Allan Miller

For the Australian rules footballer, see Allan Miller (footballer).
For other people with the same name, see Alan Miller (disambiguation).
Allan Miller
Born (1929-02-14) February 14, 1929 (age 95) [1]
Occupation(s)Actor, director, acting teacher, author, playwright
Years active1956–current
Spouses
  • Anita Cooper (divorced)
  • Laura Zucker (m. 1976)
Children2

Allan Miller is an American stage, film, and television actor.

Biography

Miller served in the U.S. Army after World War II during the occupation of Japan.[2] Noticing an ad in Stars and Stripes that was looking for performers, he began performing in shows to entertain the troops.[2]

In 1948, after Miller returned to the U.S., he attended Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at The New School for Social Research in New York.[2] He then studied acting under Uta Hagen (his classmates included Geraldine Page and Charles Nelson Reilly); and under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio (his classmates included James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Paul Newman).[2] In 1958, under Strasberg's sponsorship, he began teaching at the Dramatic Workshop. In 1960, he started teaching privately; one of his students was a teenaged Barbra Streisand.[2] In the 1970s he taught at Yale Drama School.[3]

He is best known for his appearances on television, including Kojak, The Rockford Files, The Streets of San Francisco, Hawaii Five-O, Wonder Woman, Dallas, and The Paper Chase.[4] His film career included roles in Baby Blue Marine (1976), Two-Minute Warning (1976), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Brewster's Millions (1985). He has performed on stages across the country and on Broadway. He was producing director of the Back Alley Theatre, which he created and ran with his wife, Laura Zucker, from 1979 to 1989.[2][5][6] He was also one of the primary plaintiffs in a landmark lawsuit between Actors' Equity Association and Los Angeles-based small theatres.[7]

He is the author of the book, A Passion for Acting, and a DVD, Auditioning. He wrote the play, The Fox, based on the D.H. Lawrence novella, which was produced in Los Angeles, Off-Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre in New York City, and continues to be produced in the United States and around the world.[8]

Personal life

Miller has been married twice. His first wife was actress Anita Cooper, now deceased.[2] In 1976 he remarried, to Laura Zucker,[3] who for 25 years was executive director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.[2][9]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ https://allanmiller.org [bare URL]
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Miller, Daryl H. "Stages of Development". Los Angeles Times June 21, 1998.
  3. ^ a b Strauss, Alix (August 8, 2018). "Age Difference Didn't Matter Then, Or Now". New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  4. ^ The Paper Chase, Season 1, Episode 6, "Nancy" (YouTube)
  5. ^ "Back Alley Theatre". 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  6. ^ Arkatov, Janice (April 17, 1986). "For Directing Pair, It's 'The Greeks' To Them". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  7. ^ Shirley, Don (January 26, 1989). "Actors' Equity, ATLAS Reach a Truce on 99-Seat Theater Plan". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  8. ^ Breslauer, Jan (August 6, 1993). "Allan Miller's 'The Fox': Elegant but a Bit Overwrought". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  9. ^ Morris, Steven Leigh (August 8, 2017). ""I Was Thrown Down a Staircase by Meryl Streep." The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Laura Zucker". This Stage.