Bill Bixby Dies Of Cancer

LOS ANGELES - Bill Bixby, whose three-decade television career featured starring roles as a Martian's pal, superdad and superhero, has died of cancer, a spokeswoman said today. He was 59.

Mr. Bixby died about 3:30 p.m. yesterday at his home in Century City, with his wife Judith Klivan-Bixby at his bedside, said Pamela Golin, a spokeswoman for the NBC-TV show "Blossom." Mr. Bixby was the show's director.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

In an emotional TV interview in September, he spoke of his battle with cancer that spread to his bladder, liver and hipbones.

"There was one night, I'd been in terrible pain, and really a tremendous amount of pain. And I really thought I was going to die that night," Mr. Bixby told the syndicated show "Entertainment Tonight."

"My prayer was that I would die in my sleep."

Mr. Bixby had varied roles in several successful television series from the '60s onward.

Mr. Bixby starred with Ray Walston in the 1963-66 CBS comedy "My Favorite Martian." Three years later, Mr. Bixby moved into the role of a wise, stalwart dad in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father."

After a stint in the 1973-74 NBC series "The Magician," he starred in the comic book-based series "The Incredible Hulk," which ran from 1978-82 on CBS.

Returning to comedy, Mr. Bixby was paired with actress Mariette Hartley in the 1983-84 CBS series "Goodnight, Beantown."

He also directed several episodes of ABC's "Rich Man, Poor Man" in the 1970s.

Earlier this year, he began an experimental hormone-treatment program at the UCLA Medical Center. He had been fighting cancer for a year.

Tragedy touched Mr. Bixby's life before: In March 1981, his 6-year-old son, Christopher, died of a throat infection. Bixby's ex-wife, actress Brenda Benet, killed herself less than a year after their son's death.

Mr. Bixby, a native of San Francisco who studied theater in school, got his first break appearing in industrial films. He was working as a lifeguard when a Detroit advertising executive offered him a job.

He soon returned to Hollywood, landing a part in an episode of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." He worked steadily in TV and, occasionally, films, including "Irma La Douce" and "Lonely are the Brave."