Dennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator,
actorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
,
sports commentatorIn sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references. He rose to fame as a cast member of
Saturday Night LiveSaturday 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...
in 1985, and subsequently hosted a string of his own
talk showA talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s on HBO,
CNBCCNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
and in syndication. He currently hosts a daily, three-hour, self-titled talk radio program, nationally syndicated by
Westwood OneWestwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
.
Although in his early years of fame he was perceived to be quite liberal and anti-Republican, in recent years, Miller has become known for his
right-leaningIn politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
political opinions. He is a regular political commentator on
Fox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
's
The O'Reilly FactorThe O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
in a segment called "Miller Time", and previously appeared on the network's
Hannity & ColmesHannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
in a segment called "Real Free Speech".
Early life
Miller was born in
Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, and grew up in
Castle ShannonCastle Shannon is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 8,316 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where he graduated from
Keystone Oaks High SchoolKeystone Oaks High School, built in 1969, is a public high school in the South Hills suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the only high school in the Keystone Oaks School District...
in 1971. His parents separated and Miller was raised by his mother, Norma, a
dietitianDietitians supervise the preparation and service of food, develop modified diets, participate in research, and educate individuals and groups on good nutritional habits. The goals of dietitians are to provide medical nutritional intervention, and to obtain, safely prepare, serve and advise on...
. Miller is of
ScottishThe Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
descent. At
Point Park UniversityPoint Park University is a liberal arts university located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered....
, he majored in
journalismJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
because he thought it would be easy: "I remember seeing
All the President's MenAll the President's Men is a 1976 Academy Award-winning political thriller film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post...
and thinking
RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
looked cool in his crinkled tie." He was a member of
Sigma Tau GammaSigma Tau Gamma Fraternity also named "Sig Tau" or "the Knights" is a U.S. all-male college secret-social fraternity founded on June 28, 1920 at University of Central Missouri...
Fraternity. About his social status during this period, Miller writes: "When I went to college, I lived on campus, and the guys I hung out with made me do some things I'm not proud of, although they made the characters in
Revenge of the NerdsRevenge of the Nerds is a 1984 comedy film satirizing social life on a college campus. The film stars Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards, with Curtis Armstrong, Ted McGinley, Julia Montgomery, Brian Tochi, Larry B. Scott, John Goodman, and Donald Gibb...
look like the
Rat PackThe Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
in 1962. I myself made that kid
BoogerCurtis Armstrong is an American actor best known for his portrayal as Booger in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, as Herbert Viola on Moonlighting, and as famed record producer Ahmet Ertegün in the film Ray.-Early life:...
look like
Remington SteeleRemington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
" (
I Rant, Therefore I Am). Miller graduated from Point Park University in 1976.
In 1979 Miller won $500 as a runner-up in Playboy magazine's first annual humor competition with the following joke:
Television career
In the early 1980s, Miller hosted
The Trolley Show, a Saturday afternoon
newsmagazineA news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
for teenagers, on Pittsburgh's
KDKA-TVKDKA-TV, channel 2, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center....
. He also produced humorous essays for the syndicated
Evening MagazineEvening Magazine is the name of various news and entertainment style local television shows in different markets.-The original concept:...
television program. Miller then began performing stand-up in
New YorkNew 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...
comedy clubs such as
Catch A Rising StarCatch a Rising Star is a chain of comedy clubs, founded in New York City in December 1972 and owned by Rick Newman. It has since spread to other areas, such as Las Vegas and New Jersey....
and The Comic Strip, as well as in Los Angeles at
The Comedy StoreThe Comedy Store is a comedy club located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It has a sister comedy club in La Jolla, San Diego, California.-History:...
. He appeared on
Star SearchStar Search is a television show that was produced from 1983-95, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Alfred Masini. A relaunch was produced in 2003-04. The show was originally filmed at the old Earl Carroll Theatre at 6230 Sunset Blvd...
, where he lost out to fellow comedian Sinbad after the two tied with judges' scores, but Sinbad won with a higher studio-audience approval rating.
Saturday Night Live
Miller's big break came in 1985 when he was discovered by
Lorne MichaelsLorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
at
The Comedy StoreThe Comedy Store is a comedy club located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It has a sister comedy club in La Jolla, San Diego, California.-History:...
. He landed a spot on
Saturday Night LiveSaturday 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...
