Bill Irwin

William Mills Irwin
Biographical Information
Gender:	Male
Birthplace:	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Birthdate:	April 11, 1950
Appearances
Portrays:	Atticus Nevins
Status:	Guest Starring
First appeared:	"This Red Lady from Caribee"
Last appeared:	"Sins of the Father"

William Mills "Bill" Irwin is an American actor, clown, and comedian that plays Atticus Nevins on the 3rd season of Sleepy Hollow. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performances and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. His first gig was the 1980 movie Popeye with Robin Williams and in 1988 he was in the Bobby Macfarren video Don't Worry Be Happy, also with Robin Williams. He is also known for playing Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street.

History

Irwin was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Elizabeth (née Mills), a teacher, and Horace G. Irwin, an aerospace engineer. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1974 and attended Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College the following year. In 1975, he helped found the Pickle Family Circus in San Francisco, California. He left the company in 1979, and decided to pursue stage work.

Irwin has created several highly regarded stage shows that incorporate elements of clowning, often in collaboration with composer Doug Skinner. These works included The Regard of Flight (1982), which ran on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in April 1987 for 17 performances. Largely New York (1989), Fool Moon (1993), The Harlequin Studies (2003), and Mr. Fox: A Rumination (2004). Mr. Fox is a production that Irwin has worked on for years, a biography of 19th century clown George Washington Lafayette Fox that also has autobiographical elements. In 2013, he teamed with his occasional partner David Shiner to create and perform in the Off-Broadway "clowning revue-with-music" Old Hats along with actress and musician Nellie McKay. Old Hats won the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue. Old Hats was revived in New York City in 2016 with Shiner and Irwin returning and a new third performer, musician Shaina Taub, in between sketches Taub performed original songs with a band. He adapted Molière's play Les Fourberies de Scapin as a comedy called Scapin, and has played the title role in several productions. He appeared in the play at the Off-Broadway Roundabout Theatre Company Laura Pels Theatre in January through March 1997, after performing in the play at the Seattle Rep. His adaptation allowed him to interpolate his signature clowning routines into the course of the action. In 1996, Irwin performed with The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps at the 1996 Summer Olympics, in a "band on the run" sequence where he played Dr. Hubert Peterson of the fictitious Federation of United Marching Associations of America.

Trivia

• He was good friends with the late actor Robin Williams.

Appearances

Season Three

"I, Witness"

"Whispers in the Dark"

"Blood and Fear"

"The Sisters Mills"

"Dead Men Tell No Tales"

"This Red Lady from Caribee"

"The Art of War"

"Novus Ordo Seclorum"

"One Life"

"Incident At Stone Manor"

"Kindred Spirits"

"Sins of the Father"

"Dark Mirror"

"Into the Wild"

"Incommunicado"

"Dawn's Early Light"

"Delaware"

"Ragnarok"