Mark Thomas Miller (actor)
Encyclopedia
Biography
Mark Thomas Miller is an AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. Born on 3 May 1960, in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, and Miller grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Glen Ellyn is an affluent village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the village population was 26,999.-Geography:...
. His father was a grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
(now retired) and his mother is celebrated oil painter
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
Mary Miller.
He attended high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
at Shaker High in Loudonville, NY, just out side of Albany. During his late teens and early 20s, he worked as a doorman
Bouncer (doorman)
A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...
at various night clubs in NYC including CBGB's, The Mudd Club
Mudd Club
The Mudd Club was a TriBeCa nightclub that was opened in October 1978 by Steve Mass, art curator Diego Cortez and Anya Phillips, a figure in the downtown punk scene...
, and the original Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
. After one year at Wagner College
Wagner College
Wagner College is a private, co-educational, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 total students located atop Grymes Hill in New York City's borough of Staten Island...
on Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, NY he dropped out to pursue his career in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
which included studying at the Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
with the late Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
and appearing in numerous stageplays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
and commercials.
He sang and played guitar with a group called "Trash" (until 1983) and eventually moved to Los Angeles, CA where he worked as a bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
for Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
and operated an afterhours club in Hollywood owned by David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....
, before gaining a part in the short-lived NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series Misfits of Science
Misfits of Science
Misfits of Science is an American superhero fantasy television series that aired on NBC from October 1985 to February 1986. It featured a cast of super-powered humans and their madcap adventures...
.
In 1991, a disfiguring accident stalled his career, prompting him to become a building contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
specializing in home remodeling
Renovation
Renovation is the process of improving a structure. Two prominent types of renovations are commercial and residential.-Process:The process of a renovation, however complex, can usually be broken down into several processes...
for the handicapped
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
. In addition to his ADA work, he worked on the homes of Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Robin Leach, William Peterson, and Brad Pitt, among others. Mark's work has also appeared on MTV's "House of Style", MTV's "Cribs", and "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous".
Mark often found ways to rekindle his acting career over the years, which included performing at The Groundling Improv Group
The Groundlings
The Groundlings are an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin to produce sketches and improvised scenes...
for three years and co-writing sketches
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
that appeared on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
and MadTV
MADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
, until losing his patience for the business of acting.
In 2003, Mark started a product engineering and development
Product engineering
Product engineering refers to the process of designing and developing a device, assembly, or system such that it be produced as an item for sale through some production manufacturing process. Product engineering usually entails activity dealing with issues of cost, producibility, quality,...
company, and has since been awarded numerous patents for his designs and inventions. One of his most recent ventures is Hagar Tools Inc, which recently released the Benchmark Portable Work Table. Additionally, Mark works part time as a rescue diver
Diver rescue
thumb|right|Beaching a casualty while providing artificial respirationDiver rescue, following an accident, is the process of avoiding or limiting further exposure to diving hazards and bringing a SCUBA diver to safety...
in Los Angeles, where he resides with his wife, Lisa, whom he married on 17 June 2006, and their two boys.
Films
- "The Enigma with a Stigma," (2006) .... Glen Blackman
- "Ski SchoolSki School (film)Ski School is a 1991 comedy film about a fictional ski school starring Dean Cameron. A sequel, Ski School 2, followed in 1994, also starring Cameron.-Plot:...
," (1991) .... Reid Janssens - "Mom," (1990) .... Clay Dwyer
Series
- "L.A. 7", aka "S Club 7 in L.A."L.A. 7L.A. 7 was the second series in the BBC television series starring British pop group S Club 7. The programme was shown every week on CBBC from April 6, 2000 to July 6, 2000 and starred all seven members of the band as themselves...
, (2000) .... Bob Daniels (1 episode) - "The Last FrontierThe Last Frontier (sitcom)The Last Frontier, is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network in 1996. It featured a wealthy woman who moved to Anchorage, Alaska, sharing housing with three men who did not possess her social adeptness.- Cast :* Anthony Starke as Billy...
," (1996) .... Band Leader (1 episode) - "Silk StalkingsSilk StalkingsSilk Stalkings is a TV crime drama originally shown on CBS in 1991 as part of the network's late-night Crimetime After Primetime programming package, and rebroadcast on the USA Network. After CBS ended the Crimetime experiment in 1993, the series ran exclusively on USA until its finale in the...
," (1996).... Mack Shepard (1 episode) - "P.S. I Luv UP.S. I Luv UP.S. I Luv U is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS as a part of its 1991-92 schedule. The title derived from the phone number of fictitious Palm Security and Investigations, which was 774-5888, which can be reached by dialing "PSI-LUVU" on a standard North American...
," (1991) .... Mitch Sanford (1 episode) - "Alien NationAlien Nation (TV series)Alien Nation is a science fiction television series, loosely based on the movie of the same name. Gary Graham starred as Detective Matthew Sikes, a Los Angeles police officer reluctantly working with "Newcomer" alien George Francisco , played by Eric Pierpoint...
" (1990).... "Newcomer" Wyatt Earp, named after the western figureWyatt EarpWyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
(1 episode) - "Hard Time on Planet EarthHard Time on Planet EarthHard Time on Planet Earth is a short-lived American science fiction series that aired on CBS as a midseason replacement in 1989. Airing for 13 episodes, the series starred Martin Kove and was created by Jim and John Thomas....
," (1989) .... Mike Russo (1 episode) - "Sonny SpoonSonny SpoonSonny Spoon was a detective program aired in the United States on the NBC television network in 1988. The series was created by Michael Daly, Dinah Prince, Stephen J. Cannell and Randall Wallace and produced by Stephen J...
," (1988) .... Bobby "Cheap" Cologne (1 episode) - "Desert Rats," (1988) .... Owen (1 episode)
- "The HighwaymanThe Highwayman (TV series)The Highwayman is an action-adventure themed television series starring Sam J. Jones, set in "the near future." It was created by Glen A. Larson and Douglas Heyes. The pilot aired in September 1987, and was followed by a short-lived series of nine episodes, with significant changes to the cast and...
," (1988) .... Lieutenant (1 episode) - "Elvis and MeElvis and MeElvis and Me is a 1985 biography written by Priscilla Presley . In the book, Priscilla talks about meeting Elvis, their marriage, and the factors that led up to the couple's divorce....
," (1988) .... Jerry Schilling (1 episode) - "Blue de Ville," (1986) .... Rod Sandusky (1 episode)
- "Misfits of ScienceMisfits of ScienceMisfits of Science is an American superhero fantasy television series that aired on NBC from October 1985 to February 1986. It featured a cast of super-powered humans and their madcap adventures...
," (1985–1986) .... John 'Johnny B.' Bukowski (16 episodes) - "Trauma Center" (1983) .... Teenager (1 episode)
Features
- Revealing Evidence: Stalking the Honolulu Strangler, (1990) .... Tillish