, where he succeeded
Christopher GuestChristopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several improvisational "mockumentary" films that...
as the
Weekend UpdateWeekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance...
anchor. The spot was supposed to go to comic
Jon LovitzJonathan "Jon" Lovitz is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is best known as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990.-Early life:...
, but Lovitz was scheduled for other parts on the show and needed the
Update segment to do costume changes; so Miller was drafted to read the news.
Miller began his fictional news reports with "Good evening, and what can I tell you?" and closed with "That's the news, folks, and I am outta here!" Fans of
SNL became accustomed to his smirky delivery, high-pitched giggle, and frequently primped hair idiosyncrasies that would be spoofed by
Dana CarveyDana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for playing the role of Garth in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...
,
Tom HanksThomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
, and
Jimmy FallonJames Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
, all of whom have impersonated Miller on the show. When Miller left
SNL in 1991, the anchor's chair was turned over to
Kevin NealonKevin Nealon is an American actor and comedian, best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1995, acting in several of the Happy Madison films, for playing Doug Wilson on the Showtime series Weeds, and providing the voice of the title character, Glenn Martin on Glenn Martin,...
.
In 1988, Miller released a stand-up comedy CD,
The Off-White Album, derived from an HBO special titled
Mr. Miller Goes to Washington, which drew heavily from the
observationalObservational comedy is a style of humor based on making remarks about commonplace aspects of everyday life. It is the most common type of humor used in stand up comedy.The humor is based on the premise of "It's funny because it's true."-External links:* *...
and
metaphorA metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
-driven style he was known for on
Saturday Night Live, and showed glimpses of the political humor that would influence his later work. A well-received HBO special,
Dennis Miller: Black and White, aired shortly after the release of the CD.
Although Miller spent much of his time on
SNL behind the
Weekend Update desk, he was included in some sketches and did a few recurring characters and celebrity impersonations.
Recurring characters
- Koko, one of the pixies in the recurring sketch "Miss Connie's Fable Nook"
- Steve, one of The Stand-Ups (others include Jon Lovitz
Jonathan "Jon" Lovitz is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is best known as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990.-Early life:...
as Bob, Damon WayansDamon Kyle Wayans is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor, one of the Wayans brothers.-Early life:Wayans was born in New York City, New York, the son of Elvira, a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Wayans, a supermarket manager...
as Keith, and Tom HanksThomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
as Paul)
The Dennis Miller Show
In 1992, following his departure from
Saturday Night Live, Miller launched a late-night TV talk show,
The Dennis Miller Show, syndicated by
Tribune EntertainmentTribune Entertainment was a television production and syndication company owned and operated by Tribune Broadcasting in the mid-1980s. Many programs offered from Tribune Entertainment have been broadcast on the company's television stations....
.
The Dennis Miller Show was among the first "
alternativeAlternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures...
" talk shows, featuring cutting-edge bands and other groundbreaking guests not seen on other late-night programs of the time. For example,
Toad the Wet SprocketToad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986. The band consists of singer/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss. The band enjoyed chart success in the 1990s with the singles "Walk on the Ocean," "All I Want,"...
made their national television debut on the show, and
Henry RollinsHenry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
stopped by occasionally to chat with Miller and perform
spoken wordSpoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
.
Andy SummersAndy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
, formerly of the band
The PoliceThe Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
, led the house band, and
Nick Bakay was the announcer. The show's staff boasted a standard mix of past and future performers, writers, and producers of note including
Nick Bakay,
Todd BakerTodd Baker is an American film and television producer.Baker originally set out to be an actor, and attended both California State University, Northridge and the State University of New York at Purchase at the school's four-year acting conservatory....
,
Mark BrazillMark Brazill is a television creator and executive producer. He is most well-known as being the co-creator of the FOX situation comedy, That '70s Show which aired for eight seasons, and also co-created the series' in-direct spinoff, That '80s Show which was cancelled by Fox after its first season...
(
That '70s ShowThat '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
), Eddie Feldmann,
David KohanDavid Sanford Kohan is an American television producer. After writing for The Wonder Years and The Dennis Miller Show, Kohan co-created and produced Will & Grace, Good Morning, Miami, Twins and Four Kings with Max Mutchnick. Kohan has won an Emmy and a People's Choice Award. He has been nominated...
&
Max MutchnickJason Nidorf Mutchnick is an American television producer. He has received an Emmy Award, a People's Choice Award, and several Golden Globe Award nominations....
