‘I Dream of Jeannie’ Actor Bill Daily Dead at 91

Beloved sitcom star Bill Daily reportedly passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 4 in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the age of 91.

Daily’s son, J. Patrick Daily, confirmed the passing to reporters from Variety. The exact cause of death was not identified. Daily was best known for his role as Major Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie, and as Howard Borden on The Bob Newhart Show.

“He loved every sunset, he loved every meal — he just decided to be happy about everything,” his son recalled. As the news spread, other eulogies and tributes began to surface on social media.

“Our favorite zany astronaut, Bill Daily has passed, Wrote Barbara Eden, the eponymous star of I Dream of Jeannie. “Billy was wonderful to work with. He was a funny, sweet man that kept us all on our toes. I’m so thankful to have known and worked with that rascal. Until we meet again Billy, xo -B #RIPBillDaily.”

“Bill Daily & I go back to Chicago in the 50’s,” wrote Bob Newhart. “He and I were both trying to get into standup. Later, he joined the Bob Newhart Show. He was our bullpen guy – you could always go to him. He was one of the most positive people I’ve ever known. I will miss him dearly.”

Newhart elaborated on this “bullpen guy” title in a statement to Variety as well.

“I called him our bullpen man. Whenever we were having trouble with a script on the show, we’d have Bill make an appearance,” Newhart said. “In recent years we had hoped to have Bill be a part of The Bob Newhart Show tributes at the TV Academy but by then he was no longer traveling. He was one of the most positive people I ever knew and we’ll dearly miss him.”

Daily did appear in a number of TV reunions and specials over the years, even after his most successful series had ended. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, I Dream of Jeannie and The Bob Newhart Show came back to the air for brief appearances, and Daily was always on hand, happy to help. In addition to those shows, he starred in one of his own for a season, titled Small & Frye. Going into the ’80s, he had a recurring role as psychiatrist Dr. Larry Dykstra on ALF.

He also appeared on Aloha Paradise, Starting From Scratch, Bewitched, Love Boat, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Love, American Style.

Daily hailed originally from Des Moines, Iowa. He migrated over to Chicago as a young man, where he got his start as a stand-up and a TV announcer. After a lifetime of work in Hollywood, he settled in New Mexico, where he even served as the New Mexico Film Commission for a time in the late 1980s.