Earl Hindman
American actor
Biography
Lists
Also Viewed
The basics
Quick Facts
| Intro | American actor | ||
| Places | United States of America | ||
| was | Actor Television actor Film actor | ||
| Work field | Film, TV, Stage & Radio | ||
| Gender |
| ||
| Birth | 20 October 1942, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, U.S.A. | ||
| Death | 29 December 2003Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, U.S.A. (aged 61 years) | ||
| Family |
|
The details
Biography
Earl John Hindman (October 3, 1942 – December 29, 2003) was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as the kindly unseen neighbor Wilson W. Wilson Jr. on the television sitcom Home Improvement (1991–99).
Long before this role, however, he played villains in two 1974 thrillers, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and The Parallax View. He also appeared in the films Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name? (1971), Greased Lightning (1977), The Brink's Job (1978) and Taps (1981), and played the part of J.T. in the Lawrence Kasdan film Silverado (1985).
Hindman's most famous and enduring pre-Home Improvement role was as Bob Reid in Ryan's Hope. He played the role in 459 episodes during the years 1975–89. Ex-police officer Bob Reid was everybody's best friend who never got the girl and was the long-suffering brother of the soap's serial bride Delia Reid Ryan Ryan Coleridge. Hindman's wife (Molly McGreevey) was also on the soap 1977–81 as Polly Longworth, best friend to media tycoon Rae Woodard.
His voice was heard on the Disneyland Railroad from 2002 until 2016, and on the Walt Disney World Railroad from 2002 until 2011.
Personal life and death
Hindman was born in Bisbee, Arizona, the son of Eula and Burl Latney Hindman, who worked in the oil pipeline business. He studied acting at the University of Arizona.
On May 21, 1976, Hindman married Molly McGreevey, with whom he later acted on Ryan's Hope. McGreevey later became an Episcopal priest.
A longtime smoker, Hindman was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2003. He died of the disease on December 29 of that year, aged 61, in Stamford, Connecticut, where he was buried in Roxbury Cemetery. In addition to his wife, he was survived by a brother, Ray; a sister, Anna Dean Shields; and his mother, Eula Hindman (1916-2011).
Partial filmography
- Teenage Mother (1967)
- The Kiss of Her Flesh (1968) - Don
- The Ultimate Degenerate (1969) - Bruno
- Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name? (1971) - Whitey
- The Parallax View (1974) - Deputy Red
- Shoot It Black, Shoot It Blue (1974) - Garrity
- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) - George Steever aka Brown
- Greased Lightning (1977) - Beau Welles
- The Brink's Job (1978) - FBI agent
- Taps (1981) - Lieutenant Hanson
- Silverado (1985) - J.T.
- Three Men and a Baby (1987) - Satch
- Talk Radio (1988) - Chet / Black John / Jerry (voice)
- The Ballad of the Sad Café (1991) - Henry Macy
- Fires Within (1991) - Sergeant
- Final (2001) - Official