(creators of
Will & GraceWill & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
),
Norm MacdonaldNorman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years...
,
Bob OdenkirkRobert "Bob" Odenkirk is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series Mr...
(
Mr. ShowMr. Show with Bob and David is an American sketch comedy series featuring former Saturday Night Live writer/actor Bob Odenkirk and stand up comedian/actor David Cross...
),
John RiggiJohn Riggi is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor who has worked on various television shows.He has worked as a writer on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock...
,
Kevin RooneyKevin Rooney , is a former boxer and a current boxing trainer.-Amateur Boxing Career:Rooney won the 1975 147 lb Sub-Novice New York Golden Gloves Championship. Rooney defeated Kevin Higgins of West Point in the finals...
, Herbert Sargent (
Saturday Night LiveSaturday 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...
),
Drake SatherDrake Sather was an American stand-up comedian and Emmy nominated television writer. His credits include Zoolander, Saturday Night Live, Dennis Miller Show, Ed and NewsRadio....
, and
Dave ThomasDavid "Dave" Thomas is a Canadian comedian and actor. He was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, but moved to Durham, North Carolina where his father, John E. Thomas, attended Duke University and earned a PhD in Philosophy. Thomas attended George Watts and Moorehead elementary schools...
(
Second City TV).
Dennis Miller Live
Beginning in 1994, Miller hosted
Dennis Miller LiveDennis Miller Live is a weekly talk show on HBO, hosted by comedian Dennis Miller. The show ran 215 episodes from 1994 to 2002, and received five Emmy awards, plus an additional 11 Emmy nominations...
, a half-hour talk show on HBO. The show's theme song was the iconic
Tears for FearsTears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...
hit
Everybody Wants to Rule the World"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by the British New Wave band Tears for Fears.It was the band's ninth single release in the United Kingdom and seventh UK Top 40 chart hit, peaking at number two in April 1985...
, and also utilized a snippet of the song
Civilized by the
Rollins BandRollins Band was an American rock band led by singer and songwriter Henry Rollins.They are best known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" and "Liar", which both earned heavy airplay on MTV in the early 1990s...
.
The show was taped at
CBS Television CityCBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
on the same stage that
The Price Is RightThe Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
is taped. It utilized a small set and sparse lighting, and there was no band. It comprised mainly Miller, speaking to the largely unseen studio audience, on a darkened stage. He hosted one guest per show, with whom he would discuss the topic of the day. Early on, they were all interviewed live via satellite, but soon most guests were live in the studio. There was also a call-in segment. The number was originally given as 1-800-LACTOSE. Later, he referred to it only by its numeric equivalent (1-800-522-8673). Within the time available, Miller typically could accommodate only two or three calls. He gradually eliminated call-ins entirely in the last few seasons of the show. Miller and his writing staff won five
Emmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s during the show's run, which aired 215 episodes over nine years. HBO cancelled the show in 2002.
Monday Night Football
In 2000, Miller beat out
Rush LimbaughRush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
and
Tony KornheiserAnthony Irwin "Tony" Kornheiser is an American sportswriter and former columnist for The Washington Post, as well as a radio and television talk show host...
(among others) for a job as
color commentatorA color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's
Monday Night FootballMonday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
. His commentary was sprinkled with esoteric references. A common Miller-ism was after a
Hail Mary passA Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary route in American football refers to any very long forward pass made in desperation with only a small chance of success, especially at or near the end of a half....
fell incomplete, he would say "Hail Mary is denied –
separation of church and stateThe concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
." After two seasons, Miller and former
San Diego ChargersThe San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
' quarterback
Dan FoutsDaniel Francis Fouts is a retired Hall of Fame American football quarterback in the National Football League. Fouts played his entire professional career with the San Diego Chargers from 1973 through 1987...
(who worked alongside play-by-play man
Al MichaelsAlan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...
) were replaced by the veteran football commentator John Madden. In 2010, TV Guide Network listed Miller's stint at #12 on their list of
25 Biggest TV Blunders.
CNBC show
In 2003, Miller provided short-lived regular commentary for the Fox News show
Hannity & ColmesHannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
before moving on to do a prime-time political show on
CNBCCNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
in early 2004 called, simply,
Dennis Miller. The hour-long show contained a daily news segment called "The Daily
RorschachThe Rorschach test is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning...
