Mark Miller (actor)
Mark Miller (born Claude Herbert Miller Jr.; November 20, 1924) is an American stage and television actor and writer who starred in over 30 plays and made more than forty appearances in television programs and films since 1953. He is best known for his roles as Bill Hooten in "Guestward, Ho!", Jim Nash in "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" TV series and Alvie in the movie he wrote and produced, "Savannah Smiles". Biography. Miller was born in Houston, Texas. He graduated from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1952. After graduation he was  immediately cast in the revival of Philadelphia Story in Newport, Rhode Island at the Casino Playhouse and began a long-lasting career acting on stage and in television. He co-starred with Joanne Dru and J. Carrol Naish in the 1960-61 ABC sitcom, "Guestward, Ho!", the story of a New York City family named "Hooten" who relocates to New Mexico to operate a dude ranch. Miller guest-starred in numerous series, including NBC's western, "The Tall Man", with Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager. He had a role in the film "Youngblood Hawke" (1964), and appeared on Jack Lord 's ABC rodeo adventure series, "Stoney Burke". In 1965-66, he portrayed college professor Jim Nash, the leading role opposite Patricia Crowley, on the NBC-MGM television sitcom, "Please Don't Eat the Daisies", loosely based on the theatrical film starring Doris Day and David Niven. He played various roles in numerous other television shows, including "The Millionaire", "Gunsmoke", "Marcus Welby, M.D.", "The Andy Griffith Show", "General Hospital" and "I Dream Of Jeannie". From 1969 to 1970, Miller played the role of sidekick Ross Craig in NBC's "The Name of the Game". He starred in a 1962 episode of  Alfred Hitchcock Presents called "Apex" in which he plays a philandering husband intent on killing his wife. In 1973, he appeared in the episode "Death by Prescription" of Lorne Greene's ABC crime drama "Griff". The following year he wrote, produced and appeared in the film "Ginger in the Morning", starring Sissy Spacek. He appeared in the feature films "Mr. Sycamore" (1975) and "Dixie Dynamite" (1976). Miller wrote the story and screenplay, and starred in the 1982 movie "Savannah Smiles". He starred alongside Slim Pickens in "Christmas Mountain" (1981). Personal life. In December 1959 Miller married costume designer and publicist  Beatrice Hudson Ammidown. The couple had three daughters together: Marisa Miller, Penelope Ann and Savannah Miller. The two older girls both became actors. The curly blonde hair of youngest daughter Savannah gave Miller the initial idea for the movie "Savannah Smiles", and she ended up having a small role in it, as well. The couple divorced in 1975. Miller remarried in 1976, to actress Barbara Stanger. The two co-wrote the screenplay for the 1995 film, "A Walk in the Clouds", starring Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn, directed by Alfonso Arau. The couple divorced in 1998. Miller has six grandchildren : Amelia Miller Eberline, Eloisa May Huggins, Gretta Miller Eberline, Sophie Miller Eberline, Maria Adela Huggins, and Celeste Ariella Berzer. Miller retired from Hollywood in the late 1990s and moved to Taos, New Mexico with Stanger. In 2010, he wrote the play, "Amorous Crossings", that starred Loretta Swit and premiered at the Alhambra Theater in Jacksonville, Florida. The play ran for four weeks to sold-out audiences. In 2014, he moved back to Los Angeles where he formed the production company Gypsy Moon Entertainment, and he continues to write and sell screenplays.