Bill Bixby and Lou Ferigno on the set of The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk may have come straight from the pages of Marvel Comics, but nothing about Bill Bixby’s performance was cartoonish. He brought the realism of a man out of control to the role, something that the Hulk needs. His time on screen makes the audience believe that he’s a man struggling with an inner demon.
Ed Robertson, television historian, author and host of the TV Confidential podcast explained:
That ‘real’ quality he brought forth comes from a very deliberate approach he took as a performer. Certainly when he did Eddie’s Father, you believed that he was this single dad trying to raise a son in the right way. Even something like The Incredible Hulk — and this goes as much to the team behind it as it does to Bixby — you believe, even though it was a ‘comic book story,’ that he was this man living with the agony of this dual personality. Not being able to control what happens when he Hulks out made it real. There’s a good reason the show lasted five years.