", which was reminiscent of his
Weekend Update segments. He also had a chimpanzee, as a nod to the early days of the Today show and their mascot
J. Fred MuggsJ. Fred Muggs is a chimpanzee that was the mascot for NBC's Today Show from 1953 to 1957.The show debuted in 1952, with amiable host Dave Garroway. The show was in trouble initially; the addition of J. Fred Muggs boosted ratings and helped win advertisers...
. The show also featured a panel discussion dubbed "The Varsity", which offered a wide variety of political viewpoints on current topics. Frequent "Varsity" panelists included
Ed SchultzEdward Andrew "Ed" Schultz Is an American television and radio host and a liberal political commentator . He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk."-Early...
,
Gloria AllredGloria Rachel Allred is an American lawyer noted for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particulary those involving the protection of women's rights.-Early life:...
, Willie Brown, David Horowitz,
Mickey KausRobert Michael Kaus , better known as Mickey Kaus, is an American journalist, pundit, and author best known for writing Kausfiles, a "mostly political" blog which was featured on Slate until 2010. Kaus is the author of The End of Equality and had previously worked as a journalist for Newsweek, The...
,
Steven KatzDr. Stephen M. "Steve" Katz is an American veterinarian, business owner and politician from Mohegan Lake, New York. He is currently a member of the New York State Assembly, representing parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties....
, Lawrence O'Donnell,
Phil HendriePhilip Stephen Hendrie is an American radio personality. He is best known as the host of The Phil Hendrie Show, a comedy talk radio program that is syndicated throughout North America on Talk Radio Network...
, and
Harry ShearerHarry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...
. CNBC cancelled the show in May 2005 due to declining viewership.
Guest appearances and commercials
Miller has appeared as a guest or guest star on various shows, including
Boston PublicBoston Public is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. It centered on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school located in Boston, Massachusetts. The show was named for the real public school district in which it takes place...
,
The Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
,
Hannity & ColmesHannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
,
NewsRadioNewsRadio is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1995 to 1999. The series was created by executive producer Paul Simms, and was filmed in front of a studio audience at CBS Studio Center and Sunset Gower Studios...
,
The O'Reilly FactorThe O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
,
The Norm ShowNorman Gene "Norm" Macdonald is a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is best known for his five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, which included anchoring Weekend Update for three years...
,
Real Time with Bill MaherReal Time with Bill Maher is a talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous show, Politically Incorrect on ABC , Real Time features a panel of guests that discuss current events in politics and the media...
,
SportsCenterSportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
, and late-night talk shows such as
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,
Late Night with David LettermanLate Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
and
The Late Late Show with Craig FergusonThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
.
Miller hosted the
MTV Video Music AwardsAn MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
in 1995 and 1996. He was also the host of HBO's 1996 series of election specials,
Not Necessarily the Election.
He has appeared in various television commercials, serving as a spokesman for
M&M'sM&M's are dragée-like "colorful button-shaped candies" produced by Mars, Incorporated...
candies, 10-10-220 long distance service, and the Internet service provider
NetZeroNetZero is an Internet service provider based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. It is a subsidiary of United Online, owner of Juno Online Services and BlueLight Internet Services. The current chairman, president, and CEO of United Online is Mark Goldston.- History :NetZero launched in...
. About these activities he has remarked: "Everybody has to
sell outThe first release by Boston hard rock band Halfcocked. It came out in 1998 on Curve of the Earth Records.-Track listing:#"Crash" – 3:24 #"Holly Wood" – #"Return of the Living Dead" – #"Superstar" –...
at some point to make a living. I'm a family man. I sold out to make an M&M commercial. They offer incredible amounts of money, and I say, ‘What can I do to sell one more piece of candy for you? Do you want me to hug the M&M?’ " Dennis also did a short B2B commercial for Blockbuster/IBM partnership company, New Leaf Entertainment.
Return to Fox News Channel
On September 21, 2006, Miller returned to Fox News Channel with a two-and-a-half-minute commentary on
illegal immigrationIllegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
during his "Real Free Speech" segment on
Hannity & ColmesHannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
. He appeared on 13 of the 17 aired episodes of the comedy show
The Half Hour News Hour.
