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Marvin Miller

 
Actor: Marvin Miller
  • Born: Jul 18, 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri
  • Died: Feb 08, 1985 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s-'70s
  • Major Genres: Adventure, Mystery
  • Career Highlights: Dead Reckoning, Forbidden, Peking Express
  • First Major Screen Credit: Dead Reckoning (1947)

Biography

Blessed with a mellifluous speaking voice, Marvin Miller went into radio straight out of college; he appeared in more West Coast-based network programs than can possibly be catalogued here. In films, the heavyset Miller was often cast as a villain, usually oriental (e.g., Blood on the Sun). He is perhaps best remembered by mystery buffs as crime boss Morris Carnovsky's sadistic henchman in the 1947 Humphrey Bogart vehicle Dead Reckoning. Miller continued as both a seen and unseen actor into the 1970s, recording several long-playing albums in which he read classic poetry and literature, and providing voice-overs for the cartoon output of the Disney and UPA studios. Miller's best-known TV role was as Michael Anthony, secretary to the "late, fabulously wealthy John Beresford Tipton" on TV's The Millionaire. From 1955 through 1960, Miller, as Anthony, handed out one million-dollar check per week to unsuspecting fictional recipients; the series brought Miller headaches as well as stardom, inasmuch as he was bombarded with thousands of requests from real-life millionaire wannabes who had trouble separating fact from fiction. Like his voice-artist colleague, Paul Frees (who was the voice of Millionaire's John Beresford Tipton), Marvin Miller eventually grew very rich -- and very corpulent -- on residuals for his extensive TV and commercial work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Marvin Miller (actor)
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Marvin Miller
Born Marvin Mueller
July 18, 1913(1913-07-18)
St. Louis, Missouri
Died February 8, 1985 (aged 71)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation Actor, announcer
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Florence Dawson (1937 - 1965)

Marvin Miller (July 18, 1913 - February 8, 1985) was an American film and voice-over actor. Possessing a deep, baritone voice, he began his career in radio in St. Louis, Missouri before becoming a Hollywood actor. Miller is best remembered for two of his roles, as Michael Anthony, the man who passed out a weekly check on the TV series The Millionaire and as the voice of Robby the Robot in the film Forbidden Planet.

Contents

Career

Radio and recordings

Born Marvin Mueller in St. Louis, Miller graduated from Washington University before he began his career in radio. He narrated a daily 15-minute radio show for Mutual Radio, The Story Behind the Story, which offered historical vignettes. He also served as announcer on several OTR shows of the 1940s and 50's, including The Whistler.

He also won Grammy Awards in 1965 and 1966 for his recordings of Dr. Seuss stories: in 1967 for Dr Seuss Presents – If I Ran the Zoo and Sleep Book and 1966 for Dr Seuss Presents Fox in Sox and Green Eggs and Ham.

Films

In films, the heavyset Miller was often cast as a villain, many times playing Asian roles. He portrayed a sadistic henchman in the 1947 Humphrey Bogart film Dead Reckoning, and as Yamada in the 1945 James Cagney effort Blood on the Sun. In Deadline at Dawn he plays Sleepy Parsons, a blind pianist.

Television

Miller voiced the AT&T instructional film Hemo the Magnificent (as "Hemo"), part of a series generally featuring real-life scientist Dr. Frank C. Baxter and directed by Frank Capra, which was shown on American network television in 1957.

Miller crossed paths with other prolific voice-over artists many times in his career including June Foray, playing "Deer" in Hemo the Magnificent and in the TV series Rocky and Bullwinkle along with Paul Frees, who voiced "Boris Badenov" in that program. Miller and Frees also performed in separate segments on the audio recording Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America Volume One The Early Years.

On The Millionaire, Miller played Michael Anthony, conveying the wishes of the "fabulously wealthy" John Beresford Tipton, voiced by Paul Frees.

Death

Miller died in 1985 at the age of 71 from a heart attack.[1] He is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

For his contribution to the television industry, Marvin Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Boulevard.

Selected filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1945 Johnny Angel George "Gusty" Gustafson
1946 Without Reservations Louella's radio announcer Uncredited
Alternative title: Thanks God, I'll Take It from Here
1947 The Brasher Doubloon Vince Blair Alternative title: High Window
1951 Gerald McBoing-Boing Narrator Voice
1951 The Golden Horde Genghis Khan
1952 Red Planet Mars Arjenian
1953 Off Limits Vic Breck Alternative title: Military Policemen
1957 The Story of Mankind Armana
1959 Sleeping Beauty Narrator Uncredited
1961 The Phantom Planet Introductory Narrator
1966 Gamera the Invincible Voiceover Uncredited
1977 American Raspberry Henry Wideman Alternative titles: Prime Time
Funny America
1984 Swing Shift Rollo
1986 Hell Squad The Sheik Alternative titles: Commando Girls
Commando Squad
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1952-1954 Space Patrol Various roles 13 episodes
1959 The Danny Thomas Show Mr. Chow 1 episode
1961 The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet Man in Dream 1 episode
1963 Perry Mason F. J. Weatherby 1 episode
1966 Batman TV Announcer 1 episode
1966-1974 The F.B.I Narrator 117 episodes
1967 The Green Hornet On-the-scene Reporter 1 episode
1972 Mission: Impossible Smith 1 episode
1975 Land of the Lost Zarn (Voice) 1 episode
1976 Electra Woman and Dyna Girl Narrator 15 episodes
1978 Wonder Woman Mr. Beamer 1 episode

References

External links



 
 
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Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Marvin Miller (actor)" Read more