Dean Miller, born
Dean C. Stuhlmueller (November 1, 1924—January 13, 2004), was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and
broadcasterBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults....
, perhaps best known for his role as the son-in-law in the CBS sitcom
December BrideDecember Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959, adapted from the original CBS radio network series that aired from June 1952 through September 1953.-Overview:...
(1954-1959). Thereafter, Miller was a co-host of the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
celebrity interview program
Here's HollywoodHere's Hollywood is a former NBC television celebrity interview program which aired on weekday afternoons at 4:30 Eastern time from September 26, 1960, to December 28, 1962. In the first season, the interviews were conducted by Dean Miller , of the former CBS series December Bride, and Joanne Jordan...
.
Miller was born in
HamiltonHamilton is a city in Butler County, southwestern Ohio, United States. The population was 60,690 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Butler County. The city is near the metropolitan areas of Cincinnati and Dayton....
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
, and graduated from
Ohio State UniversityOhio State University is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the largest single-campus university in the United States. Ohio State is currently ranked by U.S...
in
ColumbusColumbus is the capital and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is the county seat of Franklin County, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware and Fairfield counties...
. He worked first at a
radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
station in
AlbanyAlbany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Dean Miller, born
Dean C. Stuhlmueller (November 1, 1924—January 13, 2004), was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and
broadcasterBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults....
, perhaps best known for his role as the son-in-law in the CBS sitcom
December BrideDecember Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959, adapted from the original CBS radio network series that aired from June 1952 through September 1953.-Overview:...
(1954-1959). Thereafter, Miller was a co-host of the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
celebrity interview program
Here's HollywoodHere's Hollywood is a former NBC television celebrity interview program which aired on weekday afternoons at 4:30 Eastern time from September 26, 1960, to December 28, 1962. In the first season, the interviews were conducted by Dean Miller , of the former CBS series December Bride, and Joanne Jordan...
.
Miller was born in
HamiltonHamilton is a city in Butler County, southwestern Ohio, United States. The population was 60,690 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Butler County. The city is near the metropolitan areas of Cincinnati and Dayton....
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
, and graduated from
Ohio State UniversityOhio State University is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the largest single-campus university in the United States. Ohio State is currently ranked by U.S...
in
ColumbusColumbus is the capital and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is the county seat of Franklin County, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware and Fairfield counties...
. He worked first at a
radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
station in
AlbanyAlbany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He left for Hollywood and made his screen debut in 1952 as Archie O'Conovan in the
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
Skirts Ahoy! and followed up that same year with appearances as Ben Jones in
Because You're MineBecause You're Mine is a 1952 musical comedy film starring Mario Lanza. Directed by Alexander Hall, the film also stars Doretta Morrow, James Whitmore, and Dean Miller.-Production:...
and as Monty Dunstan in
Everything I Have Is Yours. In 1953, he played Mac in
Small Town GirlSmall Town Girl is a musical film directed by László Kardos and starring Jane Powell, Farley Granger, and Ann Miller. Busby Berkeley choreographed several dance numbers. Bobby Van performed the memorable "Street Dance", in which he hopped all around town. The film features song performances by...
and George in
Dream WifeDream Wife is a 1953 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Sidney Sheldon and produced by Dore Schary, from a screenplay by Herbert Baker, Alfred Lewis Levitt and Sidney Sheldon. The music score was by Conrad Salinger, the...
with
Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was a British-American actor...
and
Deborah KerrDeborah Kerr, born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer, CBE was a British stage, television and film actress...
.
In 1954, Miller was cast as 30-year-old Matt Henshaw, an
architectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
, in
December Bride, opposite
Spring ByingtonSpring Byington was an American actress, best remembered for working as a key MGM contract player.-Early life:...
(1886-1971) as his widowed mother-in-law, Lily Ruskin, and
Frances RaffertyFrances Rafferty was an American actress, dancer, World War II pin-up girl and MGM contract star.-Early life:Born in Sioux City, Iowa, she moved with her family to Los Angeles, California at age nine...
(1922-2004) as his television wife, Ruth Ruskin Henshaw.
Verna FeltonVerna Felton was an Emmy-nominated American actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera.Her film appearances during the 1940s included If I Had My Way ,...
(1890-1966) and
Harry MorganHarry Morgan is an American television actor. Morgan is perhaps best-known as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey ,-Early life and career:Morgan was born Harry...