Currently, he has a weekly segment called "Miller Time" on
The O'Reilly FactorThe O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
. Miller has also appeared on
Red Eye w/ Greg GutfeldRed Eye w/Greg Gutfeld is a late-night/early-morning satirical talk show on the Fox News Channel, airing at 3:00 am ET Tuesday through Saturday. The show features panelists and guests discussing the latest news in politics, pop culture, entertainment, business, sports, and religion...
under the pseudonym "Mansquito", a name Miller has pledged to use on future appearances on the network.
Game shows
Miller co-hosted the game show
Grand Slam, which aired on GSN in 2007.
For one month, Miller hosted
Amne$ia for
NBCThe 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...
. The show was a replacement program commissioned during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike and was canceled once the strike was resolved and scripted programming returned to the network.
Sports Unfiltered on Versus
Miller's days as a sports commentator did not end when he left
Monday Night Football. In 2007,
VersusVersus is a sports-oriented cable television channel in the United States. It was previously known as Outdoor Life Network and was launched on July 1, 1995, focusing on fishing, hunting, and other outdoor sports...
, the cable network best known for its coverage of the
National Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
, tapped Miller to host
Sports Unfiltered.
The Dennis Miller Show
In January 2007, Miller signed a deal with
Westwood OneWestwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
to launch a weekday three-hour
talk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
program. The program debuted on March 26, 2007. The show's website provides a live stream of the broadcast. The site also makes archives of all shows available in
MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format. The live feed is free, but a subscription to the Dennis Miller Zone (DMZ) is required in order to access archived broadcasts. The show airs on 250+ stations, many of which (especially in the major markets) are owned by
Salem CommunicationsSalem Communications is a U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher specializing in evangelical Christian and conservative political talk radio. It owns 99 commercial radio stations, 65 of which are in the top 25 markets. Salem is the fifth largest U.S....
, airing on tape delay on some of those stations between 6–9 pm ET and 9 pm-12 am ET. Salem stations also air a "best of" Miller show on Saturdays. His former on-air sidekick "Salman" (
David S. WeissDavid S. Weiss is an American comedy writer. He has written for Dennis Miller Live, CNBC's "Dennis Miller", The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn, and Penn & Teller: Bullshit!...
) also wrote for
Dennis Miller Live. His producer "Christian" previously appeared on-camera as dozens of different characters during the "Daily Rorschach" segment on his CNBC television show.
Miller's program includes serious discussions about American culture, current events, politics, and their place in the global context. The show is infused with Miller's sarcasm, which is often characterized by obscure pop culture references. For example, each hour of the show opens up with an arcane reference. The first hour's opening phrase is a combination of dialogue from the film
Thank You for Smoking and a U.S. space program slogan coined by
Alan ShepardAlan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit...
: "What's up, Hiroshi? Let's light this candle!" Miller's other opening phrases for his second and third hours respectively are "Come to me my babies, let me quell your pain", (
Powers BoothePowers Allen Boothe is an American television and film actor. Some of his most notable roles include his Emmy-winning 1980 portrayal of Jim Jones and his turn as Cy Tolliver on Deadwood, as well as Vice-President Noah Daniels on 24....
as
Jim JonesJames Warren "Jim" Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of 909 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip.Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in...
in
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim JonesGuyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones, also called The Mad Messiah, is a 1980 television miniseries about the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones, and their 1978 mass suicide at Jonestown. Based on the book by Charles A...
) and "ABC –
Always
be
closing if you want the knife set" (from
Glengarry Glen RossGlengarry Glen Ross is a 1984 play written by David Mamet. The play shows parts of two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical, illegal acts—from lies and flattery to bribery, threats, intimidation and burglary—to sell...
).
Most shows feature three guests (one per hour), mostly from the world of politics and entertainment, as well as calls from listeners. Guests include fellow comedians and
SNL alumni (such as
Dana CarveyDana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for playing the role of Garth in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...
and
Jon LovitzJonathan "Jon" Lovitz is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is best known as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990.-Early life:...
), pundits and authors such as
Ann CoulterAnn Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...
,
Aaron KleinAaron Klein is an American author, Middle East correspondent, head of the Jerusalem bureau for WorldNetDaily , columnist for The Jewish Press, and a radio talk show host who, among other things, is known for interviewing middle eastern political figures, along with various leaders of terrorist...
and
Mark SteynMark Steyn is a Canadian-born writer, conservative-leaning political commentator, and cultural critic. He has written five books, including America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It, a New York Times bestseller...
