Kenneth McMillan(1932-1989)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Character actor Kenneth McMillan was born on July 2, 1932 in Brooklyn,
New York. Prior to becoming an actor, McMillan was a manager at Gimbels
Department Store. At age 30, McMillan decided to pursue an acting
career. He attended the LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts and
took acting lessons from Uta Hagen and
Irene Dailey. He made his film debut at age
41 with a small role in Sidney Lumet's
superbly gritty police drama
Serpico (1973). Portly and ruddy-faced,
with an often aggressive and cantankerous demeanor, McMillan was
usually cast as gruff, hostile and unfriendly characters. McMillan's
most notable parts include the borough commander in
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974),
a cowardly small-town sheriff in
Tobe Hooper's excellent miniseries
Salem's Lot (1979),
William Hurt's bitter paraplegic father in
Eyewitness (1981), a racist fire chief
in Ragtime (1981), a wily old safecracker
in
The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984),
the vile and grotesquely obese Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in
Dune (1984),
Aidan Quinn's pathetic drunken
father in Reckless (1984) and a sleazy
high-roller gambler in "The Ledge" episode of the hugely enjoyable
horror anthology Cat's Eye (1985).
Moreover, McMillan was equally adept at comedy, giving especially funny and engaging performances as a baseball club manager in Blue Skies Again (1983), Meg Ryan's corrupt police chief father in Armed and Dangerous (1986), and a dotty senile veterinarian in Three Fugitives (1989). McMillan had a steady recurring role as Valerie Harper's irate boss on the situation comedy Rhoda (1974). Among the television series McMillan guest-starred on are Dark Shadows (1966), Ryan's Hope (1975), Kojak (1973), Starsky and Hutch (1975), The Rockford Files (1974), Moonlighting (1985), Magnum, P.I. (1980) and Murder, She Wrote (1984). Outside of his substantial film and television credits, McMillan also frequently performed on stage at the New York Shakespeare Festival. He acted in the original Broadway productions of "Streamers" and "American Buffalo". He won an Obie for his performance in the off-Broadway play, "Weekends Like Other People". Kenneth McMillan died of liver disease at age 56 on January 8, 1989 in Santa Monica, California.
Moreover, McMillan was equally adept at comedy, giving especially funny and engaging performances as a baseball club manager in Blue Skies Again (1983), Meg Ryan's corrupt police chief father in Armed and Dangerous (1986), and a dotty senile veterinarian in Three Fugitives (1989). McMillan had a steady recurring role as Valerie Harper's irate boss on the situation comedy Rhoda (1974). Among the television series McMillan guest-starred on are Dark Shadows (1966), Ryan's Hope (1975), Kojak (1973), Starsky and Hutch (1975), The Rockford Files (1974), Moonlighting (1985), Magnum, P.I. (1980) and Murder, She Wrote (1984). Outside of his substantial film and television credits, McMillan also frequently performed on stage at the New York Shakespeare Festival. He acted in the original Broadway productions of "Streamers" and "American Buffalo". He won an Obie for his performance in the off-Broadway play, "Weekends Like Other People". Kenneth McMillan died of liver disease at age 56 on January 8, 1989 in Santa Monica, California.
