bill bixby played david banner in the hulk tv series.
bill bixby played david banner in the hulk tv series.
who played david banner in the hulk tv series?
bill bixby
the hulk appeared in the 1978–1982 live action television series, "the incredible hulk", and its subsequent television films. created by universal studios, it starred bill bixby as dr. david banner and lou ferrigno as the hulk. it does not follow the comic book-fantasy format, omits the typical villains or supporting characters, and hulk does not speak, but only growls and roars. in this series, david banner becomes the hulk, is assumed dead, and goes on the run while being pursued by tabloid investigative reporter jack mcgee (jack colvin), who is bent on proving that the creature exists. the two-hour pilot movie, which established the hulk's origins, aired on november 4, 1977. the series was originally broadcast by cbs from march 10, 1978 to june 2, 1982, with eighty-two episodes in five seasons, and later followed by three television films.
hulk in other media
in the 2003 film "hulk", brian, renamed david banner (a reference to the television series), appears as the main antagonist in the film and is portrayed by nick nolte as an old man and by paul kersey as a young man in the film's prologue and subsequent flashbacks. the character's antagonist name, as stated by ang lee, is simply called the father. in the film, david is a genetics researcher who, in his quest to improve on humanity, experiments on himself. after his wife, edith gives birth to bruce, david sees that bruce is not normal, and feels that he is responsible. he realizes his experiments on himself have affected bruce, who barely shows emotion and gains patches of green skin when he is hurt or angered. while attempting to find a cure for bruce's condition, david has his research shut down by general thaddeus "thunderbolt" ross. in his rage over the loss of his work and the hopelessness of bruce's situation, david destroys his laboratory to prevent the military using the data and tries to murder bruce, believing that bruce will mutate out of control. instead, he accidentally kills edith when she tries to stop him. bruce is taken into foster care, with the memories of his mother's death blocked out, and david is confined to a mental institution. thirty years later, after being released from the institution and after bruce becomes the hulk, david, convinced the hulk to be his "true son", tests the hulk by sending three "hulk-dogs" to kill betty ross. while the hulk defeats them, david attempts to replicate the hulk's powers, giving himself absorbing man/zzzax-like abilities. after both he and bruce are captured by the military, david engages the hulk in battle and is killed by absorbing gamma radiation from the hulk.
brian banner