Obituary: Dwayne Hickman

Although he had been mostly out of the limelight in recent years, preferring a career as an executive to acting, it was still sad to hear that Dwayne Hickman, star of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, an underrated television sitcom of late fifties and early sixties, died.  He was 87 years old and had suffered from Parkinson's Disease.   He was surrounded by family members at the time of his death.

He was on Love That Bob before Dobie, portraying the nephew of star Bob Cummings.  Eventually, Hickman, whose brother Darryl is also a former actor, was typecast and then broadened his interests to directing and then becoming a network executive.  However, the Dobie Gillis role would follow him forever.

Hickman wrote a number of books and was a passionate painter, selling many of his works.  Interestingly, his brother has the same interest in painting.  While the linked obit doesn't mention Darryl as one of his survivors, he is still very much alive and is 90 years old!  Unreal.  

When I was a kid and Dobie Gillis was in its initial run, I couldn't stand the show.  However, I bought the series on DVD, and I was much more impressed with the series.  This may be that it is because I am older, and the sitcom was not for kids (same as with The Andy Griffith Show).  It was very well acted and well written.  The Dobie character was supposed to be constantly worrying about his identity and trying to impress girls, of course, always in front of "The Thinker" statue in the neighborhood park.  However, Dobie was actually far wiser than his years.  This was one of the aspects of the show that impressed me, and I think you have to be older and preferably have lived through the times to fully understand it.

From the article:

The LA native, born May 18, 1934, launched his career at age 6 as an extra in “The Grapes of Wrath,” following in the footsteps of his older brother, child actor Darryl Hickman with early roles in “Captain Eddie” and “The Boy with the Green Hair,” as well as TV’s “The Lone Ranger” and “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” He studied at Loyola Marymount University, eventually earning his economics degree, then returned to acting as a regular on TV’s “The Bob Cummings Show” as Cummings’ nephew Chuck MacDonald.