1920-11-04 Texas, USA
Character actor Bill Thurman was born on November 4, 1920 in Texas. A large, rugged, stocky man with a hard, lined, puffy face, a deep, twangy, amicable voice, a strong, bulky build and a charmingly low-key and down-to-earth unaffected natural screen presence, Thurman often portrayed police officers and assorted scruffy redneck types in a huge number of entertainingly cheap'n'cheesy Southern-fried fright flicks and delightfully down'n'dirty drive-in fare made throughout the 60s and 70s. Bill frequently acted in features for legendary Grade Z low-budget independent filmmaker Larry Buchanan; said movies include "The Eye Creatures," "High Yellow," "Zontar the Thing from Venus," "Mars Needs Women," "Curse of the Swamp Creature," "In the Year 2889," the especially atrocious "It's Alive!," and "A Bullet for Pretty Boy." Moreover, Thurman had bit parts in two Steven Spielberg films: he's a hillbilly hunter in "The Sugerland Express" and an air traffic controller in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Bill's other memorable roles include the abusive Coach Popper in Peter Bogdanovich's magnificent "The Last Picture Show," a doomed hitchhiker in "Keep My Grave Open," a corrupt sheriff in the Claudia Jennings exploitation classic "'Gatorbait," a mean small town deputy in "Ride in A Pink Car," a more amiable sheriff in the fantastic Bigfoot winner "Creature from Black Lake," Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith's father in "Slumber Party '57," a priest in "The Evictors," and the boozy, dissolute Reverend Bill McWiley in the enjoyably crummy "Mountaintop Motel Massacre." Bill Thurman died in Dallas, Texas on April 13, 1995. - IMDb Mini Biography By: woodyanders
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Painted Hero | Old Man Bolen | 1997-09-16 |
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In Broad Daylight | Virgil Teague | 1991-02-03 |
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Innocent Prey | Jim Gardner | 1989-06-15 |
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Hawken's Breed | Jeb Kline | 1987-01-01 |
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Alamo Bay | Sheriff | 1985-04-03 |
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Silverado | Carter | 1985-07-10 |
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Stormin' Home | Bailiff | 1985-04-05 |
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Mountaintop Motel Massacre | Reverend Bill McWiley | 1983-07-15 |
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The Long Summer of George Adams | Floyd | 1982-01-18 |
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Raggedy Man | Sheriff | 1981-09-18 |
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Skyward | Pilot #1 | 1980-11-20 |
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Tom Horn | Ora Haley | 1980-03-28 |
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The Evictors | Preacher Higgins | 1979-04-17 |
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The Beasts Are on the Streets | Carl Evans | 1978-05-18 |
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The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald | 1977-09-30 | |
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Air Traffic | 1977-12-14 |
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Charge of the Model T's | Sgt. Bond | 1977-11-04 |
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Slumber Party '57 | Mr. Willis | 1976-08-31 |
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The Florida Connection | Deke | 1976-02-06 |
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Keep My Grave Open | Hitchhiker | 1976-01-01 |
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Creature from Black Lake | Sheriff Billy Carter | 1976-03-01 |
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Ride in a Pink Car | Barlow | 1974-06-21 |
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Where the Red Fern Grows | Sam Bellington | 1974-06-21 |
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'Gator Bait | Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas | 1974-10-12 |
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The Sugarland Express | Hunter | 1974-04-05 |
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Fair Play | Jed Bartrum | 1972-01-01 |
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Encounter with the Unknown | Second Man | 1972-11-15 |
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The Last Picture Show | Coach Popper | 1971-10-03 |
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A Bullet for Pretty Boy | Huddy | 1970-07-15 |
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In the Year 2889 | Tim Henderson | 1969-01-19 |
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It's Alive! | Greely / Monster | 1969-10-30 |
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Hell Raiders | Tex | 1969-06-01 |
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The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde | Policeman (uncredited) | 1968-08-22 |
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Mars Needs Women | Drunk on Pier | 1968-08-24 |
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Curse of the Swamp Creature | Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature | 1968-02-01 |
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Spiked Heels and Black Nylons | Abel | 1967-01-01 |
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Night Fright | Deputy Ben Whitfield | 1967-11-01 |
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Sam | 1967-01-01 | |
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Hip Hot and 21 | Lt. Lang | 1967-03-01 |
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The Eye Creatures | Sergeant | 1967-10-20 |
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Zontar: The Thing from Venus | Sheriff Brad Crenshaw | 1967-12-01 |
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The Black Cat | Bartender | 1966-05-01 |
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Hot-Blooded Woman | Railroad Tough | 1965-10-01 |
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High Yellow | Major Bates | 1965-08-04 |
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The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald | Witness | 1964-04-22 |
