Eric Raymond Gilliland (March 28, 1962 – September 1, 2024) was an American television producer, writer, actor, and whistler.
His childhood friend Steven Levitan, a television producer and director, wrote that he and Gilliland enjoyed watching The Dick Van Dyke Show, Monty Python, Jack Benny, Carol Burnett, and Saturday Night Live beginning when they were in eighth grade, and that they started a pun club devoted to bad puns.
I guess I figured that if Eric was brave enough to take a chance like that (and find a career in entertainment), I should be too.
[5][6][7] His whistling appeared on Sam Winch's The Lullabadeer,[8] a number of Sumack albums, and on the soundtrack of an episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!.
He provided whistling accompaniment to Martha Plimpton's performance of "Thunder Road" on NPR's Studio 360.