By
Wizzy
Born July 30, 1916 in England, TV / film character actor Dick
Wilson was obviously a favorite of director William Asher, who cast
Dick for many appearances. He worked with Asher on five different series:
Gidget, Bewitched, The Paul Lynde Show, Tabitha,
and Alice.
In 1965, Dick Wilson began appearing as the fussy supermarket manager,
Mr. Whipple, in Charmin tissue commercials. His plea to shoppers to
"Please, Don't Squeeze the Charmin" became ingrained in America's pop-culture
consciousness. The original 504 ads ran from 1965 until 1989, putting
Wilson in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the
longest running television commercial.
Wilson as Mr. Whipple
Dick Wilson, 82, returned to the small screen in 1999 after
a 14-year hiatus (and two strokes and brain surgery) to film a series
of new Charmin commercials as the cranky "Mr. Whipple." In his late
80s, Dick Wilson retired to Henderson, Nevada to enjoy squeezing his
complimentary rolls of Charmin received from Proctor & Gamble each
month.
Trivia
Hiccups
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- With 16 episodes, Dick Wilson actually appeared on
Bewitched more times than semi-regulars Maurice Evans,
Paul Lynde, and Alice Ghostley.
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- Dick Wilson played a drunk in jail with both Darrins.
First with Dick York in # 44,
and then with Dick Sargent in # 204.
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- Dick Wilson was listed as "Old Timer" in the end credits
of Bewitched's Salem Saga -- while he was actually
in his 50s at the time of filming. In the episodes, however,
his character was called "Mr. Potter."
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- In 1979, a poll showed that the Mr. Whipple character
was the third best known American, behind Richard Nixon and
Billy Graham.
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- Prior to his Charmin involvement, Dick Wilson worked
as a stand-up comic, stuntman, acrobat, and a movie actor.
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SOURCES:
- IMDB.com
- TVacres.com
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