Dick Miller

For the American basketball player, see Dick Miller (basketball).
Dick Miller

Miller in A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Born (1928-12-25) December 25, 1928
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Alma mater New York University PhD in psychology[1]
Occupation Actor
Years active 1955–present
Spouse(s) Lainie Miller (1959-present)[2]

Richard "Dick" Miller (born December 25, 1928) is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 films, particularly those produced by Roger Corman, and later in films of directors who started their careers with Corman, including James Cameron and Joe Dante, with the distinction of appearing in every film directed by Dante. Miller's main roles have been in films such as Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, The Explorers, Piranha, The Howling, A Bucket of Blood, The Little Shop of Horrors, Chopping Mall, Night of the Creeps, The Terminator, The 'Burbs and Small Soldiers.

Life and career

Miller was born in The Bronx, New York the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Miller served a tour of duty in the United States Navy. Miller attended the City College of New York as well as Columbia University.[3] He performed on Broadway and also worked at the Bellevue Hospital Mental Hygiene Clinic and the psychiatric department of Queens General Hospital.[3] In 1952, he moved to California seeking work as a writer. One of his earliest acting roles was in Apache Woman (1955). He played one of the town's people and also a separate role as an Indian. In an action scene his town person character shot his Indian character, as related in the documentary Corman's World.[4]

Richard Miller is also credited for being in a Sega CD video game called Prize Fighter in which he plays the role of a corner man for the main character.

His roles in movies include White Line Fever, The Terminator, All The Right Moves, Night of the Creeps, Small Soldiers, It Conquered the World, A Bucket of Blood, The Little Shop of Horrors, the Tales from the Crypt movie Demon Knight, Amazon Women on the Moon, Chopping Mall, The Howling, Piranha and I Wanna Hold Your Hand.[5] His best known role was in the movies Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch as Murray Futterman. He appeared in Pulp Fiction as Monster Joe, but his scene and a few others were deleted because of the length of the film. He also appeared in Rod Stewart's music video for the song "Infatuation" in 1984, with Mike Mazurki and Kay Lenz.

His television credits include V: The Final Battle as Dan Pascal, three seasons as the generous bartender Lou Mackie on Fame, and appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation in the season 1 episode "The Big Goodbye" as the newspaper stand man in the holodeck, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the season 3 two-part episode "Past Tense" as Vin, Time of Your Life, as a prison guard in Soap (1979) and he voiced the gangster Chuckie Sol in the animated feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Miller has also directed television shows, including "The Fix" a 1986 episode of the series Miami Vice.[5]

In 2000, Miller was featured alongside former collaborators including Roger Corman, Sam Arkoff and Peter Bogdanovich in the documentary SCHLOCK! The Secret History of American Movies, a film about the rise and fall of American exploitation cinema.[6] 2014 appeared in the documentary film over his life That Guy Dick Miller.[5]

Walter Paisley

Miller has portrayed several fictional characters named Walter Paisley. As Miller notes, "I've played Walter Paisley five times now, I think."[7] As of 2011, the character name has actually appeared seven times on film and once in a theatrical production, with Miller providing six of these portrayals.

The name first appeared in the Roger Corman film A Bucket of Blood. In that film, Paisley is a busboy who becomes an artist of sorts by killing his subjects and covering them in clay.[8] In 1976, Miller once again played a character named Walter Paisley—this time a talent agent—in another Corman production, Hollywood Boulevard, directed by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante.

Dante cast Miller as another character named Walter Paisley in the 1981 film The Howling.[9] This time, Paisley is the owner of an occult bookshop. Two years later, the name popped up again for another Miller character, the owner of a diner in the third segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie.[10] 1986's Chopping Mall featured a janitor named Walter Paisley, and the 1994 made-for-TV remake of Shake, Rattle and Rock! had Miller playing a character named Officer Paisley.

Additionally, two other actors have portrayed the A Bucket of Blood character. Anthony Michael Hall played the character in the 1995 television remake, while James Stanton portrayed the character in a musical produced by Chicago's Annoyance Theatre.

