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Marvin Miller 1913 - 1985

Marvin Miller was born on July 18, 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri United States, and died at age 71 years old on February 8, 1985 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA. Marvin Miller was buried on February 11, 1985 at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary 1218 Glendon Ave, in Los Angeles. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Marvin Miller.

Marvin Miller

July 18, 1913

St. Louis, Missouri, United States

February 8, 1985

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States

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Marvin Miller Marvin Miller (1913 - 1985)

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Marvin Miller's History: 1913 - 1985

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Introduction

Marvin Miller Born July 18, 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA Died February 8, 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA (heart attack) Birth Name Marvin Elliott Mueller Height 5' 10½" (1.79 m) After graduating from high school in St. Louis, Missouri, Miller attended that city's Washington University, where he was a member of the dramatic and musical-comedy groups. He played in the band, edited the school newspaper, and started his professional career in radio, making his debut in his freshman year. Without previous training, he applied for a job at a local radio station but was turned down. Undeterred, he returned a few days later to audition as a character actor. He played all the roles in a sketch he had written himself, including an Englishman, a Frenchman, an Italian, an American gangster, and a straight man. This time he was hired as a summer replacement. After graduation, he moved to Chicago where he soon became a leading announcer and actor. Before leaving for Hollywood in 1944 he was appearing on an average of 45 broadcasts a week. Variety dubbed him "Chicago's one-man radio industry". His second day in town he began landing parts in two major programs and a number of shows. He either narrated or appeared in, among others, The Millionaire (1955) (as narrator "Michael Anthony"), Insight (1960), The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo (1964), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), Space Patrol (1950), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950), The F.B.I. (1965), and Love, American Style (1969), among many others. Miller also narrated films including My Country 'Tis of Thee (1950), which was nominated for an Academy Award, and the pseudo-documentary Unidentified Flying Objects: the True Story of Flying Saucers (1956). He won Grammy Awards in 1965 and 1966 for his recordings of stories by Dr. Seuss. His hobbies including woodworking, collecting menus, bookbinding, painting, photography, and collecting rare phonograph recordings. He also recorded the entire Holy Bible on record, the first time that had ever been done. It contained more than a million words and took a week and a half to play.
07/18

1913

Birthday

July 18, 1913

Birthdate

St. Louis, Missouri United States

Birthplace

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Professional Career

Television and Radio Star. He either narrated or appeared in, among others, The Millionaire (1955) (as narrator "Michael Anthony"), Insight (1960), The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo (1964), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), Space Patrol (1950), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950), The F.B.I. (1965), and Love, American Style (1969), among many others. Miller also narrated films including My Country 'Tis of Thee (1950), which was nominated for an Academy Award, and the pseudo-documentary Unidentified Flying Objects: the True Story of Flying Saucers (1956). He won Grammy Awards in 1965 and 1966 for his recordings of stories by Dr. Seuss. His hobbies including woodworking, collecting menus, bookbinding, painting, photography, and collecting rare phonograph recordings. He also recorded the entire Holy Bible on record, the first time that had ever been done. It contained more than a million words and took a week and a half to play.
02/8

1985

Death

February 8, 1985

Death date

Heart Attack

Cause of death

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
Death location

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02/11

1985

Gravesite & Burial

February 11, 1985

Funeral date
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary 1218 Glendon Ave, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California 90024, United States
Burial location
Obituary

Famed for Role in ‘The Millionaire’ Series: Radio-TV Actor Marvin Miller Dies By JACK JONES FEB. 9, 1985 12 AM PT TIMES STAFF WRITER Marvin Miller, whose half-century as an actor, announcer and narrator is best recalled for his television role as the man who gave away million-dollar checks, died Friday in Santa Monica Hospital. The 71-year-old Miller suffered complications from a diabetic condition and went into a coma after a heart attack Sunday, his wife, Elizabeth, said. Miller began in radio in St. Louis as a Washington University freshman and then went to Chicago to launch a network radio career that eventually took him to Hollywood and into films and television. He was active until several months ago. Even after he officially retired in December, Elizabeth Miller said, he narrated a couple of industrial films. Last fall, he was heard with numerous other long-time performers on a special Halloween radio show. Mysterious Billionaire Although he acted in, announced for, or narrated countless radio and television shows and appeared in several dozen films, Miller was best known as Michael Anthony, the “ever-faithful” executive secretary to mysterious billionaire John Beresford Tipton on “The Millionaire.” Each episode of the television series, which made its CBS network debut in January 1955, started with Miller’s character passing out a million-dollar check to startled recipients. Asked in 1982 what that role had done for his career, Miller replied: “It killed me. I never did another important part in a movie or television series. I’d go in with an agent to a casting director and he’d say, ‘Hey, the audience would expect you to give away a million dollars.’ ” Miller was born in St. Louis on July 18, 1913. He broke into radio there when he was 18, earning $5 a week doing a one-man show in which he performed all the parts. Network Center In 1939, just after he and St. Louis artist Elizabeth Dawson were married, they moved to Chicago--then a major network radio center. He had so much work--he was heard on an average of 45 shows a week--that Variety dubbed him a “one-man radio industry.” He would announce one program, then immediately perform a dramatic role--or perhaps several--in another. On the soap opera, “Backstage Wife,” for instance, he was heard as Rodney Brooks, Fritz Sterner and Edward de Manfield. Among the shows he narrated was “Armchair Adventures.” For nine years, he was the voice of “The Whistler,” keeping millions of Americans glued to their table Philcos with his resonant words, “I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. . . .” In 1944, Miller moved to Hollywood, where he began by announcing for the Red Skelton radio show and was radio’s “Coronet Storyteller,” narrating and doing all the voices for that five-nights-a-week ABC show. That became “Behind the Story” and then “Marvin Miller, Story Teller.” He did many shows for the Armed Forces Network during World War II and appeared in films beginning with “Johnny Angel” in 1945. Other movies included “Intrigue,” “Forbidden,” “Peking Express,” “Deadline at Dawn,” “Dead Reckoning” and “Hong Kong.” When television came into its own, one of his early roles was that of a Chinese philosopher-detective in “Mysteries of Chinatown.” Of all the work he did, his wife said Friday, he was proudest of having recorded the entire King James Version of the Bible for Audio Books. “He was meticulous about researching the pronunciations of names and places,” she said. “It took him five or six years to do it.” she said. He narrated many industrial and educational films, as well as cartoons for UPA, Hanna-Barbera and Disney. In recent years, he had been the taped voice on many a museum’s guided tour. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Melissa, a Century City attorney, and a son, Anthony, of Minneapolis, a toy company executive. His wife said no funeral service is scheduled, but a memorial service will be announced at a later time. Burial will be at Westwood Village Memorial Park.

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Marvin Miller lived 2 years shorter than the average family member when died at the age of 71.

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