Marvin Miller (actor)

Marvin Elliott Miller (born Marvin Mueller; July 18, 1913 – February 8, 1985) was an American actor. Possessing a deep baritone voice, he began his career in radio in St. Louis, Missouri before becoming a Hollywood actor. He is remembered for voicing Robby the Robot in the science fiction film Forbidden Planet (1956), a role he reprised in the lesser-known The Invisible Boy (1957).
Miller's next most notable role is that of Michael Anthony, the loyal assistant of Paul Frees's generous billionaire John Beresford Tipton Jr., on the TV series The Millionaire (1955–1960).
== Career ==
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=== Radio and recordings ===
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Born in St. Louis, Miller graduated from Washington University before commencing his career in radio. When a singer named Marvin Miller debuted on another St. Louis radio station, he began using his middle initial to distinguish himself from the newcomer. For the Mutual Broadcasting System, he narrated a daily 15-minute radio show titled The Story Behind the Story, which offered historical vignettes. He also served as announcer on several Old Time Radio shows of the 1940s and 1950s, including The Jo Stafford Show[1] and the long-running mystery series The Whistler.[2]
Miller played Dr. Lee Markham on The Woman in White on NBC radio and Howard Andrews on Midstream on the Blue Network[3] and appeared as "The voice of the Past" on the May 21, 1942 broadcast of The Right to Happiness. In 1945–47, he was the announcer for Songs by Sinatra.[4] He played two characters and was the announcer on The Billie Burke Show (1943–1946).[5]: 89 
In 1952, Miller had a one-man program, Armchair Adventures, on CBS Radio. He did "all voices and narration" in the 15-minute dramatic anthology.[5]: 40  He also recorded 260 episodes of a program described in a 1950 trade publication as "Marvin Miller: Famous radio voice in series of five minute vignettes about famous people." The program was syndicated via electrical transcription by The Cardinal Company.[6]
He also won Grammy Awards in 1965 and 1966 for his recordings of Dr. Seuss stories on RCA Records: 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.[7] He also read Bartholomew and the Oobleck, Horton Hatches the Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories.,[8]
In the mid-1970s, Miller even lent his voice to sports films, narrating the official Indianapolis 500 films in 1975 and 1976.
=== Films ===
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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 was Yamada in the 1945 James Cagney film Blood on the Sun.[9] In 1946's film noir Deadline at Dawn he plays Sleepy Parsons, a blind pianist.[10] Miller played George "Gusty" Gustafson in the George Raft film noir classic Johnny Angel.[11]
Additionally, he also appeared in "Red Planet Mars" (1952), "Forbidden" (1953), "Time Stood Still" (1956) and "When the Girls Take Over" (1962).
Miller also did a great deal of voice work in animation from the 1950s into the 1970s, from the narration on the 1950 Academy Award-winning United Productions of America cartoon Gerald McBoing Boing to the 1970 The Ant and the Aardvark cartoon Scratch a Tiger.[12][13]
=== Television ===
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From 1949 to 1950 Miller starred as Dr. Yat Fu on the short-lived ABC series Mysteries of Chinatown, with Gloria Saunders cast as his niece, Ah Toy.[14] 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.[15] Original air date was May 11, 1961.[16]
Further, in television, he was a narrator on "The F.B.I.", "Police Squad", "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl", plus appeared on "Land of the Lost" and "Love, American Style".
Miller voiced "Mr. Sun" in the AT&T educational film Our Mr. Sun, and "Hemo" in the AT&T educational film Hemo the Magnificent, parts of a series featuring Dr. Frank C. Baxter and directed by Frank Capra, which was shown on American network television in 1956 and 1957.[17][18] 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.[19] 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.[20]
Miller made a guest appearance in 1963 on Perry Mason as unscrupulous attorney F.J. Weatherby in "The Case of the Lover's Leap".[17]
Miller voiced Aquaman for the Filmation studio for their 1967 series The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.[17] He was also the voice of pilot/scientist Busby Birdwell in the company's animated series Fantastic Voyage.[21]
He was the voice of the arrogant alien "Zarn" in three episodes of the second season of Land of the Lost.[22] Miller also lent his distinct voice to The Pink Panther Show, often talking with the feline offscreen and asking questions, while also voicing The Inspector, his second Deux Deux and their boss The Commissioner.[23]
He also won Grammy Awards in 1965 and 1966, for his recordings of stories by Dr. Seuss.
