Bill Idelson
American actor
Bill Idelson (August 21, 1919 – December 31, 2007) was an American actor, writer, director and producer widely known for his teenage role as Rush Gook on the radio comedy Vic and Sade and his recurring television role as Herman Glimscher on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the 1960s.
Background
Idelson was born in Forest Park, Illinois, his parents were Russian immigrants. He joined the U.S. Navy in World War II and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals as a night fighter pilot. He later married actress Seemah Wilder with whom he had three sons, Paul, Howie and Jonathan as well as a daughter, TV writer and actress Ellen Idelson, who died in 2003.
Idelson died in 2007 from complications due to a hip injury. On his death, writer-director Norman Corwin told the Los Angeles Times Idelson was "a luminary, he stood out among the radio comedians." Creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Carl Reiner, said Idelson was "a very subtle actor. He made no big movements, and every time you cut to him you could get a laugh."
Career
Radio
Idelson's acting career began in 1931 on Chicago's WGN radio, when he played Skeezix on Uncle Walt and Skeezix, a radio drama based on the Gasoline Alley comic strip. One year later he landed the role of Rush on the long-running Vic and Sade, playing the role until he joined the U.S. Navy. He also had the title role on Cousin Willie and portrayed Bill Clark on Secret City, Hugo on The Trouble with the Truitts, and Chuck on That Brewster Boy.
After the war, his acting credits included radio and television versions of the daytime drama series One Man's Family.
The public source identifies “Bill Idelson” as american actor. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Bill, Idelson and American.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4909549. VIAF identifies the subject as 70238660. The Library of Congress control number is n80146363. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1919, 2007, 2003 and 1931.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bill Idelson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.