Biography

David Miller was born on November 28, 1909 in Paterson, New Jersey, USA. He was a director and writer, known for The Story of Esther Costello (1957), Twist of Fate (1954) and The Opposite Sex (1956). He was married to Frances Raeburn. He died on April 14, 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Directed 3 actors to Oscar nominations: Joan Crawford (Best Actress, Sudden Fear (1952)), Jack Palance (Best Supporting Actor, Sudden Fear (1952)), and Bobby Darin (Best Supporting Actor, Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)).

After leaving high school, Miller worked for the National Screen Service as a messenger boy. Moving steadily up the ladder, he started directing Pete Smith educational documentaries at MGM from 1935. Two of these short features, "Penny Wisdom" and "Seeds of Destiny", won Academy Awards. From 1941, he handled feature films in a variety of genres. The quality of his films has been inconsistent, but he seemed most comfortable turning out slick thrillers like Sudden Fear (1952), Midnight Lace (1960) and Executive Action (1973).

After reviewing Miller's busy but largely anonymous directing career in his 1968 book "The American Cinema", the critic Andrew Sarris ended by famously asking, "Who is David Miller?".