Born William Lindsey Erwin on Dec. 2, 1914, in Honey Grove, Texas, he grew up in the small west Texas town of San Angelo. Erwin is a graduate of San Angelo High School (currently San Angelo Central) and San Angelo College, Class of 1933. It was while he was journalism major at the University of Texas in Austin that he joined the Curtain Club and found that he was more attracted to the theater than to the newspaper profession. Following his graduation from the university with a bachelor of journalism degree, he headed for the famous Pasadena Playhouse School of the Theater, where he earned a Masters of Theater Arts.

Spotted in a school production at the playhouse, he was screen-tested by Warner Brothers Studio. Unfortunately, the day of his “big break” was also the day his life suffered another big break-he got his draft call for military service in World War II. He was assigned to basic training for the Air Force Medical Corps at Camp Grant, Illinois. “I did nothing but wash windows in the base hospital. They were the only pains I attended to,” he comments.

The Air Force finally found his talent for entertaining too strong to be ignored. They packed him off to Officer Training School in Miami Beach, Florida. As a spanking new 2nd Lieutenant, he was assigned to the Air Force Training Center in Santa Ana, California. Here he became part of the Professional Talent Cadre designated as the Air Force Radio Unit. In this capacity, he met Major Frederick Brisson (Rosalind Russell’s husband) and became his liaison officer in the production of an all-soldier talent show. “It was a big time production,” Bill fondly recalls. “Frank Loesser wrote the book and music and our tenor was Mario Lanza.” The show must have been a hit since Brisson was promoted to Liet. Colonel and Bill to Captain. Just as the war wound down in 1945, Brisson was sent to the Pentagon in Washington as he took Bill with him.

Following his separation from the service, Bill returned to the playhouse in Pasadena to star in a production of “The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker.” The production was a hit and served to kick-start his interrupted movie and television career.

Bill’s first feature picture break came with his co-starring role as Arthur, the aging bellhop in “Somewhere in Time.” The film, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, is today considered a Cult Classic.

Producer John Hughes saw fit to cast Bill in four of his hit films: “Home Alone,” “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” “Dennis the Menace” and “She’s Having a Baby.” Another of Bill’s favorite roles is the orchestra conductor in “Naked Gun 33.”

Bill has been apart of the American television scene since its inception and could almost be called a “staple in the arena of TV sitcoms.” The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored his talent with an Emmy nomination in 1993 for an outstanding performance in the Seinfeld episode entitled, “The Old Man.”

Several years ago, Bill wrote himself a one-man show entitled “Twisted Twain,” the story of Kram Twain, the unacknowledged and repudiated mirror-twin brother of Mark Twain.” He says he plans to hit the road with it if he can find a stage manager sturdy enough to make the trip.