Borden, a commercial airline navigator who later became a co-pilot, lived across the hall from Bob Newhart's Bob Hartley character, and would frequently pop into the Hartleys' apartment to borrow things, have a meal, or have the Hartley's take care of his son.įor the two years that followed The Bob Newhart Show, Daily returned to stand-up, but in 1980, after years of making a living as a second banana (a comedian who plays a secondary or supporting role), Daily was offered his own show. In 1972, two years after Jeannie was cancelled, Daily was back on television in another aviator's uniform, as Howard Borden in The Bob Newhart Show. Veteran sitcom writer Sidney Sheldon liked Daily's work and hired him for a supporting role on I Dream of Jeannie. Television rolesĭaily appeared in guest spots on My Mother the Car, The Farmer's Daughter and Bewitched. After graduating from the Goodman Theatre School, Daily worked for the NBC television station in Chicago, WMAQ, as an announcer and floor manager. It was in his traveling-musician days that Daily began performing stand-up and gradually began playing some of the bigger clubs in the country.

Bill daily