Marvin Miller (actor)

For other people named Marvin Miller, see Marvin Miller (disambiguation).

Marvin Miller
Miller as Michael Anthony, hands check to Betty Perkins (Inger Stevens), 1956.
Born	Marvin Mueller July 18, 1913(1913-07-18) St. Louis, Missouri
Died	February 8, 1985(1985-02-08) (aged 71) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Actor, announcer
Spouse	Elizabeth Florence Dawson (1937 - 1965)

Marvin Elliott 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.

Career

Radio and recordings

Born Marvin Mueller in St. Louis, Miller graduated from Washington University before he began his career in radio. When another Marvin Miller began singing on another St. Louis radio station, he began using his middle initial to distinguish himself from the other fellow. 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 1950s, 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 Socks and Green Eggs and Ham. He also read Horton Hatches the Egg and The Sneetches and Other Stories & Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories

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. Miller did The Ant and the Aardvark as an unnamed tiger in Scratch a Tiger.

Television

From 1949 to 1950 he starred as Dr. Yat Fu on the short-lives ABC series Mysteries of Chinatown. In 1961, Miller guest-starred as Johnny Kelso, with Erin O'Brien, in "The Marble Slab" episode of the Frederick Ziv-, United Artists-, and MGM-produced Bat Masterson, starring Gene Barry. Original air date was May 11, 1961.

Miller voiced "Hemo" in the AT&T educational film Hemo the Magnificent, part of a series featuring 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.

He was the voice of the arrogant alien "Zarn" in three episodes of the second season of Land of the Lost. Miller also lent his distinct voice to The Pink Panther Show, often talking with the feline offscreen and asking questions.

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. 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
1956	Forbidden Planet	Robby the Robot	voice
1957	The Story of Mankind	Armana
1959	Sleeping Beauty	Narrator	Uncredited
1961	The Phantom Planet	Introductory Narrator
1966	Gamera the Invincible	Voiceover	Uncredited
1970	MASH	PA Announcer	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
1949-1950	Mysteries of Chinatown	Dr. Yat Fu	unknown episodes
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)	3 episodes
1976	Electra Woman and Dyna Girl	Narrator	15 episodes
1978	Wonder Woman	Mr. Beamer	1 episode
1982	Police Squad	Narrator	6 episodes

External links

• Marvin Miller at the Internet Movie Database
• Marvin Miller (actor) at Find a Grave