit of nostalgia.

In his last well-known role, he played a psychiatrist on the cult sit alien-puppet "Alf" from 1987 to 1989.

Daily was married three times. His third wife, Becky Daily, died in 2010 after 17 years of marriage.

He adopted two children, his daughter Kimberly and his son J. Patrick Daily. He had lived in New Mexico for several years with his son and the wife of his son, Sharon.

At the request of Bill Daily, no funeral is planned. He just wanted his family to have a party, which is tentatively scheduled for next year, the family said.