Biography

Dick Miller

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Overview

Born
December 25, 1928 · The Bronx, New York, USA
Died
January 30, 2019 · Toluca Lake, California, USA (natural causes)
Birth name
Richard Miller
Nicknames
- Walter Paisley
- That Guy
Height
5′ 5″ (1.65 m)

Mini bio

Born in the Bronx, New York to Russian Jewish immigrant parents (Isidor "Ira" and Rita Blucher Miller), Richard Miller served in the U.S. Navy for a few years and earned a prize title as a middleweight boxer. He settled in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, where he was noticed by producer/director Roger Corman, who cast him in most of his low-budget films, often as dislikeable sorts, such as a vacuum-cleaner salesman in Not of This Earth (1957). His most memorable role would have to be that of the mentally unstable, busboy/beatnik artist Walter Paisley, whose clay sculptures are suspiciously lifelike in A Bucket of Blood (1959) (a rare starring role for him), and he is also fondly remembered for his supporting role as the flower-eating Ferson Fouch in Corman's legendary The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).

Miller spent the next 20 years working in Corman productions, and starting in the late 1970s was often cast in films by director Joe Dante, appearing in credited and uncredited walk-on bits as quirky chatterboxes, and stole every scene he appeared in. He has played many variations on his famous Walter Paisley role, such as a diner owner (Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)) or a janitor (Chopping Mall (1986)). One of his best bits is the funny occult-bookshop owner in The Howling (1981). Being short (so he never played a romantic lead or a threatening villain) with wavy hair, long sideburns, a pointed nose and a face as trustworthy as a used-car dealer's, he was, and is to this day, an immediately recognizable character actor whose one-scene appearances in countless movies and TV shows guarantee audience applause.
- IMDb mini biography by: <pataygs@voicenet.com>

Family

Spouse
Children

Trademarks

In many of his movies, he played the character Walter Paisley, his famous role in A Bucket of Blood (1959).
Always cast by director Joe Dante for his movies.
Wavy hair, long sideburns and pointed nose.
Strong Bronx accent

Trivia

According to Miller, when he interviewed for acting jobs at other studios, he would mention that he had been working at American-International. They would respond by saying, "I don't think we can use you".
Had appeared in every film or television film directed by Joe Dante: Hollywood Boulevard (1976), Piranha (1978), Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), The Howling (1981), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Gremlins (1984), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) (though Miller's scene was cut), The 'Burbs (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Matinee (1993), The Second Civil War (1997), Small Soldiers (1998), The Osiris Chronicles (1998), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Trapped Ashes (2006), The Hole (2009) and Burying the Ex (2014). Dante also directed him in four television episodes: Testimony of Evil (Dead Men Don't Laugh) (1982), The Greibble (1986), The Losers (1991) and Runaway Daughters (1994).
Attended the City College of New York, Columbia University and New York University, eventually receiving his Ph.D degree (Doctor of Philosophy) in Psychology. He was a writer before turning to acting.
Had appeared with Robert Picardo in 11 films: The Howling (1981), Get Crazy (1983), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), The 'Burbs (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Motorama (1991), Matinee (1993), The Second Civil War (1997) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003).
Profiled in "Character Actors in Horror and Science Fiction Films, 1930-1960" by Laurence Raw (2012).

Quotes

[on why movies he made 50 years ago still hold up] I wish I knew. It's funny, looking at a picture that's 50 years old and seeing that it hasn't lost any of the--what's the word?--magic. They had magic. They were cheap. They were inexpensive to make, but they've held up for 50 years.
[on attending film conventions] It's kind of thrilling in my old age to have something. It's a thrill. Everybody asks these questions. They bring up pictures that you've done and that you've forgotten. I don't remember half the pictures that they mention anyway. But it's a fun thing, being at these conventions.