(while the show's guest list leans right of center, there are several liberals who have appeared on the show, such as
Dennis KucinichDennis John Kucinich is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He was furthermore a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections....
and
Alan DershowitzAlan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...
), Presidential candidates, several sports commentators, and some "regulars",
Howard FinemanHoward Fineman is an American journalist who is senior politics editor at the Huffington Post. Prior to his move to Huffington Post in October 2010, he was Newsweek’s Chief Political Correspondent, Senior Editor and Deputy Washington Bureau Chief. An award-winning writer, Fineman also is an NBC...
of
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, singer
Peter NoonePeter Noone is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as "Herman" of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's Hermits.-Early life:...
of
Herman's HermitsHerman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
,
Nikki FinkeNikki Finke is an American journalist and blogger. She is Founder and Editor in chief and President of Deadline.com, a website with original content consisting of her and other veteran showbiz journalists' reporting and commentary on the business of the entertainment industry formerly known as...
, and Representative
David DreierDavid Timothy Dreier is the U.S. Representative for , serving in Congress since 1981. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education, and business career:...
, a Republican congressman from California, among many others. Dennis Miller generally takes calls every hour, and in addition to comments about culture and politics, Miller encourages humorous callers and often comments on their comedic delivery. A segment on Fridays is set aside for "Dennis
Ex MachinaA deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
", his term for a segment without a guest, where he allows phone calls on any topic.
According to
Talkers MagazineTalkers Magazine is a trade industry publication related to talk radio in the United States. Its slogan is "The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media"...
estimates, as of September 2010, Miller's show has an estimated 1,740,000 weekly listeners. Talkers ranks him 33rd among the country's top radio talk show hosts in 2011. Miller and Westwood One renewed their agreement in September 2009, for an undisclosed number of years.
Other endeavors
Miller periodically performs stand-up at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. In recent appearances, he has done a mix of his old and new material, with some political jokes as well.
He has authored four books based on his stand-up comedy and television monologues:
The Rants (1996),
Ranting Again (1999),
I Rant, Therefore I Am (2000), and
The Rant Zone (2001).
Miller has appeared in several films, in both comedic and non-comedic roles. His movie credits include
MadhouseMadhouse is a 1990 film starring Kirstie Alley and John Larroquette as a successful married couple whose idyllic California life is ruined when their house is overrun by unwelcome houseguests. This begins when their mail is delayed due to forwarding issues and they find out a cousin, Fred, and his...
,
DisclosureDisclosure is a 1994 thriller directed by Barry Levinson, starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. It is based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same name.The cast also includes Donald Sutherland, Rosemary Forsyth and Dennis Miller...
,
The Net,
Never Talk to StrangersNever Talk to Strangers is a 1995 American thriller film directed by Peter Hall and starring Antonio Banderas and Rebecca De Mornay.-Plot:...
,
Bordello of BloodBordello of Blood is a 1996 comedy/horror film starring Dennis Miller, Erika Eleniak, Angie Everhart, Corey Feldman, and Chris Sarandon. It is based on the HBO television series Tales from the Crypt. It received an R rating for vampire violence, gore, language, and nudity...
,
What Happens in VegasWhat Happens in Vegas is a 2008 American romantic comedy film from 20th Century Fox starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. The title is based on the marketing catchphrase, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."-Plot:...
and
Murder at 1600Murder at 1600 is a 1997 thriller film starring Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Dennis Miller, Ronny Cox, Daniel Benzali, and Alan Alda. The 1600 in the title refers to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the address of the White House. The film is based on the novel Murder in the White House by Margaret Truman,...
. He plays the
Howard SternHoward Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
-like talk-radio host Zander Kelly in
Joe DirtJoe Dirt is a 2001 American comedy film starring David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Brian Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Jaime Pressly, Erik Per Sullivan, Adam Beach and Kid Rock. The film was written by Spade and Fred Wolf.-Plot:...
(2001) and appears as himself in
Thank You for Smoking (2006).
Miller guest hosted the
Slammy AwardsThe Slammy Awards is a concept used by WWE, previously known as the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment, where awards, similar to the Academy and Grammy Awards, are given to professional wrestlers and other individuals within WWE, such as commentators and managers...
episode of
WWE RawWWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
on December 14, 2009.
