Jason Miller (playwright)

{{Infobox person

| name = Jason Miller

| image = Jason Miller - Broadway headshot c. 1972.jpg

| caption = Miller, {{circa}} 1972

| birth_name = John Anthony Miller, Jr.

| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|4|22|}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|5|13|1939|4|22|mf=y}}

| death_place = Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| occupation = Playwright, actor

| education = University of Scranton (BA)
Catholic University (MA)

| years_active = 1972–2001

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Linda Gleason|1963|1973|reason=divorced}}
{{marriage|Susan Bernard|1974|1983|reason=divorced}}
{{marriage|Ruth Josem|1984|1990|reason=divorced}}}}

| children = 4, including Jason Patric and Joshua John Miller

}}

Jason Miller (born John Anthony Miller Jr.; April 22, 1939{{spaced ndash}}May 13, 2001) was an American playwright and actor. He won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play for his play That Championship Season, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Father Damien Karras in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist, a role he reprised in The Exorcist III (1990). He later became artistic director of the Scranton Public Theatre in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where That Championship Season was set.

Early life

Miller was born John Anthony Miller Jr. in Queens, New York City{{cite web |url=http://www.scrantontimestribune.com/zwire/jasonmiller/story9.htm |title=News | thetimes-tribune.com |work=Scranton Times-Tribune |access-date=August 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525052031/http://www.scrantontimestribune.com/zwire/jasonmiller/story9.htm |archive-date=May 25, 2010 |url-status=dead}} to Mary Claire (née Collins), a teacher, and John Anthony Miller Sr., an electrician.{{cite news|author=Staff writers |title=Jason Miller's Storied Career |url=http://www.scrantontimestribune.com/zwire/jasonmiller/story5.htm |work=Scranton Times Tribune |date=May 14, 2001 |access-date=December 19, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114031652/http://www.scrantontimestribune.com/zwire/jasonmiller/story5.htm |archive-date=January 14, 2009}}{{cite web|title=Jason Miller Biography|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/74/Jason-Miller.html|work=filmreference|year=2008|access-date=November 25, 2008}} His ancestry was primarily Irish Catholic, with some German.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b_kZAAAAYAAJ|title=Current Biography Yearbook |year=1976|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|page=38|location=New York|last=Moritz|first=Charles|oclc=781401319}}

His family moved to Scranton in 1941, where Miller was educated at St. Patrick's High School and the Jesuit-run University of Scranton, where he received a degree in English and philosophy. He then attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., as a graduate student in the speech and drama department. Although the Associated Press reported upon his passing that he earned a master's degree there, Miller had claimed that he was asked to leave the school before taking a degree "for never attending classes, never taking tests and never getting the girls back to their dormitory by 10 o'clock."{{cite news|last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/15/arts/jason-miller-playwright-and-actor-dies-at-62.html |title=Jason Miller, Playwright and Actor, Dies at 62 |work=The New York Times |date=May 15, 2001 |access-date=August 27, 2016}} During this time, he taught drama and English at nearby Archbishop Carroll High School.

Career

Miller attracted fame in 1972 by winning a Pulitzer Prize for his play, That Championship Season, which also won the 1973 Tony Award for Best Play. The original Broadway cast featured Charles Durning, Richard Dysart, and Paul Sorvino. That same year, he was offered the role of the troubled priest, Father Damien Karras, in William Friedkin's horror film The Exorcist (1973), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. After his nomination for The Exorcist, he was offered the lead role in Taxi Driver (1976) but turned it down to do Robert Mulligan's The Nickel Ride.

In 1982, Miller directed the screen version of That Championship Season. Featured in the cast were Robert Mitchum (replacing William Holden, who died before filming began), Paul Sorvino, Martin Sheen, Stacy Keach, and Bruce Dern. His own film career was sporadic, as he preferred to work in regional theatre. He starred as Henry Drummond, opposite Malachy McCourt as Matthew Brady, in the Philadelphia production of Inherit The Wind.{{cite web |url=http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&keyword=name&first=Jason&last=Miller&middle= |title=Search – Lortel Archives |website=Lortel.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005080805/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&keyword=name&first=Jason&last=Miller&middle= |archive-date=October 5, 2012 |url-status=dead}}

Miller worked as artistic director with The Scranton Public Theatre. With SPT, he directed and starred in various productions including Blithe Spirit, Harvey, California Suite, Crimes of the Heart, and The Lion in Winter. He acted occasionally in feature films, including The Devil's Advocate (1977), The Dain Curse (1978), The Ninth Configuration (1980), Toy Soldiers (1984), The Exorcist III (1990) and Rudy (1993), playing Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian.{{IMDb name|588553|Jason Miller}}

In 1998, he toured the country in his one-man play Barrymore's Ghost, ending the tour with a four-month run off-Broadway. In October 2000, he performed Barrymore's Ghost in a successful and critically acclaimed production directed by Michael Leland at Theatre Double main stage in Philadelphia. Miller's last project was a 2001 revival of The Odd Couple for the Pennsylvania Summer Theatre Festival, in which he was to appear in the role of Oscar Madison, but he died of a heart attack before the production opened.

