- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDennis Linn Miller
- Height6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
- Denny Miller was born in Bloomington, Indiana, where his father, Ben Miller, was a physical=education instructor at Indiana University. He and his brother Kent began playing basketball almost from the days they were born. The Miller family left Bloomington when Denny was in fourth grade. He and Kent played basketball in Silver Spring, Maryland and Baldwin, New York before the family moved to Los Angeles where, at University High School, Denny and Kent came to the attention of coach John Wooden. They were given full-ride scholarships to UCLA. The Miller brothers played together at UCLA for one year, and their father joined the faculty of UCLA. In his senior year, while working as a furniture mover to pay for school, Denny was discovered on Sunset Boulevard by a talent agent, who signed him with MGM. His first role was a bit part in Some Came Running (1958), which was filmed in Madison, Indiana. Denny said, "I was the only one who came running. I came running to tell Dean Martin that somebody was in town to shoot him!" He became the first blond Tarzan in Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959)), a low-budget quickie that lifted most of its footage from earlier Johnny Weissmuller movies. MGM had him under contract for 20 months; in that time he worked 8 weeks as "Tarzan". After that he did guest spots on a number of TV series, finally becoming a regular on Wagon Train (1957) as Duke Shannon (his name was then Scott Miller). In 1965-66 he starred (as Denny again) with Juliet Prowse in Mona McCluskey (1965).- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
- SpousesKit Smythe(February 8, 1969 - ?) (divorced, 1 child)Nancy Carol Gordinier(? - September 9, 2014) (his death)
- ParentsBen Miller
- Towering height
- In addition to appearing on two separate episodes of Gilligan's Island (1964), he was previously married to Kit Smythe, who played Ginger on the Gilligan's Island (1964) unaired pilot.
- For years he was the "Gorton Fisherman", appearing in numerous commercials in his yellow rain gear. In early 2005 he was replaced by another actor, Craig Littler, according to Gorton. The company indicated the change was made because of their desire to take a "change in direction" in its commercials. Miller had become the Gorton icon.
- The first blond Tarzan (Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959)).
- Played Tarzan in Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959) and later appeared on a Gilligan's Island (1964) episode as an actor posing as an ape man.
- Once lived in in Las Vegas, NV.
- I had a great deal of fun playing Tarzan. If it has had a bad effect -- well, I'm not going to do [William Shakespeare], I've never wanted to. And I've always loved having been Tarzan.
- Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959) - $180 /week
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