Comedic style
Miller is known for his laid-back style (for example, calling people "babe" or referring to them as "cats") and acerbic, brooding sense of humor. His specialty is the
rant—a stream-of-consciousness diatribe monologue in which he rails against whatever happens to be bothering him at the moment. Such rants typically begin with "Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but..." and end with "...of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong." (During the first two seasons of
Dennis Miller Live, his rants ended with "Aw, fuck it. Who wants pie?")
Miller's monologues and standup routines often feature elaborate
simileA simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things, usually by employing the words "like", "as". Even though both similes and metaphors are forms of comparison, similes indirectly compare the two ideas and allow them to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas...
s and
metaphorA metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
s involving
allusionAn allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H...
s to obscure people, places, and things. Miller has alluded to his own reputation for obscurity by titling one of his television specials
Citizen Arcane. On his passion for language, he has remarked: "I've always loved the flirtatious tango of
consonantIn articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
s and
vowelIn phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s, the sturdy dependability of
nounIn linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s and capricious whimsy of
verbA verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s, the strutting pageantry of the
adjectiveIn grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
and the flitting evanescence of the
adverbAn adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....
, all kept safe and orderly by those reliable little policemen, punctuation marks. Wow! Think I got my ass kicked in high school?"
He was voted number 21 on
Comedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
Personal life
Miller married Carolyn "Ali" Espley, a former
modelA model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
from
VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
,
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada, on April 10, 1988. Espley is best known as the girl in
KajagoogooKajagoogoo are a British pop band, best known for their hit single, "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 5 on the U.S...
's "
Too ShyToo Shy is a song written and recorded by English New Wave/pop music band Kajagoogoo, released in 1983. The first single from their debut album White Feathers, the song was an immediate hit and reached no.1 on the UK Singles Chart...
" music video. The couple live in
Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, with their two sons, Holden (born 1990) and Marlon (born 1993). His younger brother Jimmy Miller has been a manager for comedians such as
Jim CarreyJames Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
,
Will FerrellJohn William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
,
Judd ApatowJudd Apatow is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is well known for his work in comedy films, especially for films he has been involved with throughout the latter half of the 2000s. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, a film production company that also developed the...
, and
Sacha Baron CohenSacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and voice artist. He is most widely known for his portrayal of three unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat, and Brüno...
.
Political views
During the late 1980s and continuing through the 1990s, Miller was generally perceived as a cynic on the left, ever eager to bash
conservativeConservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
Republicans. This perception did not change much even when Miller told
USA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
in 1995: "I might be profane and opinionated, but underneath all that are some pretty conservative feelings. On most issues, between
ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and
Newt GingrichNewton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
, I'd choose Newt in a second, even though he is a bit too exclusionary." Miller also declared himself a "conservative
libertarianLibertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
" in a 1996
Playboy interview.
Miller's ideology changed significantly in the years following the
September 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, when he became one of the Hollywood celebrities backing
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and the war in Iraq. Miller has said that one of the defining moments, in addition to 9/11, for his move from the
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
was watching a 2004
primaryA primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
debate between the nine Democrats then contending for their party's nomination. "I haven't seen a starting nine like that since the
'62 MetsThe New York Mets season was the first regular season for the Mets, as the National League returned to New York for the first time since . They went 40-120 and finished tenth and last in the National League, games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants, who once called New York home...
", he remarked.
Slate.com commentator Dennis Cass describes Miller as having changed from a "left-leaning,
DadaDada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
-ist wisenheimer" to a "tell-it-like-it-is, right-wing blowhard." The perceived change did not surprise former
Saturday Night Live colleague and
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Senator
Al FrankenAlan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
, however: "People have said to me, ‘What happened to Dennis?’ Nothing happened to Dennis. He's the same Dennis. He's always had a conservative streak on certain issues."
While not at all shy about expressing his conservative opinions on topics such as taxes and
foreign policyA country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
, Miller is quick to point out that he is still quite liberal on many social issues, including
abortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and gay marriage. During a recent interview, Miller said "I'm basically a libertarian. I'm pro-gay marriage and
pro-choiceSupport for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
, but nobody wants to hear all that.... They determine who you are based on the war." During an interview on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he said that he did not believe in
global warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, and that even if it was happening, he would not mind it because he does not like to be cold.
In a radio interview with
Penn JillettePenn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, bassist and a best-selling author known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism.-Early...
on September 22, 2006, Miller explained his libertarianism, saying, "...[a libertarian is] what I am, I'll be honest with you. I'm for gay marriage. I don't believe in abortion but I'm pro-choice 'cause it's none of my business. Pretty much anything goes with me if you're not infringing yourself on other people but, I'll tell ya, 9/11 changed me.... You gotta go around and explain it to people and they think you're a
turncoatA turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party...
