Victor Miller (writer)
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Victor Miller | |
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Born | Victor Brooke Miller May 14, 1940 |
Occupation(s) | Actor, film writer |
Years active | 1968–present |
Spouse |
Elizabeth Thurston (m. 1962) |
Website | http://victormiller.com/ |
Victor B. Miller (born May 14, 1940) is an American writer for film and television. He is best known for his screenplay of the original Friday the 13th film, the popularity of which spawned a long series of sequels. Miller was not involved with any of the sequels, though he remains credited for creating the characters of Jason Voorhees, his mother Pamela, and the heroine Alice Hardy.
He has also written for several daytime television series, for which he has won three Daytime Emmy Awards. His television work includes Guiding Light, One Life to Live, Another World, and All My Children. Much of his tenure of several shows has been working under head writer Megan McTavish.
Early life
Miller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of John Dabney and Barbara Leovy Miller. He attended Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, and Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, where he says he took every creative writing course offered.[1] Beginning in 1962, he worked in TV programming for a year with Stuart Erwin, Lee Rich, Irwin Segelstein, and Phil Capice at Benton & Bowles Advertising in New York City. He co-founded of the American Shakespeare Theatre's Center for Theatre Techniques in Education and attended Herbert Berghof's playwriting class in New York City.
Directing and writing career
Friday the 13th is Miller's most successful film, grossing $59,754,601 worldwide on a very low budget of $550,000. The original is the only one of the series that had Miller's involvement; it grew into a long series of sequels and became the highest grossing horror franchise in the United States, earning a worldwide total of $465,239,523. Miller says he hasn't seen any of the other Friday the 13th films because he does not approve of Jason Voorhees being the killer rather than Jason's mother as she was in the original.[2] He also adapted two novels into films: he adapted A Stranger Is Watching by Mary Higgins Clark into the 1982 film of the same name and the 1967 young adult novel The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell into the 1977 film of the same name. His horror film Rock Paper Dead is set to be released in 2018[3] and he has co-written the script for the horror thriller Eden Falls.[4] Miller has been involved in a protracted lawsuit to gain the rights to the first Friday 13th film, which remains unresolved.[5]
Awards and nominations
Nominations
- (1990, 1999, 2001, 2002 & 2004; Best Writing; All My Children)
- (1994 & 1996; Best Writing; Another World)
- (1983; Best Writing; One Life to Live)
Wins
- (1985, 1988 & 1998; Best Writing; All My Children)
Nominations
- (1989 & 1999 Season; All My Children)
- (1997 Season; Guiding Light)
- (1993-1995 Season; Another World)
Wins
- WIN (1998, 2000, 2001 & 2003 Season; All My Children)
Personal life
Miller is the third of four children. He married Elizabeth (Tina) Couzens Thurston in 1962.[1][6]
Books
- Windborne, Bantam Books
- American Dynasty (3 Volumes), Dell Books
- Angel's Blood, Playboy Press
- Toga Party, Fawcett Books
- The Glory Sharer, Jove Books
- Hide The Children, Ballantine Books
- Fernanda, Pocket Books
- Giving In To Get Your Way, Delacorte Press, reprinted as Aikido In Everyday Life, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California
- The Book Of Worries, Warner Books
Filmography
- The Black Pearl (1977)
- Manny's Orphans (1978)
- Here Come the Tigers (1979)
- Friday the 13th (1980)
- A Stranger Is Watching (1982)
- Getting In (1994)
- Jury Duty (1995)
- Asylum (1997)
- On the Edge (2001)
- Rock, Paper, Scissors (2017)
- Eden Falls (2019)
Based upon characters created by Victor Miller for Jason Voorhees
- Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
- Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
- Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
- Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
- Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
- Jason X (2001)
- Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
- Friday the 13th (2009)
Television
- All My Children
- Associate Head Writer: 1984–1986, 1987–1989, 1997–2001, July 2003 – July 10, 2006
- Another World
- Associate Head Writer: 1990–1995
- General Hospital
- Associate Head Writer: 2001–2002
- Guiding Light
- Associate Head Writer: 1986–1987, 1995–1997
- One Life to Live
- Associate Head Writer: 1982–1984
References
- ^ a b Martin Cheek (October 13, 2006). "Horror Writer Victor Miller to Keynote Poppy Jasper Film Festival". The Morgan Hill Times.
- ^ Miller, Victor. "Frequently Asked Questions". Victor Miller - Writer. victormiller.com. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- ^ Matt Boiselle (November 30, 2017). "Rock Paper Dead Review – Tom Holland Returns With A Potential Future Franchise?". Dread Central.
- ^ "Exorcist Star Joins Eden Falls" (press release). Bearclaw Films. January 4, 2016.
- ^ https://1428elm.com/2019/02/27/friday-the-13th-victor-miller-plans-win/
- ^ "Victor Miller Weds Elizabeth Thurston". The New York Times. August 5, 1962.