Richard Miller, a Bronx-born son of Russian Jewish immigrants Isidor "Ira" and Rita Blucher Miller, embarked on a multifaceted career that would span decades and earn him a reputation as a beloved character actor.
Following his stint in the U.S. Navy, Miller's athletic prowess as a middleweight boxer earned him a prize title, and he later settled in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s. It was here that he caught the attention of producer/director Roger Corman, who cast him in numerous low-budget films, often portraying unsavory characters.
One of Miller's most iconic roles was that of Walter Paisley, a mentally unstable busboy/beatnik artist with a talent for creating lifelike clay sculptures in the 1959 film A Bucket of Blood. He also gained recognition for his supporting role as Vurson Fouch, a flower-eating eccentric, in Corman's cult classic The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).
For the next two decades, Miller continued to work extensively with Corman, appearing in a wide range of films. Starting in the late 1970s, he began collaborating with director Joe Dante, often playing quirky, chatty characters in credited and uncredited roles. He stole every scene he appeared in, and his memorable performances included a diner owner in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983),a janitor in Chopping Mall (1986),and a humorous occult-bookshop owner in The Howling (1981).
Miller's unique physical appearance, featuring a short stature, wavy hair, long sideburns, a pointed nose, and a face that exuded trustworthiness, made him an instantly recognizable character actor. Despite never playing romantic leads or threatening villains due to his stature, he was able to make a lasting impact with his numerous, one-scene appearances in countless films and television shows, guaranteeing audience applause wherever he went.
