On the series “I Dream of Jeannie,” Bill Daily played Maj. Roger Healey, an astronaut whose best friend falls in love with a blonde genie, played by Barbara Eden, right.
Bill Daily, the television actor known for playing goofily affable and warmhearted pals on “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Bob Newhart Show,” died on Tuesday (September 4th) at his son’s home in Santa Fe, N.M. He was 91.
Patterson Lundquist, his manager and publicist, announced the death on Saturday.
In “Jeannie,” Mr. Daily played Maj. Roger Healey, an astronaut and best friend of Maj. Anthony Nelson, played by Larry Hagman, whose life changes when he falls in love with a blonde genie, played by Barbara Eden. The show ran from 1965 to 1970, and Mr. Daily was in 131 episodes.
Years later, Mr. Lundquist said, Mr. Daily expressed surprise that people were still watching and that they remembered him.
“When people would ask about him, he was always like ‘Really? They care?’” Mr. Lundquist said on Sunday. “Bill was just as nice as you could ever imagine.”