In more than 200 episodes of The Millionaire, Miller played Michael Anthony, conveying the wishes of the "fabulously wealthy" John Beresford Tipton Jr., voiced by Paul Frees.[24]
=== Death ===
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Miller died in 1985 at the age of 71 from a heart attack.[24] He is entombed at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles.[citation needed]
For his contribution to the television industry, Marvin Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Boulevard.[25]
== Filmography ==
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Film 	Film 	Film 	Film
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1945 	Blood on the Sun 	Yamada 	
1945 	Johnny Angel 	George "Gusty" Gustafson 	
1946 	Deadline at Dawn 	Sleepy Parsons 	
1946 	Just Before Dawn 	Casper 	
1946 	The Phantom Thief 	Dr. Nejino 	
1946 	Night in Paradise 	Scribe 	
1946 	Without Reservations 	Louella's radio announcer 	Uncredited
Alternative title: Thanks God, I'll Take It from Here
1947 	Dead Reckoning 	Krause 	
1947 	The Brasher Doubloon 	Vince Blair 	Alternative title: High Window
1947 	The Corpse Came C.O.D. 	Rudy Frasso 	
1947 	Intrigue 	Ramon Perez 	
1951 	Gerald McBoing-Boing 	Narrator 	Voice
1951 	Smuggler's Island 	Bok-Ying 	
1951 	Peking Express 	Kwon 	
1951 	The Prince Who Was a Thief 	Hakar 	
1951 	The Golden Horde 	Genghis Khan 	
1952 	Hong Kong 	Tao Liang 	
1952 	Red Planet Mars 	Arjenian 	
1952 	Off Limits 	Vic Breck 	Alternative title: Military Policemen
1953 	Ben and Me 	Dr. Palmer / Miscellaneous Men 	Voice
1953 	Forbidden 	Chalmer 	
1954 	King Dinosaur 	Narrator 	Voice
1954 	Jivaro 	Jivaro Chief Kovanti 	
1954 	The Shanghai Story 	Colonel Zorek 	
1954 	Beauty and the Bull 	Narrator 	Short, Voice
1955 	New York Confidential 	Narrator 	Voice, Uncredited
1955 	Godzilla Raids Again 	Narrator 	English version, Voice
1955 	King Dinosaur 	Narrator 	Voice
1956 	Forbidden Planet 	Robby the Robot 	Voice, Uncredited
1957 	The Deadly Mantis 	Narrator 	
1957 	The Invisible Boy 	Robby the Robot 	Voice
1957 	The Story of Mankind 	Armana 	
1958 	Manhunt in the Jungle 	Narrator 	Voice
1958 	Senior Prom 	Narrator 	Voice
1958 	Panda and the Magic Serpent 	Narrator 	Voice
1959 	Sleeping Beauty 	Narrator 	Voice, Uncredited
1959 	Sampo 	Narrator 	English version, Voice
1961 	The Phantom Planet 	Introductory Narrator 	Voice
1962 	When the Girls Take Over 	Henri Degiere 	
1962 	Panic in Year Zero! 	Radio Announcer 	Uncredited
1965 	The Agony and the Ecstasy 	Prologue Narrator 	Uncredited
1965 	Saturday Night in Apple Valley 	 	
1965 	Invasion of Astro-Monster 	Fuji 	English version, Voice
1965 	Inside Daisy Clover 	Narrator - The Daisy Clover Story 	Voice, Uncredited
1966 	Gamera the Invincible 	Voice over 	Uncredited
1967 	Hell on Wheels 	The Announcer 	
1967-1969 	The Inspector 	The Commissioner / Pig-Al / Warden / Ranger / Psychiatrist 	
1970 	MASH 	PA Announcer 	Uncredited
1970 	Blood of the Iron Maiden 	Claude 	
1972 	Where Does It Hurt? 	Catering Manager 	
1972 	The Sexpert 	Michael Anthony 	Uncredited
1973 	Fantastic Planet 	Great Tree Chief / Master Kon 	English version, Voice, Uncredited
1973 	The Naked Ape 	Fat Man 	
1973 	Tidal Wave 	 	(US version)
1974 	How to Seduce a Woman 	Racetrack Announcer 	
1975 	I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? 	Jordan's Boss 	
1976 	The Call of the Wild 	Narrator 	TV movie
1977 	Empire of the Ants 	 	Voice, Uncredited
1977 	John Hus 	Sigismund 	
1977 	American Raspberry 	Henry Wideman 	Alternative titles: Prime Time
Funny America
1977 	Space Cruiser Yamato 	 	Voice, English version
1981 	Kiss Daddy Goodbye 	Bill Morris 	
1984 	Swing Shift 	Rollo 	
1984 	Gremlins 	Robby The Robot 	Voice, Uncredited
1986 	Hell Squad 	The Sheik 	Alternative titles: Commando Girls
Commando Squad, (final film role)
Television	Television 	Television 	Television
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1949 	Mysteries of Chinatown 	Dr. Yat Fu 	unknown episodes
1952 	Space Patrol 	Mr. Proteus (continuing character) & other roles 	1952–1954
13 episodes
1955 	The Millionaire 	Michael Anthony 	1955–1960
206 episodes
1959 	The Danny Thomas Show 	Mr. Chow 	1 episode
1961 	Bat Masterson 	John Kelso 	1 episode (episode 31)
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 (episode 12)
1966–1974 	The F.B.I 	Narrator 	117 episodes
1967 	The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure	Aquaman (voice) 	36 episodes
1967 	The Green Hornet 	On-the-scene Reporter 	1 episode
1969-1970 	The Pink Panther Show 	Narrator / The Inspector / Sgt Deux-Deux / The Commissioner	Bumper segments only
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
Category:1913 births
Category:1985 deaths
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:American male radio actors
Category:Audiobook narrators
Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Male actors from St. Louis
Category:Radio and television announcers
Category:Washington University in St. Louis alumni
Category:20th-century American male actors