Geri Miller
{{Short description|American dancer and actor}}{{Infobox person
| name = Geri Miller
| birth_name = Geraldine Miller
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|04|27}}
| birth_place = Clifton, New Jersey, U.S.
| occupation = Go-go dancer, actress
}}
Geri Miller (born April 27, 1942) is an American former go-go dancer and actress. She was a dancer at New York's Peppermint Lounge in the 1960s and appeared in sexploitation films before becoming part of pop artist Andy Warhol's Factory crowd. As a Warhol Superstar, she appeared in the films Flesh (1968), Trash (1970), and Women in Revolt (1971). She also starred in Warhol's play Pork (1971). A self-described "super groupie," Miller was linked to various musicians, including Ringo Starr, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and James Brown.
Early life and education
Geraldine Miller was born to Mr. and Mrs. Morris Miller in Clifton, New Jersey on April 27, 1942.{{Cite web |last=West |first=Ashley |date=2024-04-07 |title=NYC Starlets – Part 3: An Afternoon with Geri Miller, Warhol Super-Groupie and Sexploitation Actress - Podcast 138 |url=https://www.therialtoreport.com/2024/04/07/geri-miller/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=The Rialto Report |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Geri Miller |url=https://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/geri-miller/1086475/main/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Moviefone |language=en}} After graduating from Clifton High School in 1960, she attended Berkeley College in New Jersey.
Career
While attending Berkeley College, Miller built a portfolio as a model and dancer before being recruited as a chorus line girl at the Peppermint Lounge nightclub in New York City. The Peppermint Lounge was a celebrity hot spot and as a go-go dancer, Miller met many musicians who partied at the nightclub.{{Cite news |last=Dempsey |first=Marion |date=1965-06-05 |title=Stars' Girl Friend Aims for Fame |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-journal-peppermint-lounge-dan/147545992/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |work=The Ottawa Journal |pages=54}}
Miller made her first film appearance as a go-go dancer in Fail Safe (1964). She recorded the songs "We All Warned You" and "Peppermint Jerk" as the lead singer of The Peppermints, a trio of dancers. The single "We All Warned You" was released on RSVP Records in 1965 and received a 4-star rating from Billboard magazine.{{Cite magazine |date=April 3, 1965 |title=Spotlight Winners of the Week |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZykEAAAAMBAJ&dq=The+Peppermints+We+All+Warned+You+1965&pg=PA14 |magazine=Billboard |pages=14}}
Miller was fired from the Peppermint Lounge after her lover James Brown sent her a telegram to the nightclub. Afterward, Miller became a topless dancer at the Jazz club Metropole Cafe in New York City. The change of environment was difficult for her and as a result, she took more uppers for confidence and became promiscuous. Feeling about her body, Miller later got a non-surgical breast augmentation through silicone injections.
In September 1966, Miller was a contestant for the 'Miss Night Beat' title aboard a gambling cruise.{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Earl |date=1966-09-20 |title=It Happened Last Night |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-geri-miller-f/147543562/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |work=Newsday (Suffolk Edition) |pages=7A}} Miller discovered that journalist Earl Wilson was one of the judges so she went to his office and gave him a picture of herself in a "daring outfit." Wilson wrote about their encounter in his syndicated column It Happened Last Night.
While working as a topless go-go dancer in spots such as the M & M Lounge in Greenwich Village and Metropole in Midtown Manhattan, Miller ventured into acting.{{Cite news |last=Leogrande |first=Ernest |date=1970-11-17 |title=Night Owl Reporter: Dancing in the Noon |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-geri-miller-dancing-in-the-n/174682867/ |access-date=2025-06-17 |work=Daily News |pages=6}} Miller appeared with Muhammad Ali in the ill-fated Broadway production Buck White in 1969.{{Cite journal |last=Finborough |first=Roger |date=November 1971 |title=Andy Warhol's Pork |url=https://archive.org/details/ph-1971-11/page/n73/mode/2up |journal=Penthouse |pages=73-77}}{{Cite web |title=Andy Warhol's Pork (aka Pork) original program - The Round House London 1971 |url=https://saint-martin-bookshop.com/cdn/shop/files/Andy-Warhol-s-Pork-_aka-Pork_-original-program---The-Round-House-London-1971-Warhol-Andy-1692701117197.jpg?v=1692701392 |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=Saint-Martin Bookshop |language=en}}
She appeared in several sexploitation films, including The Wall of Flesh (1968), Sex by Advertisement (1968), Meeting on 69th Street (1969), Monique, My Love (1969), and The Telephone Book (1971). She had small roles in the films The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970) and Pound (1970).