Personal life

Miller was the father of actors Jason Patric (by first wife Linda Gleason, daughter of Jackie Gleason) and Joshua John Miller (by second wife Susan Bernard).{{cn|date=February 2025}}

As of 1972, he was a resident of Neponsit, Queens, New York.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kN0X2c9JqcUC&q=%22jason+miller%22+%22neponsit%22&pg=PR66 |title=Drama/comedy Awards, 1917–1996: From Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams ... |isbn=978-3-598-30182-7 |access-date=August 27, 2016|last1=Fischer |first1=Heinz Dietrich |last2=Fischer |first2=Erika J. |year=1998 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter }} He moved to Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, in 1973.Funke, Phyllis. [https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/10/archives/jason-miller-found-success-in-failure-new-film-in-works-film-is.html "Jason Miller Found Success in Failure"], The New York Times, February 10, 1974. Accessed January 6, 2024. "Yet, in his next breath, this long‐time resident of Queens (Flushing and Neponsit) who moved to Upper Saddle River, N.J. last June, concedes, 'I would. In fact, I must. As much as I love to wander, I could never leave the New York area forever."

In 1982, he returned to Scranton to become artistic director of the Scranton Public Theatre, a regional theatre company founded the year before.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Death

On May 13, 2001, Miller died of a heart attack in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.{{cite news|author=Henn, Jennifer |title=Jason Miller dies |url=http://www.scrantontimestribune.com/zwire/jasonmiller/story1.htm |work=Scranton Times Tribune |date=May 24, 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114031645/http://www.scrantontimestribune.com/zwire/jasonmiller/story1.htm |archive-date=January 14, 2009}}

In 2004, actor Paul Sorvino, a longtime friend of Miller's and a cast member of all three versions of That Championship Season, was commissioned by Scranton to create a bronze bust of the late playwright and actor. The statue was unveiled in December 2008.

In March 2011, the first Broadway revival of That Championship Season opened. The cast comprised Brian Cox, Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Gaffigan, and Miller's elder son, actor Jason Patric.{{cite web|url=http://broadwayworld.com/article/Cox_Gaffigan_Noth_Patric_Sutherland_to_Star_in_THE_CHAMPIONSHIP_SEASON_20101102 |title=Cox, Gaffigan, Noth, Patric & Sutherland to Star in THE CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON |work=Broadway World|date=November 2, 2010|access-date=December 22, 2017}} The urn containing Miller's ashes was placed on the set by Patric, who played the role Miller had based on himself.

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"

style="background:#B0C4DE;"

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1973

| data-sort-value="Exorcist, The" | The Exorcist

| Father Damien Karras

| Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

1974

| data-sort-value="Nickel Ride, The" | The Nickel Ride

| Cooper

1975

| data-sort-value="Home of Our Own, A" | A Home of Our Own

| Father William Wasson

| TV film

rowspan="2"|1976

| F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood

| F. Scott Fitzgerald

| TV film

El Perro

| Aristides Ungria

| a.k.a. The Dog
aka Vengeance (US home release title)

1977

| data-sort-value="Devil's Advocate, The" | The Devil's Advocate

| Dr. Meyer

1978

| data-sort-value="Dain Curse, The" | The Dain Curse

| Owen Fitzstephan

| Miniseries

1979

| Vampire

| John Rawlins

| TV film

rowspan="3"|1980

| data-sort-value="Ninth Configuration, The" | The Ninth Configuration

| Lt. Frankie Reno

| a.k.a. Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane

data-sort-value="Henderson Monster, The" | The Henderson Monster

| Dr. Tom Henderson

| TV film

Marilyn: The Untold Story

| Arthur Miller

| TV film

1981

| data-sort-value="Best Little Girl in the World, The" | The Best Little Girl in the World

| Clay Orlovsky

| TV film

rowspan="2"|1982

| That Championship Season

| Screenwriter / Director
Nominated – Golden Berlin Bear at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1983/02_programm_1983/02_Programm_1983.html |title=Berlinale: 1983 Programme |access-date=November 20, 2010|work=Berlinale}}

Monsignor

| Don Vito Appolini

rowspan="3"|1984

| Toy Soldiers

| Sarge

data-sort-value="Touch of Scandal, A" | A Touch of Scandal

| Garrett Locke

| TV film

Terror in the Aisles

| Archival footage

rowspan="2"|1987

| Light of Day

| Benjamin Rasnick

Deadly Care

| Dr. Miles Keefer

| TV film

1990

| data-sort-value="Exorcist III, The" | The Exorcist III

| Patient X (Father Damien Karras)

1992

| Small Kill

| Mikie

1993

| Rudy

| Ara Parseghian

rowspan="2"|1995

| Mommy

| Lieutenant March

Murdered Innocence

| Detective Rollins

1998

| Trance

| The Doctor

| a.k.a. The Eternal

1999

| That Championship Season

| TV film
Screenwriter

2000

| Slice

2002

| Paradox Lake

2003

| Finding Home

| Lester Bownlow

2023

| data-sort-value="Exorcist: Believer, The" | The Exorcist: Believer

| Father Damien Karras

| Archive footage

Bibliography

Nobody Hears a Broken Drum (1970)
Lou Gehrig Did Not Die of Cancer (1971)
That Championship Season (1972)
Barrymore's Ghost (2000)
Three One-Act Plays (1973, drama)

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0588553|Jason Miller}}
{{IBDB name}}
{{iobdb name|3392}}
[http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2005/08/15/exorcist-jason-miller/ "Jason Miller Remembers The Exorcist"], filmbuffonline.com; accessed June 23, 2014.

Category:1939 births

Category:2001 deaths

Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights

Category:20th-century Roman Catholics

Category:American male film actors

Category:American people of German descent

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:Male actors from Queens, New York

Category:People from Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Category:Writers from Scranton, Pennsylvania

Category:Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners

Category:American Roman Catholic writers