Bill Dauterive
From King of the Hill Wiki
| Bill Dauterive | |
 | |
| Name | Bill Dauterive |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair | Brown |
| Age | Mid 40's |
| Job | Army barber |
| Relatives | Lenore Dauterive (ex-wife) Gilbert Dauterive (cousin) Violetta (cousin) Girac Dauterive (cousin) Rene Dauterive (cousin) Esme Dauterive (aunt) Alphonse Dauterive (uncle) |
| First Appearance | Pilot |
| Voiced by | Stephen Root |
William
"Bill" Fontaine DelaTour Dauterive is a fictional character on the series King of the Hill. He is the Hills' overweight, divorced, and clinically depressed neighbor, voiced by Stephen Root and named for series producer Jim Dauterive.
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[edit] Production
Root used his background in Southern theater to help him develop the voice of Bill. Root attended the University Of Florida, and had performed in Southern plays in New York City prior to being chosen for the role. He originally auditioned for the role of Dale Gribble, which "didn't feel right" so he then auditioned for Bill.
[edit] Description
Bill is indicated as coming from an upper-class Cajun family in Louisiana, who lived (until Gilbert was forced to sell it) on a vast estate called the Chateau D'Haute Rive ("house on the high river"). Because of this, he speaks fluent Cajun French and plays the accordion skillfully, which surprises him just as much as it does everyone else. His father was at least somewhat abusive, spanking him regularly and making him wear dresses. His only living male relative is his dandified cousin Gilbert, who still lives in Louisiana; the two are guardians of the family's secret barbecue sauce recipe, which Gilbert refuses to allow Bill to sell.
Although overweight, balding and emotionally needy in his later years, Bill was a muscular, confident, lady-killing athlete with long flowing hair in his youth. Nicknamed the "Billdozer", he held Arlen High's career touchdown record until a young athlete named Ricky Suggs broke it years later. Ricky however is simply allowed to score the record-breaking touchdown by the other team due to a torn ACL, rather than playing injured as Bill would have; to regain his honor Bill rejoins the team to score one last touchdown and re-tie the record (he had redshirt eligibility due to being drafted to the Army during his senior year). Bill's bright future was derailed when he attended a Molly Hatchet concert and found his future wife Lenore passed out in lap; she would go on to cheat on and humiliate Bill before finally leaving him a broken shell of his former self. It can generally be assumed that her leaving him was the major cause of his downward spiral. At one point, Bill says "I'm so depressed, I can't even blink."
Bill is often a foil for his friends, who verbally and emotionally put him down on a regular basis, either because they don't realize how hurtful their remarks are or because Bill is too dimwitted to mind very much. He is the first person to be mentioned when any character refers to losers or bemoans a misfortune for fear their lives will be ruined, like his. For example, Hank once, while telling Peggy that a lawn makes a man a man and gives him a purpose, says "Without my lawn, I am Bill". Bill, like Dale and Boomhauer, has a strong admiration for Hank and often seeks his advice before doing anything, and for his help when in trouble. He occasionally gets dragged into Dale's crazy schemes, and often is the one who accidentally ruins them. Of all his acquaintances, Boomhauer seems to be the one who gives him the most respect, possibly due to the fact that Bill once helped a broken-hearted Boomhauer get over a girl who dumped him. Bill has a mildly obsessive crush on Peggy, and frequently makes bumbling remarks about her that are inappropriate to say in front of Hank. Although his friends are often disgusted or frustrated at his stupidity and the number of times he has wrecked their plans, they were devastated when it appeared that he had sacrificed himself to save them when they were stuck on a military target zone, with Hank saying that he was a good friend - sweet, loyal, and brave.
