He was born Riccardo DiGuglielmo to an Italian vaudeville entertainer, and an English singer mother, who met in England, and he was born there in Lancashire in 1916.
His family to Canada when young and grew up in Hamilton, Ontario. He graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, before landing a job designing scenery for a dance school, following his parents into show business – instead of a salary, he accepted dance lessons, which led him into a 20-year vaudeville career under the name Dick Wilson
He joined the Canadian Air Force in WW2 as a fighter pilot, and after the war, became an American citizen in 1954 and found regular employment on screen, usually in one-off character roles. He was seen in popular series such as Wagon Train (1958), Maverick (1960), Perry Mason (1963) and The Munsters (1965), Bewitched and I dream Of Jeannie, before a short run as the Italian Dino Baroni (1965-66) in McHale's Navy. Wilson also took five different roles in Hogan's Heroes, as well as appearing in 18 episodes of Bewitched, often as a drunk.
He was in 9 broadway productions, 37 feature films, and over 50 tv shows. He made 500 commercials for Charmin, in 20 years.
He worked with Elvis in Stay Away Joe (1968), Elizabeth Montgomery, Barbara Eden, James Garner, Bob Hope, Sally Field, James Coburn, and Bob Newhart.
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