Cool News
Actor and Playwright Jason Miller Has Passed
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Jason Miller has passed away of a heart attack at the age of 62. I'm so glad Harry's back in town so we can talk on the phone tonight and he can make me laugh a little as I work to put this piece together. I'm glad because I hate having to write this sort of thing, especially when I feel strongly about the person involved.
Jason Miller was a great actor.
Not just good. Great. He doesn't leave behind a body of work consisting of dozens and dozens of starring roles, so it's hard to get perspective on just how powerful he could be. He did 25 movies in 28 years, many of them for TV, and only a handful really ever registered on the mass consciousness. But you could wipe every one of them away except the first film, and you'd still have to call him a great actor. His work as Father Damien Karras in THE EXORCIST in 1973 is among the finest film performances I've ever seen, especially when the additional material with his mother has been put back in the recent re-release. There's such a wellspring of pain, such a convincing shadow of heartbreak that hangs over him, that Karras becomes something more than just a simple character in a horror film. His work suggests a full life lived. He's also very good in William Peter Blatty's THE NINTH CONFIGURATION (which I saw recently in a very surreal evening at the Egyptian Theater, a perfect way to see such a strange, strange film) and in Blatty's later EXORCIST III and in a film I love unabashedly, RUDY. He may be equally good in some of his other films I never got a chance to see. Wouldn't surprise me one bit.
Jason Miller was a great writer.
THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON, the piece that won him the Tony and the Pulitzer, has become something of a classic in revivals around the country, and for good reason. It's an astonishingly expressive piece about opportunities passed and friendships sustained, and it speaks for generations of men in America, speaks directly to the heart of how we allow ourselves to be defined by our wins and our losses, and how we decide which is which.
My condolences go out to Miller's family and friends. I never got the opportunity to meet this supposedly very private man. He didn't attend the premiere of Warner's revamped EXORCIST release last year, but I did bump into one of his sons, Josh Miller, at the party afterwards. I made one of the classic Hollywood mistakes, one I felt bad about later, but it was because the full force of that performance was still fresh for me, having just seen the film again. When I was introduced to Josh, a very good actor in his own right, I shook his hand and said, "Man, Jason Miller was amazing in this movie. Amazing. I forget how much I like his work when I haven't seen the film for a while."
Josh smiled tightly at me and said, "Yeah... I'm JOSH Miller. Not Jason. I wasn't in the film." And I know exactly why he responded that way. So often in Hollywood, it's hard to step out from under the shadow of a famous parent. Jason Miller has two sons who became actors... Jason Patric and Josh. In both cases, the sons have carved very individual paths for themselves. Jason Patric is, in my opinion, a deeply underrated performer with some amazing work to his name like RUSH and AFTER DARK MY SWEET. Josh has left a vivid impression with roles in films like RIVER'S EDGE and NEAR DARK. Neither one of them seems to have traded in any way on their father's name or reputation, choosing instead to build something of their own.
It's been said that you can judge someone's character by the children they raise and how strong their character is. Well, if that's the case, then it seems like Jason Miller was more than a great writer, more than a great actor.
Jason Miller was a great man.
"Moriarty" out.
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I'd like to second everything that Moriarty has said. Jason Miller was an exceptionally gifted actor, his work in collaboration with William Peter Blatty on The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration and Exorcist III, were all performances of enormous range and deserve to be more widely known and respected. Another sad day for film fans and in many ways even sadder when we realise how sorely undervalued and underused this actor was. I expect I'll be saying the same kind of thing when Patrick McGoohan and Nicol Williamson pass on. If only film makers would cast these one-of-a-kind actors more often. Great talent is being allowed to go to waste!
God bless Jason Miller. One of the greats! -
My heartfelt wishes to his family and friends - he will be missed.
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Miller was very involved in the regional theater scene here in Northeast Pennsylvania. (He made his home in Scranton, 20 minutes away from me.) I've had the chance to see him in a few productions and he was always great. While talking about this with a friend who is president of one of the local theate companies, he mentioned that he had talked to Miller just a few weeks ago and that Jason had mentioned he had finally finished the screenplay he was working on about the life of Jackie Gleason for Paul Sorvino. Here's hoping that Servino can get this made.
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May 15, 2001 4:19:21 AM CDT
Goddamn, that's a true loss. Hope Miller and Jason Robards are t
by roguewriter
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I'm no expert on his movies or his screenplays, but for The Exorcist alone Jason Miller was one of my heroes. RIP.
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I'm from not far from Scranton (RenoNevada -- only 20 minutes away? Really? I'm up in Forest City myself) and every time I tell someone I'm trying to sell my scripts, someone inevitably mentions Jason Miller. It was always nice to know that someone from around here did so well doing the same thing I've wanted to do since I was ten. We'll miss you around here, man.
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Jason Miller was amazing. And what a great playwright. It's a huge loss to the world. RIP
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Remember when Karras screams at the devil "You're not my mother!" It would be easy to say that Miller's performance was possibly the best ever for a horror film, but it truly stands as one of the best performances ever, period.
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While at the U. of Scranton, some of us had the privilege and honor to see this man in person...He happened upon a rehearsal for one of our theatrical productions as he lived in Scranton, PA at the time. Never heard what he thought of our stuff, but didn't care. As our director later mentioned he didn't get out much so something must have peaked his curiosity. We were in pre-production for Tennesse Williams "Camino Real"...Just one of those star-struck moments.
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The saddest part of this is that I have seen Jason Miller act in only a handful of films, yet he's one of those actors that always made an impression, and a mighty one at that. Why his obvious talent wasn't used more often by the powers that be is a true mystery, and more than that, a true shame for fans and lovers of great cinema acting everywhere. At least his memory and the appreciation of his talent will live on, even if it is primarily because of his brilliant performance as one Father Damian Karras in the classic that is The Exorcist. My condolences go out to his family and friends, and my disappointments flow that he didn't leave a richer filmed body of work for his fans to appreciate him by. Damn Hollywood and it's teen heart throb of the moment mentality. Another shining talent lost to the ether.
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This is sad news indeed. Having experienced the Exorcist endless times, Jason Miller was truly the character that punctuated each viewing with genuine compassion. As much as the picture has the Burstyn/Blair emotional noose, I have to say that Father Damien Karras was the character that truly was the soul of the film. After watching the Fear Of God: The Making Of The Exorcist, and listening to him reminisce about his experiences on set, I only enjoy his performance more as I now see how far Karras truly is from the man himself. Jason Millers
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because he has possessed me.
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We'll miss you coach.
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May 16, 2001 11:18:56 AM CDT
I thought Jason Miller died like two weeks after the Exorcist wa
by jrcash
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