Props to Pop: Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

To consider the plight of fatherhood one need to look no further than to the paternal tale of the actor Bill Bixby (1934 - 1993), venerable TV dad of the early 1970s.

Two decades earlier, Bixby dropped out of the University of California to enlist in the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Following military discharge, Bixby moved to Hollywood where he was "discovered" while working as a model.

Bixby specialized playing lightweight, diffident characters in movies (Clambake, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Speedway) and television (My Favorite Martian). Bixby made an interesting career move when he turned down the role of Marlo Thomas' boyfriend in That Girl in the mid-1960s. (TVLand addicts will tell you that the role went to the sitcom everyman Ted Bessell. Wikipedia reports that when he died in 1996 that Bessell was preparing to direct a feature-length movie of the sitcom Bewitched... and would not have soiled the memory of the venerable series as a vehicle for Will Farrell. But that's another story.) In 1969, Bixby starred in the ABC sitcom The Courtship of Eddie's Father. In contrast to Glenn Ford's portrayal in the 1963 movie -- an uptight widower who was emotionally estranged from his young son (Ronnie Howard) -- Bixby's Tom Corbett was an attentive, sensitive father who enjoyed his son's company and conversations with about the meaning of life while the Nilsson theme song played in the background. ("People, let me tell you about my best friend...")

A carefree bachelor, Bixby reconsidered his positions on marriage and children while filming The Courtship of Eddie's Father. Bixby married Brenda Benet (1945 - 1982), whom he met on the set of his series in 1971. The couple had a son Christopher, born in 1974. The couple divorced in 1980; one year later the couple's only son died after an acute illness. Benet committed suicide in 1982. Bixby remarried twice, but fathered no other children. The actor remained close to his TV son Brandon Cruz until Bixby passed away in 1993.

Granted, Bixby's version of Tom Corbett wore tinted sunglasses, leisure suits and bell-bottom trousers. Yet, he also enjoyed a steak and cocktails. Despite his 1970s mod persona, Tom Corbett probably favored an old-school beverage like the Old Fashioned. If you are spending the holiday with your father, grill him a steak (chicken or fish will have to do if dad eschews red meat) and fix an Old Fashioned (unless dad is a teetotaler or in recovery) in memory of one of TV's beloved single parents, Tom Corbett.

Old Fashioned

2 oz. blended whiskey

1 tsp. water

1 sugar cube

1 dash bitters

1 lemon slice

1 maraschino cherry

1 orange slice

Combine sugar cube, bitters and water into an old fashioned glass. Muddle (mush) contents.

Add blended whiskey and stir.

Add twist of lemon peel and ice cubes.

Garnish with maraschino cherry, orange and lemon slices.