This week: a star of I Dream of Jeanie and two pioneering climbers

THE actor Bill Daily, who has died aged 91, was best known as the sidekick of Larry Hagman on the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeanie about an astronaut who marries a genie.

Daily played Major Roger Healy in all five seasons of the show from 1965 to 1970. He was the astronaut partner to Hagman’s Major Anthony Nelson as both men tried to contain the antics of Jeannie, the childlike genie in a bottle played by Barbara Eden.

Just two years later he landed a very similar role and had an even longer run on The Bob Newhart Show, playing aviator Howard Borden behind Newhart’s psychologist Dr. Bob Hartley for 140 episodes between 1972 and 1978.

Daily was known for saving scenes instead of stealing them. He specialised in support, upping the comic moments of his co-stars with a goofy warmth.

But like all co-stars on long-running shows, he got occasional episodes of his own, including one where he stole the role of Jeannie’s master from Hagman.

Daily was born in Des Moines, Iowa, but raised in Chicago, which he always considered his hometown. He said he was always a class clown despite losing his father while still a child.

Before acting, he tried to make it in showbusiness as a jazz bass player, playing in a combo called Jack and the Beanstalks. Appearing in variety shows drew him into standup comedy and then acting.

He landed one-off roles on the oddball shows of the early 1960s like My Mother the Car and Bewitched, which brought him to the attention of the creators of I Dream of Jeannie.

After Jeannie he returned to guest-starring roles, including one on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, before his old friend Newhart came seeking a sidekick.

On The Bob Newhart Show, Daily’s Howard Borden was the neighbour across the hall who always popped in looking to borrow something, like Kramer on Seinfeld two decades later.

“I just think the scripts were just written so beautifully,” Daily said of the show. “And Bob was a brilliant straight man, he’d just give you everything.”

In his last well-known role, he played a psychiatrist on the cult hit alien-puppet sitcom Alf from 1987 to 1989.

Daily was married three times. His third wife, Becky Daily, died in 2010 after 17 years of marriage.

He adopted two children, daughter Kimberly and son J. Patrick Daily. He had been living for several years in New Mexico with his son and son’s wife Sharon.

THE climbers Jeff Lowe, who has died aged 67, and Tom Frost, who has died aged 82, were both known for pioneering ascents.

Alpinist Jeff Lowe climbed peaks around the world, including an epic solo ascent of the forbidding Eiger in the Swiss Alps in 1991.

Lowe’s long-time partner, Connie Self, said he died at a care facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. He suffered for years from a neurodegenerative disorder.

Yosemite National Park stalwart Tom Frost made a groundbreaking solo first ascent up the North Face of the Eiger in 1991. Lowe and Frost also made climbs together as part of expeditions to the Himalayas.

His story is told in the award-winning film Metanoia. Steve Grossman, author of the upcoming book, Tom Frost: A Climbing Life, said Frost was one of the pillars of the golden age of Yosemite climbing.

Frost died of cancer in Oakdale, California and is survived by his wife Joyce.