Biography
Bill Erwin (also credited as William Erwin) was an American character actor with more than 250 film and television credits. Born in Honey Grove, Texas, he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's in theatre arts from the Pasadena Playhouse. He served as a captain in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War and later worked as stage manager for ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.
Erwin appeared in numerous films including Somewhere in Time (1980), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), The Land Before Time (1988) as Grandfather (voice), Home Alone (1990) and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994). On television he had roles in series such as Seinfeld (as Sid Fields, for which he received an Emmy nomination in 1993), Star Trek: The Next Generation and Monk. He also pursued cartooning, with work published in The New Yorker, Playboy and Los Angeles magazine.
