Bill Irwin

Bill Irwin studied classical acting at Oberlin College and clowning at the famed Ringling Brothers' and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He also drew inspiration from great silent comics including Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. Irwin made his feature debut as Ham Gravy, an old beau of Olive Oyl, in Robert Altman's "Popeye" (1980). In the early 1980s, he received numerous grants including the prestigious MacArthur fellowship, which supported him for five years as he expanded his various talents. This included co-writing, directing and starring in the Broadway show "The Regard of Flight" (1987), a comic showcase; writing, directing and starring in the off-off-Broadway drama "The Court Room"; and appearing alongside Robin Williams, Steve Martin and F. Murray Abraham in the Mike Nichols-directed 1988 revival of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" as the almost silent Lucky. His feature roles included Eddie Collins, a member of the Chicago "Black" Sox, in John Sayles' "Eight Men Out" (1988), Rick Moranis' FBI partner in "My Blue Heaven" (1990), a mime who taunts Woody Allen in "Scenes From a Mall" and Charlie Sheen's ill-fated father in "Hot Shots!" (both 1991). He received his widest exposure on the series "Northern Exposure" as the mostly silent Flying Man, a circus performer and would-be boyfriend of Marilyn Whirlwind. Irwin returned to the Broadway stage with fellow clown David Shiner in the uproarious silent comedy "Fool Moon" (1993 and 1995 and 1998), for which he won a Tony Award in 1999. Irwin next had a small role in Sam Shepard's mannered western, "Silent Tongue" (1993), then put in appearances in episodes of "Dave's World" (CBS, 1993-1997) and "3rd Rock from the Sun" (NBC, 1995-2001). He spent the remainder of the 1990s doing a variety of theater, including the Public Theater's production of Samuel Beckett's "Texts for Nothing." He also played Trinculo in "The Tempest" starring Patrick Stewart, Galy Gay in Bertolt Brecht's "A Man's a Man" and Medvedenko in Chekhov'