When examining Bill's Army medical history, Dale discovered that Bill was unknowingly made part in an experiment called "Operation: Infinite Walrus", to create a hybrid soldier capable of operating in freezing cold waters. It is assumed that the experimental drugs are the cause of his weight gain, excessive body hair, baldness, and terrible body odor and breath, until it is revealed that he was given a placebo instead. Bill is also shown to have a severe but easily treatable foot fungus, which actually comes in handy once to help Hank get revenge on a fraudulent mold inspector. It was revealed that Bill has diabetes, but then later contradicted by the diagnosing doctor, who says that he only said Bill was likely to get diabetes. Originally the doctor made it seem like Bill already had the condition and he would be confined to a wheelchair. Later on Bill beats him up for this with Hank standing guard. Ironically, this "diagnosis" leads Bill to a depressed slump, where he meets Thunder, a wheelchair-bound muscle man who plays a wheelchair-friendly version of Rugby. This then leads Bill to get back into good shape while playing the sport.
Bill's personal hygiene is shown to be very poor. As previously mentioned he has severe foot fungus, terrible breath and body odor. Bobby states that he has dandruff in spite of being bald. He is regularly shown eating food he finds in or under his couch. He dumps garbage directly out his kitchen window despite having a garbage can. His bathroom is described as disgusting, when asked if they would rather endure a dangerous and painful stunt(ex. stick a wasp up your nose) or shower in Bill's bathroom, his friends always choose the former. When assigned tasks to get his house ready for a family reunion after Nancy and Peggy are assigned the bathroom both are horrified and desperately try to change assignments. He claims to stand 5 foot 8 and 3/4 inches tall.
[edit] Romantic relationships
Bill Dauterive's ex-wife was named Lenore, who was seen and voiced in the episode "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator", attempting to worm her way back into Bill's life when he became high profile while dating former Texas governor Ann Richards. During the early seasons, he often pined for Lenore to return after she ran out on him, but he was somewhat successful in getting over her in the episode "Pretty Pretty Dresses" after Hank resorts to pretending to be Lenore. Bill then finally symbolically confronts Lenore for leaving him, and after being told "I don't love you anymore" he becomes enraged and yells "You don't deserve Willam Fontaine De la Tour Dauterive!". During "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator", Lenore tries ordering Bill around in front of Ann Richards but he finally tells her off by mooning her. Other relationships include Luanne's mother Leanne Platter ("Leanne's Saga"), which ended when she reverted to her drunken violent ways and stole his truck, and Kahn's mother Laoma Souphanousinphone ("Maid in Arlen"), which was broken up by interference from Kahn, who convinced Bill that his mother was in love with astronaut Harrison Schmitt. He also had a brief, mostly sexual, relationship with two of his cousins' widows ("A Beer Can Named Desire"). In a later season, he dated Reverend Karen Stroup for a time and even moved her in with him, but eventually broke it off when he felt they were moving too fast. Due to his ability to keep going after virtually any rejection, Bill is the one able to snap Boomhauer out of his depression when rejected by a woman he truly had feelings for.
[edit] Work and personality
Bill works as a sergeant barber in the United States Army. He briefly served as a recruiter when his position was eliminated for being wasteful, but it was secretly restored when Hank donated a new chair, with a cover job as an electrician. He also was briefly a professional hair stylist with Luanne at the trendy salon Hottyz until it was discovered he wasn't gay. Bill frequently takes personal days from the Army in other pursuits, almost to the point of going AWOL, such as when he toured with a choir group called the Harmonoholics or when he decided to run his own halfway house. He is described as being nice but often depressed and lonely; his overwhelming need to make people like him makes him easily taken advantage of, particularly by Dale.
In the episode "Bill of Sales" it is also suggested that Bill has emotionally masochistic tendencies after Peggy's attempt to, in her words, "motivate him (business term) with a little praise (my term)" backfires. Hank's response ("You must have confused him; being dumped on is all Bill knows") leads Peggy to conclude that "Bill has had a hard life and he likes it that way" and subsequently refers to him as a "nut job". She manages to persuade him to go back to work for her by verbally abusing him. However, she soon fires him out of feelings of guilt for taking advantage of his low self-esteem. It's also during this episode that Bill shows exceptional skills as a salesman, helping Peggy achieve her sales quotas quickly, in one instant selling 10,000 bars to be stocked in the minibars at the hotel they were staying at.
Bill has a fear of balloons according to the episode, "It Came From the Garage".
