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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Stormin' Home | Bailiff | 1985-04-05 |
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Silverado | Carter | 1985-07-10 |
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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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Tom Horn | Ora Haley | 1980-03-28 |
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Skyward | Pilot #1 | 1980-11-20 |
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The Sky Trap | Sheriff | 1979-05-13 |
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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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Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Air Traffic | 1977-12-14 |
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Keep My Grave Open | Hitchhiker | 1977-12-17 |
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The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald | 1977-09-30 | |
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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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Creature from Black Lake | Sheriff Billy Carter | 1976-03-01 |
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The Florida Connection | Deke | 1975-11-21 |
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Ride in a Pink Car | Barlow | 1974-06-21 |
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'Gator Bait | Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas | 1974-10-12 |
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The Sugarland Express | Hunter | 1974-03-31 |
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Where the Red Fern Grows | Sam Bellington | 1974-06-21 |
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Encounter with the Unknown | Second Man | 1972-11-15 |
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Fair Play | Jed Bartrum | 1972-01-01 |
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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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Hell Raiders | Tex | 1969-06-01 |
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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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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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The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde | Policeman (uncredited) | 1968-08-22 |
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Sam | 1967-01-01 | |
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Zontar: The Thing from Venus | Sheriff Brad Crenshaw | 1967-12-01 |
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The Eye Creatures | Sergeant | 1967-10-20 |
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Spiked Heels and Black Nylons | Abel | 1967-01-01 |
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Hip Hot and 21 | Lt. Lang | 1967-03-01 |
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Night Fright | Deputy Ben Whitfield | 1967-11-01 |
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The Black Cat | Bartender | 1966-05-01 |
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High Yellow | Major Bates | 1965-08-04 |
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Hot-Blooded Woman | Railroad Tough | 1965-10-01 |
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The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald | Witness | 1964-04-22 |
