Dick Miller, veteran character actor, has died at the age of 90. While hardly a household name, he had been working constantly since the 1950s and had one of the most familiar faces in cinema. Miller appeared in such beloved films as Terminator and Gremlins, as well as countless B-movies.
He’s the guy in the gun shop in Terminator, for instance:
And Mr Futterman in Gremlins:
Gremlins director Joe Dante considered Miller something of a lucky charm, and cast him in every film he ever made, including Piranha (1978), The Howling (1981), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The ‘Burbs (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Matinee (1993), Small Soldiers (1998), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003).
Miller also worked regularly with B-movie king Roger Corman, and made appearances in films directed by Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino (although Miller’s scene as Monster Joe in Pulp Fiction ended up on the cutting room floor for time reasons).
The Bronx-born actor and Navy veteran also played six characters with the same name, a running joke that spanned decades. He portrayed different Walter Paisleys in A Bucket Of Blood, Hollywood Boulevard, The Howling, Chopping Mall, Night Of The Creeps and Shake, Rattle and Rock!.
Such was Miller’s status as the ultimate “Hey, it’s that guy!” actor that a feature-length documentary was made about him in 2014: the Kickstarter-funded That Guy Dick Miller.
Miller is survived by his wife of 59 years, Lainie.
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(Pics: Getty Images)
