bill bixby made the most of his career in television. his credits on the big screen include: "irma la douce" (1963), with jack lemmon, and directed by billy wilder; "ride beyond vengeance" (1966), western starring chuck connors; and two movies starring elvis presley, "clambake" (1967) and "speedway" (1968). his first television series was "my favorite martian", playing the role of tim o'hara, and co-starring ray walston. the show aired on cbs from 1963 to 1966. bixby continued to have success on television as the star of the abc sitcom "the courtship of eddie's father" (1969–1972), where he played a widower who cares for his young son played by brandon cruz. he also played in "the magician" (1973–1974), as a famous magician anthony blake, who is also a detective. the biggest hit of his career would come in the late 1970s, playing the role of david banner in cbs tv series "the incredible hulk" with lou ferrigno as the hulk. the show is based on the character created by stan lee and jack kirby. after the success of the series, there were three movies filmed for television: "the incredible hulk returns" (1988), directed by nicholas corea; "the trial of the incredible hulk" (1989); and "the death of the incredible hulk", directed by bixby.