Bill Dial Passes

William Allen Dial passed away on Monday, June 2 after suffering a heart attack.

As reported by Radio-Info.com, Dial, best-known for his work on WKRP in Cincinnati died at his home in South Carolina.

Steve Stoliar, former secretary to Dial, confirmed the death. "Sorry to say, it's true. Bill Dial died of a heart attack at age sixty-six at his home in South Carolina. [Dial's obituary lists him as being sixty-four.] He'd had some health problems of late, and it finally caught up with him. He was a wonderful man whose influence on my life, personally and professionally, is incalculable. After he moved to Beaufort, we used to email each other whenever a celebrity would pass away, confessing varying degrees of sadness at their passing. Little did I know that Bill would be joining them so soon."

Dial wrote for Star Trek He was a co-writer on Deep Space Nine: The Alternate and he wrote another episode for the series, Tribunal. Dial also penned a Star Trek: Voyager episode, writing the initial teleplay for Eye of the Needle.

But Dial is best known for writing the Turkeys Away episode of WKRP in Cincinnati where general manager Arthur Carlson stages a Thanksgiving promotion where twenty live turkeys are dropped from a helicopter over a shopping center to unsuspecting shoppers. The problem is, turkeys can't fly! The episode was rated by TV Guide as the fortieth greatest episode in television history.

In addition to his work on both Star Trek and WKRP in Cincinnati, Dial worked as a writer, executive producer and creative consultant on shows such as Harper Valley P.T.A., Simon and Simon, Code Name: Foxfire and The New WKRP in Cincinnati. Most recently, he wrote for and was executive consultant on 18 Wheels of Justice, a Spike TV series.

Dial appeared in front of the camera in two episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati as Bucky Dornster, the beer-drinking engineer of WKRP, and also in a 1977 film, The Lincoln Conspiracy where he played George Atzerodt.

To read more, head to the articles located here, and here. Further info on Dial was taken from memory-alpha.org.

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