(born 1915) also had recurring supporting roles in the series as Hilda Crocker, Lily's best friend, and Pete Porter, the wisecracking nextdoor neighbor who was an
insuranceInsurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed and known...
agent.
December Bride was a somewhat unusual program in that all five stars appeared in all 111 episodes. Most of the scenes were in the Henshaw's living room. The series was sufficiently successful that it spawned a
spin-offA spin-off is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one, such as television series based on a pre-existing one, or a new company formed from a university research group or business incubator...
,
Pete and GladysPete and Gladys is an American situation comedy broadcast by CBS on Monday night at 8:00pm Eastern and Pacific time for two seasons, beginning on September 19, 1960...
(1960-1962) starring Harry Morgan and
Cara WilliamsCara Williams is a retired American film and television actress.-Biography:Born as Bernice Kamiat to an Austrian emigrant father and a mother of Rumanian descent, she began her screen acting career in 1941, and was initially billed as Bernice Kay...
as Pete and Gladys Porter.
After
December Bride, Miller acted only twice in a television series, as "Millionaire Harry Brown" in a 1959 episode of CBS's
The MillionaireThe Millionaire is a television drama anthology series that aired on CBS from January 19, 1955 to June 8, 1960, originally sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive.. The series explored the ways unexpected wealth changed life for better or for worse...
fantasyFantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Many works within the genre take place on fictional planes or planets where magic is common...
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
, and as George Manville in the 1960 segment "Happily Unmarried" of NBC's short-lived sitcom
The Tab Hunter ShowThe Tab Hunter Show is a 32-episode situation comedy starring former teen idol Tab Hunter. The series ran new episodes on NBC from September 18, 1960, to April 30, 1961; rebroadcasts then aired from May until September 18.-Synopsis:...
. He then joined
Here's HollywoodHere's Hollywood is a former NBC television celebrity interview program which aired on weekday afternoons at 4:30 Eastern time from September 26, 1960, to December 28, 1962. In the first season, the interviews were conducted by Dean Miller , of the former CBS series December Bride, and Joanne Jordan...
, where he often interviewed stars and singers in their own homes, including Cary Grant,
Paul NewmanPaul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and auto racing enthusiast...
, and
Elizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE , also known as Liz Taylor, is an English-born British-American actress. Known for her acting skills and beauty, as well as her Hollywood lifestyle, including many marriages...
. In 1963, Miller appeared as a guest on the NBC daytime
quiz showQuiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film which tells the true story of the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s. It stars John Turturro, Rob Morrow, Ralph Fiennes, Paul Scofield, David Paymer, Hank Azaria, and Christopher McDonald....
Your First ImpressionYour First Impression is a NBC daytime game show which aired from January 2, 1962, to June 26, 1964. A panel of three celebrities tried to guess the identity of mystery guests from clues supplied by the host. Bill Leyden, who was the MC of the program, with Dennis James as a regular panelist or...
, with
Bill LeydenBill Leyden was a television game show host and announcer who emceed six game shows, including It Could Be You , Your First Impression , and You're Putting Me On...
and
Dennis JamesDennis James , born Demi James Sposa, was an American television personality who worked as an actor, wrestling announcer, sports show host, game show host and newsreel announcer. He is credited as the host of television's first game show, the DuMont Network's Cash and Carry in 1946...
.
In 1965, Miller purchased radio station
WMVR-FMWMVR-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Sidney, Ohio, broadcasting an Hot AC music format. Its studios, offices, and transmitter are located on Russell Road, just outside of Sidney, Ohio.-Early history...WMVR-AM 1960s:...
(105.5), then an
AMAmplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
outlet in
SidneySidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,211 at the 2000 census. It is named after English poet Sir Phillip Sidney and is the county seat of Shelby County.Sidney was the recipient of the 1964 All-America City Award...
, Ohio. He died of
cancerCancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
at the age of seventy-nine in
Grosse Pointe WoodsGrosse Pointe Woods is a suburban city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan, comprising a large portion of the upscale Grosse Pointe communities. The population was 17,080 at the 2000 census.- Geography :...
,
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, near
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
. Survivors included his wife, the former Ida Wagner, who still operates the radio station, and three children. Miller is interred at Graceland Cemetery in Sidney, Ohio.