Selected filmography

Year Films Role Director Notes
1956 It Conquered the World First Sergeant Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1957 Naked Paradise Mitch Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1957 Not of This Earth Joe Piper Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1957 Rock All Night Shorty Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1957 Sorority Girl Mort Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1957 Carnival Rock Benny Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1958 War of the Satellites Dave Boyer Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1959 A Bucket of Blood Walter Paisley Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1960 The Little Shop of Horrors Burson Fouch Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1962 The Premature Burial Mole Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1963 The Terror Stefan Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1966 Wild Wild Winter Rilk Weinrib, LennieLennie Weinrib
1966 The Wild Angels Rigger Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1967 The Dirty Dozen MP at Hanging Aldrich, RobertRobert Aldrich Uncredited
1967 A Time for Killing Zollicoffer Karlson, PhilPhil Karlson
1967 The Trip Cash Corman, RogerRoger Corman
1972 Night Call Nurses Mr. Jensen Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1973 The Young Nurses Cop Kimbrough, ClintClint Kimbrough
1973 Fly Me Taxi Driver Santiago, CirioCirio Santiago
1973 The Student Teachers Coach Harris Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1973 The Slams Taxi Driver Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1974 Truck Turner Fogarty Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1974 Big Bad Mama Bonney Carver, SteveSteve Carver
1974 Summer School Teachers Sam Peeters, BarbaraBarbara Peeters
1975 Capone Joe Pryor Carver, SteveSteve Carver
1975 Crazy Mama Wilbur Janeway Demme, JonathanJonathan Demme
1975 White Line Fever Birdie Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1975 Darktown Strutters Officer Hugo Witney, WilliamWilliam Witney
1976 Hollywood Boulevard Walter Paisley Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1976 Moving Violation Mack Charles S. Dubin
1976 Cannonball Bennie Buckman Bartel, PaulPaul Bartel
1977 New York, New York Palm Club Owner Scorsese, MartinMartin Scorsese
1977 Mr. Billion Bernie Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1978 Starhops Jerry Peeters, BarbaraBarbara Peeters
1978 I Wanna Hold Your Hand Sergeant Brenner Zemeckis, RobertRobert Zemeckis
1978 Piranha Buck Gardner Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1978 Corvette Summer Mr. Lucky Robbins, MatthewMatthew Robbins
1979 The Lady in Red Patek Teague, LewisLewis Teague
1979 Rock 'n' Roll High School Police Chief Arkush, AllanAllan Arkush
1979 11th Victim Investigator Ned Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1979 1941 Officer Miller Spielberg, StevenSteven Spielberg
1980 The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood New York Cop Roberts, AlanAlan Roberts
1980 Used Cars Man in Bed Zemeckis, RobertRobert Zemeckis
1980 Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype Irsil and Orson Charles B. Griffith
1981 The Howling Walter Paisley Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1981 Smokey Bites the Dust Glen Wilson Charles B. Griffith
1981 Heartbeeps Factory Watchman Arkush, AllanAllan Arkush
1982 National Lampoon's Movie Madness Dr. Hans Kleiner Giraldi, BobBob Giraldi Segment: "Success Wanters"
1983 Heart Like a Wheel Mickey White Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1983 Get Crazy Susie's Dad Arkush, AllanAllan Arkush
1983 All the Right Moves Teacher in Auditorium Chapman, MichaelMichael Chapman
1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie Bar Owner Dante, JoeJoe Dante Segment: "It's a Good Life"
1983 Space Raiders Crazy Mel Howard R. Cohen
1984 Gremlins Murray Futterman Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1984 The Terminator Gun shop clerk Cameron, JamesJames Cameron
1985 Explorers Charlie Drake Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1985 After Hours Diner Waiter (Pete) Scorsese, MartinMartin Scorsese
1986 Night of the Creeps Walt Dekker, FredFred Dekker
1986 Armed Response Steve Ray, Fred OlenFred Olen Ray
1986 Chopping Mall Walter Paisley Wynorski, JimJim Wynorski
1987 Project X Max King Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan
1987 Amazon Women on the Moon Danny Clayton Various
1987 Innerspace Cab Driver Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1988 Dead Heat Cemetery Security Guard Goldblatt, MarkMark Goldblatt Uncredited
1989 The 'Burbs Vic the Garbage Man Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1990 Gremlins 2: The New Batch Murray Futterman Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1990 Mob Boss Mike Ray, Fred OlenFred Olen Ray
1992 Evil Toons Burt Ray, Fred OlenFred Olen Ray
1993 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Chuckie Sol Radomski, EricEric Radomski
Timm, BruceBruce Timm		 Voice only
1993 Matinee Herb Denning Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1993 Fallen Angels Carl Hanks, TomTom Hanks Episode: "I'll Be Waiting"
1993 Fallen Angels Morris Hornbeck Kaplan, JonathanJonathan Kaplan Episode: "Since I Don't Have You"
1994 Pulp Fiction Monster Joe Tarantino, QuentinQuentin Tarantino Deleted scene
1995 Demon Knight Uncle Willy Dickerson, Ernest R.Ernest R. Dickerson
1998 The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy Peddler Dante, JoeJoe Dante
1998 Small Soldiers Joe Dante, JoeJoe Dante
2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action Security Guard Dante, JoeJoe Dante
2006 Trapped Ashes Max Dante, JoeJoe Dante Segments: "Wraparound"
2009 The Hole Pizza Delivery Guy Dante, JoeJoe Dante Uncredited
2014 Burying the Ex Grumpy Cop Dante, JoeJoe Dante
2014 That Guy Dick Miller Himself Drenner, ElijahElijah Drenner Documentary

References

  1. ↑ http://dickmiller.net/biography.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.avclub.com/article/dick-miller-talks-working-with-corman-scorsese-and-74866
  3. 1 2 Dick Miller Biography - Yahoo! Movies
  4. ↑ Dick Miller in person for retrospective including “THAT GUY” docu, “GREMLINS” reunion, Fango appearance & more!
  5. 1 2 3 “THAT GUY DICK MILLER” kicks off exclusive engagement; Dick Miller to attend.
  6. ↑ Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001) at the Internet Movie Database
  7. ↑ Alan Frank, The Films of Roger Corman: ‘shooting My Way Out of Trouble’ (BT Batsford, 1998), .
  8. ↑ David J. Hogan, Dark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film (McFarland, 1997), 221.
  9. ↑ Reynold Humphries, The American Horror Film: An Introduction (Edinburgh University Press, 2002), 133.
  10. ↑ John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1980s (McFarland & Co., 2007), 364.

External links

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