."
On February 21, 2007, while appearing as a guest on
The O'Reilly Factor, and again on May 25, 2007, while appearing as a guest on
The Tonight ShowThe Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, Miller stated that he initially supported
Rudy GiulianiRudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
for
president in 2008The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
. After Giuliani's departure from the race he redirected his support to
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
.
Miller endorsed
Herman CainHerman Cain is a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination.Cain has a background as a business executive, syndicated columnist, and radio host from Georgia. He served as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza from 1986 to 1996...
in the
2012 presidential electionThe United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United States presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which presidential electors, who will actually elect the President and the Vice President of the United...
.
Film
- Madhouse
Madhouse is a 1990 film starring Kirstie Alley and John Larroquette as a successful married couple whose idyllic California life is ruined when their house is overrun by unwelcome houseguests. This begins when their mail is delayed due to forwarding issues and they find out a cousin, Fred, and his...
(1990) - Wes
- Disclosure
Disclosure is a 1994 thriller directed by Barry Levinson, starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. It is based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same name.The cast also includes Donald Sutherland, Rosemary Forsyth and Dennis Miller...
(1994) - Mark Lewyn
- The Net (1995) - Dr. Alan Champion
- Never Talk to Strangers
Never Talk to Strangers is a 1995 American thriller film directed by Peter Hall and starring Antonio Banderas and Rebecca De Mornay.-Plot:...
(1995) - Cliff Raddison
- Bordello of Blood
Bordello of Blood is a 1996 comedy/horror film starring Dennis Miller, Erika Eleniak, Angie Everhart, Corey Feldman, and Chris Sarandon. It is based on the HBO television series Tales from the Crypt. It received an R rating for vampire violence, gore, language, and nudity...
(1996) - Rafe Guttman (Miller often refers to this film as his "magnum opusMagnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...
.")
- Murder at 1600
Murder at 1600 is a 1997 thriller film starring Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Dennis Miller, Ronny Cox, Daniel Benzali, and Alan Alda. The 1600 in the title refers to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the address of the White House. The film is based on the novel Murder in the White House by Margaret Truman,...
(1997) - Detective Stengel
- Joe Dirt
Joe Dirt is a 2001 American comedy film starring David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Brian Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Jaime Pressly, Erik Per Sullivan, Adam Beach and Kid Rock. The film was written by Spade and Fred Wolf.-Plot:...
(2001) - Zander Kelly
- What Happens in Vegas
What Happens in Vegas is a 2008 American romantic comedy film from 20th Century Fox starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. The title is based on the marketing catchphrase, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."-Plot:...
(2008) - Judge Whopper
HBO specials
- Mr. Miller Goes to Washington (1988)
- The 13th Annual Young Comedians Special (1989) (host)
- Black and White (1990)
- Live from Washington, D.C.: They Shoot HBO Specials, Don't They? (1993)
- State of the Union Undressed (1995)
- Citizen Arcane (1996)
- The Millennium Special: 1,000 Years, 100 Laughs, 10 Really Good Ones (1999)
- The Raw Feed (2003)
- Dennis Miller: All In (2006)
- The Big Speech (2010)
Audio
- The Off-White Album (Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, 1988)
- The Rants (Random House Audio, 1996)
- Ranting Again (Random House Audio, 1998)
- Rants Redux (Random House Audio, 1999)
- I Rant, Therefore I Am (Random House Audio, 2000)
- The Rant Zone: An All-Out Blitz Against Soul-Sucking Jobs, Twisted Child Stars, Holistic Loons, and People Who Eat Their Dogs! (HarperAudio, 2001)
- Still Ranting After All These Years (HarperAudio, 2004)
Print
- The Rants (Doubleday, 1996) ISBN 0-385-47804-6
- Ranting Again (Doubleday, 1999) ISBN 0-385-48852-1
- I Rant, Therefore I Am (Doubleday, 2000) ISBN 0-385-49535-8
- The Rant Zone: An All-Out Blitz Against Soul-Sucking Jobs, Twisted Child Stars, Holistic Loons, and People Who Eat Their Dogs! (HarperCollins, 2001) ISBN 0-06-621066-6
External links