10 Best Unsung Actors From Each Movie Genre
1. Dick Miller - Horror
You know that guy Dick Miller. He even had a documentary made about him, That Guy Dick Miller.
Miller started his career as a Broadway actor and always sought out work as a writer, but found his niche when he starred in Roger Corman's excellent B-grade horror film A Bucket of Blood. Miller plays busboy Walter Paisley, who soon discovers his murderous artistic works are the toast of the beatnik art scene. It was a surprisingly sharp-witting satire, and Miller was downright tragic as the poor schlub Paisley.
"I've played Walter Paisley five times now, I think," he told critic Alan Frank. In reality, by 2011, he had played the part seven times, popping up in friend and Corman alum Joe Dante's work as the character several times, also in Night of the Creeps and Chopping Mall.
Miller became something of a household name to horror fans after Dante started reusing the actor, casting him in Hollywood Boulevard, Piranha, Gremlins, The Twilight Zone: The Movie, Matinee, Explorers and countless others.
He's probably best remembered for Gremlins, and Dante even gave him a much meatier opportunity to reprise the part of shellshocked "W-W-Eye-Eye" Vet Murray Futterman in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Even in roles where comedy overshadowed the horror, he brought a kind of pathos to roles that otherwise would have been bit parts.
Miller passed away of natural causes last year at 90, leaving one of the best-loved character actor CVs in the industry.