Bill Dana was great in front of the camera. His character Jose Jiminez may have been something of a stereotype but it was a sweet, non-threatening funny one which even some folks concerned with the image of Latinos gave a pass. His sitcom, The Bill Dana Show, only lasted two seasons (September of '63 to January of '65) but it was really good and if some cable channel would just start rerunning them, you'd enjoy them a lot.
He was also a terrific comedy writer, responsible for fine material uttered by others, especially Steve Allen and Don Adams. About 75% of Adams' career was built on jokes and bits that Dana wrote for him, including catch phrases like "Would you believe?"
I met Bill a few times but can't for the life of me think of one good anecdote about him. He struck me as nice and funny and very enterprising. Occasionally, when you meet someone you previously laughed at on television, the actual person is a disappointment because they're dour or bitter or sleazy in some manner. Bill Dana was none of those, and from what I could tell, he was loved and respected by his fellow makers of comedy.
Here's a good overview of his long and fruitful career, and here's Part One of an interview that our pal Kliph Nesteroff did with him and here's Part Two. All I can add to all that is that I really liked the guy as Jose and even more as Bill.