Dennis Linn "Denny" Miller, a talented individual, was born in Bloomington, Indiana, where his father, Ben Miller, served as a phys-ed instructor at Indiana University. From a young age, Denny and his brother Kent developed a passion for basketball, playing the sport from childhood.
The Miller family relocated when Denny was in fourth grade, and he and Kent continued to play basketball in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Baldwin, New York, before settling in Los Angeles. At University High School, Denny and Kent caught the attention of renowned coach John Wooden, who offered them full-ride scholarships to UCLA. The brothers played together at UCLA for one year, and their father joined the faculty of the esteemed institution.
In his senior year, Denny worked as a furniture mover to support his education while pursuing his passion for acting. It was during this time that he was discovered by a talent agent on Sunset Boulevard, who signed him with MGM. His first role was a minor part in the 1958 film Some Came Running, which was shot in Madison, Indiana.
Denny's most notable early role was as the first blond Tarzan in the 1959 film Tarzan, the Ape Man, a low-budget production that borrowed footage from earlier Johnny Weissmuller movies. MGM maintained Denny under contract for 20 months, during which time he worked on the film for approximately eight weeks.
Following his stint as Tarzan, Denny appeared in numerous TV series, eventually landing a recurring role as Duke Shannon on Wagon Train, under the pseudonym Scott Miller. In 1965-66, he starred alongside Juliet Prowse in the television series Mona McCluskey, playing the title character.
