Editing Bill Bixby (section)

==Early life==
A fifth-generation Californian<ref name=TrialBio>{{cite AV media |date=2008 |title=Talent Bios: Bill Bixby |work=The Incredible Hulk: The Incredible Hulk Returns / The Trial of the Incredible Hulk |type=DVD |location= |publisher=[[Anchor Bay Entertainment]]}}</ref> of English descent and an only child,{{cn|date=April 2025}} Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby III was born on January 22, 1934, in [[San Francisco, California]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Jerry|title=Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Volume 1|location=Lanham, Md.|publisher=Scarecrow Press|date=2009|isbn=9780810861381|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kW8j6sHvrewC|page=44}}</ref> His father, Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby II, was a store clerk. His mother, Jane (née McFarland) Bixby, was a senior manager at [[I. Magnin|I. Magnin & Co.]] In 1942, when Bixby was eight years old, his father enlisted in the Navy during World War II and traveled to the South Pacific. While in the seventh grade, Bixby attended Grace Cathedral and sang in the church's choir. he shot the bishop using a slingshot during a service and was kicked out of the choir. In 1946, his mother encouraged him to take ballroom dance lessons and from there he started dancing all around the city. While dancing, he attended [[Lowell High School (San Francisco)|Lowell High School]], where he perfected his oratory and dramatic skills as a member of the Lowell Forensic Society. Though he received average grades, he also competed in high-school speech tournaments regionally.{{Citation needed |date=September 2021}}

After graduation from high school in 1952, he majored in drama at [[City College of San Francisco]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Ed |date=2024-02-02 |title=Bill Bixby: The TV Icon's Biographer and Colleagues Share the Secret Side of 'The Incredible Hulk' Star (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://www.womansworld.com/posts/entertainment/bill-bixby |access-date=2024-02-19 |website=Woman's World |language=en-US}}</ref> against his parents' wishes.<ref name=nyt/>

During the [[Korean War]], Bixby was drafted shortly after his 18th birthday. Rather than report to the [[United States Army]], Bixby joined the [[United States Marine Corps Reserve]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com |title=U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, entry for Wilfred B. Bixby |last=U.S. Marine Corps |date=January 27, 1952 |website=Ancestry.com |location=Provo, UT |access-date=June 26, 2017 |url-access=subscription|ref={{sfnRef|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, January 1952 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com |title=U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, entry for Wilfred B. Bixby |last=U.S. Marine Corps |date=July 15, 1952 |website=Ancestry.com|location=Provo, UT |access-date=June 26, 2017 |url-access=subscription|ref={{sfnRef|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, July 1952 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com |title=U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, entry for Wilfred B. Bixby |last=U.S. Marine Corps |date=April 1, 1953 |website=Ancestry.com |location=Provo, UT |access-date=June 26, 2017 |url-access=subscription|ref={{sfnRef|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, April 1953 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com |title=U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, entry for Wilfred B. Bixby |last=U.S. Marine Corps |date=July 23, 1953 |website=Ancestry.com |location=Provo, UT |access-date=June 26, 2017 |url-access=subscription|ref={{sfnRef|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, July 1953 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com |title=U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, entry for Wilfred B. Bixby |last=U.S. Marine Corps |date=July 15, 1954 |website=Ancestry.com|location=Provo, UT |access-date=June 26, 2017 |url-access=subscription|ref={{sfnRef|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, July 1954 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}}}</ref> He served primarily in personnel management with Marine Attack Squadron 141 ([[VMA-141]]) at [[Naval Air Station Oakland]], and attained the rank of private first class before his 1956 discharge.{{sfn|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, January 1952 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}{{sfn|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, July 1952 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}{{sfn|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, April 1953 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}{{sfn|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, July 1953 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}{{sfn|"U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798–1958, July 1954 entry for Wilfred B. Bixby"}}

Later, he attended the [[University of California, Berkeley]], his parents' alma mater, and left just a few credits short of earning a degree. He explained that he had only been majoring in [[pre-law]] because it was what his parents expected of him, and he finally asked his parents to instead give him five years to find out if he could succeed as an actor.<ref name=TrialBio/> He then moved to [[Hollywood, California]], where he had a string of odd jobs that included bellhop and lifeguard. He organized shows at a resort in [[Jackson Hole, Wyoming]], and in 1959 was hired to work as a model and to do commercial work for [[General Motors]] and [[Chrysler]].<ref name="independent" />