STORM2K

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 8:51 am**

RIP Wilson........ I was also a big fan of Ryan's Hope years ago. And I remember him fondly from those days too.
Mary

_____________________________
ABC's website:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertai ... 0_668.html

'Home Improvement' Actor Hindman Dies

Earl Hindman, Who Played Neighbor Whose Face Was Obscured by Fence on 'Home Improvement,' Dies

The Associated Press

NEW YORK Dec. 30 — Actor Earl Hindman, best known for playing a neighbor whose face was forever obscured by a fence on the television show "Home Improvement," died of lung cancer Monday in Stamford, Conn. He was 61.

As Wilson, the neighbor of Tim Allen's character on the long-running sitcom, Hindman dispensed folksy advice from behind a white picket fence, with only his eyes and forehead visible to audiences. Before appearing on the show, he played Detective Lt. Bob Reid for 16 years on the daytime drama "Ryan's Hope."

Hindman made his name in New York theater, appearing in "Dark of the Moon" off Broadway in 1970 and in "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" at the Public Theater in 1971. He also acted in two short-lived Broadway plays and in several movies, including "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" (1991) and "Final" (2001).

He was born in Bisbee, Ariz., and studied acting at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 9:17 am**

RIP Earl.

Unless I imagined it, didn't he finally "unmask" Wilson in the final episode?

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 10:32 am**

What a shame, I loved Wilson. RIP!

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 10:58 am**

I was actually just watching Home Improvement last night. They show it in reruns here still

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:21 am**

I loved Wilson too. God Bless him.

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:24 am**

We still have H. I. reruns aired here too. I remember early on when my husband would say - do you think we'll ever see Wilson's face - I would say I've seen it! That's Bob Reid......Delia's brother. To which he would just roll his eyes. I imagine Soapnet, which still airs Ryan's Hope, will mention his passing too. I no longer get Soapnet though.....61 is too young. Such a loss.

Mary

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:31 am**

Awwww!! Well I have never seen more then his eyes, but still very sad!

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:34 am**

Jacki - catch a rerun of Ryan's Hope sometime. I didn't realize until reading this article he was a cast member of RH for 16 years! Quite impressive. I believe he did voice overs for commercials too. He had that distinctive voice.

Mary

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:45 am**

RIP Earl.

He also had a summer cabin here in Pinetop. Ya know, for what used to be a hick town, we have a TON of celebs that own property up here.

Dennis

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:53 am**

What a shame! I never knew he was ill. May he RIP. :cry:

That was a great show. I miss it.

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 1:04 pm**

RIP Earl!

He'll dearly be missed.

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 1:51 pm**

I always loved Earl as Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor's advice-giving neighbor Wilson. May he rest in peace.

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 6:29 pm**

He was a good actor, RIP.

Yes, he was revealed in the last episode.

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 6:36 pm**

Awww

Posted: **Tue Dec 30, 2003 7:57 pm**

Like most shows that have years and years of success, there are characters who seem to last well beyond the show. He was one of them.

I suspect the viewing in his casket will have his face covered below his eyes...just like every scene in every episode of the show.

RIP, good neighbor!

Posted: **Wed Dec 31, 2003 4:17 am**

Josephine96 wrote:I was actually just watching Home Improvement last night. They show it in reruns here still

Home Improvement is in syndication in every market, well I assume every market.

I am not interested in sit-coms or TV shows in general... so I never saw Hindman in Home Improvement.

Posted: **Wed Dec 31, 2003 8:41 am**

ColdFront77 wrote:
Josephine96 wrote:I was actually just watching Home Improvement last night. They show it in reruns here still

Home Improvement is in syndication in every market, well I assume every market.

I am not interested in sit-coms or TV shows in general... so I never saw Hindman in Home Improvement.

Tom - no one did! We only heard his voice, or saw the backside of him. You see the main character, Tim Taylor, in Home Improvement was a bumbling husband and father. Always screwing up (picture Raymond from Everybody Loves Raymond, but 10 years ago) and needing advice. Tim would go outside to take the trash out or something, his worldly and unique next door neighbor Wilson (Earl Hindman) would be outside barbecuing or something odd in the dead of winter. A tall privacy fence separated the two backyards. The two would talk, the neighbor giving Tim sage advice. Viewers only saw the top of Wilson's head or if Wilson turned around, you saw the back of him. It bacame a running gag. Just when you thought you'd see his face, Wilson would hold something up in front of him. A little silly, but you could count on never seeing his face. Someone said we did finally get to see it. Can't quite remember that moment. Did we? H. I. fans, maybe you can confirm that? Thanks. While this show ran, I did enjoy watching it. Not exactly in my Top 10 favorite sitcoms of all time but it was a good show. This might be why Raymond bugs me no end. It's just a remake of H. I. I've always said.

Mary

Posted: **Wed Dec 31, 2003 9:35 am**

We never actually saw his face during the show when the actors were in character. But in the season finale, the final curtain call was also filmed and aired. So viewers got to see Hindman on the set with his co-stars...and with his face. It's sort of a yes, but no, to the question about us ever seeing "Wilson's" face.

Posted: **Wed Dec 31, 2003 3:30 pm**

RIP WILSON

Posted: **Thu Jan 01, 2004 1:46 am**

Miss Mary wrote:Tom - no one did! We only heard his voice, or saw the backside of him.

I know no one "really" saw him. I have been following the discussion.