Miller began hanging around the Factory crowd in the late 1960s. She appeared in the Warhol-produced underground films Flesh (1968), Trash (1970), and Women in Revolt (1971).{{Cite news |last=Harvey |first=Peter |date=1971-08-03 |title=Focus was on Miss Miller |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-warhol-superstar-geri-mille/143581869/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |work=The Guardian |pages=5}} She starred as Josie in Warhol's play Pork, which was controversial due to the nudity and sexual acts simulated.{{Cite news |last=Jenour |first=Kenelm |date=1971-08-03 |title=Sex Show 'Pork' Is The Top Of The Flops |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-mirror-andy-warhol-pork-at-the-rou/143583448/ |access-date=2024-03-18 |work=Daily Mirror |pages=9}} The play had a two-week run at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York City in May 1971.{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |date=1971-05-23 |title='Pork' Is Not The Kosher-est Show in Town |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/23/archives/-pork-is-not-the-kosherest-show-in-town-warhol-and-pork.html |access-date=2020-05-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The production was brought to the Roundhouse in London for a six-week run in August 1971.{{Cite journal |last=Lokke |first=Geoffrey |date=2019-01-01 |title=The Theatre of Andy Warhol: Pork in New York and London |journal=PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=54–75 |doi=10.1162/pajj_a_00452 |issn=1520-281X |s2cid=59337107}} Miller caused a scandal in London when she was arrested for exposing her breasts during a photo session in front of Clarence House, the residence of the Queen Mother.{{Cite book |last1=McNeil |first1=Legs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UbHeAQAAQBAJ&dq=geri+miller+warhol+pork&pg=PT131 |title=Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk |last2=McCain |first2=Gillian |date=2014-01-28 |publisher=Grove/Atlantic, Inc. |isbn=978-0-8021-9276-9 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Matlock |first=Glen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPvvEAAAQBAJ&dq=geri+miller+bowie&pg=PA29 |title=Triggers: A Life In Music |date=2024-02-20 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=979-8-88674-181-0 |pages=30 |language=en}} She was released from jail after pleading guilty to insulting behavior.{{Cite news |last=Sloan |first=Robin Adam |date=1971-08-24 |title=The Gossip Column |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tribune-geri-miller-arrested-in-lond/147666274/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |work=The Scranton Tribune |pages=2}}
In 1974, Miller stated that Warhol did not pay her enough for her film roles.{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Earl |date=May 28, 1974 |title=It Happened Last Night |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |pages=14}} Following their falling out, she withdrew from the public. In the book The Andy Warhol Diaries, Warhol mentioned in a diary entry on November 30, 1985, that Miller called him from a women's shelter and he referred to her as a "young senile person."{{Cite book |last1=Warhol |first1=Andy |url= |title=The Andy Warhol Diaries |last2=Hackett |first2=Pat |date=1989 |publisher=Warner Books |isbn=978-0-446-51426-2 |location=New York |pages=696 |language= |entry=Entry date: November 30, 1985}} "In her Trash days she was our most sensible superstar—then in the seventies she suddenly got crazy. One day she was very down to earth, worrying about her topless dancing career, and then the next week she showed up barefoot to 860, saying that the Mafia gave her LSD because she knew too much!" recalled Warhol.
Personal life
In October 1962, Miller met singer James Brown at the Peppermint Lounge. He invited her to his show with The Famous Flames at the Apollo Theater in Harlem the night he recorded the live album Live at the Apollo (1963). Miller and Brown continued an on-and-off relationship for some years. Due to discrimination against interracial couples and because Brown criticized Black musicians who were involved with White women, they kept their affair hidden.{{Cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Brandon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JA1GEAAAQBAJ&dq=geri+miller+james+brown&pg=PT50 |title=Tanqueray |last2=Johnson |first2=Stephanie |date=2022-07-12 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-250-27828-9 |language=en}} Miller turned down Brown's marriage proposal because she was ashamed of her secret drug habit. "I said no, even though I loved him. … I was taking uppers all the time because I needed to keep up with… life. I was sad to turn him down, but I didn't want him to find out," she said.
In February 1964, Miller had a brief affair with drummer Ringo Starr when The Beatles first toured America.{{Cite book |last=Starr |first=Michael |url= |title=Ringo: With a Little Help |date=2015 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-1-61713-120-2 |location=Montclair, NJ |pages=107–108}}{{Cite news |last=Homcy |first=George |date=1964-03-07 |title=She Met Beatle, Dated Some: Clifton Girl Remembers Ringo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news-geri-miller-remembers-da/147603021/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |work=The Herald-News |pages=4}} By June 1965, she reportedly dated guitarist Lenny Davidson of The Dave Clark Five, drummer Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys, and Gordon Waller of Peter and Gordon, who surprised her with a painting.
In the mid-1960s, Miller dated Dino Danelli, drummer of the rock group The Young Rascals. They lived together for some time in her Manhattan apartment at 310 West 47th St. After his group found success, Miller found it hard to cope with his affairs. "He was the first guy to break my heart. I was so sad. We split, and he moved out and into his own place," she recalled.
References
External links
- {{imdbname|0588399}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Geri}}
Category:People associated with The Factory
Category:American female erotic dancers
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American dancers
Category:Clifton High School (New Jersey) alumni