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
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
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0862174
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21598024
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Filmography (Movies)
Painted Hero
Character:Old Man Bolen
Release Date:16/09/1997
In Broad Daylight
Character:Virgil Teague
Release Date:03/02/1991
Hawken's Breed
Character:Jeb Kline
Release Date:01/01/1987
Silverado
Character:Carter
Release Date:10/07/1985
Stormin' Home
Character:Bailiff
Release Date:05/04/1985
Alamo Bay
Character:Sheriff
Release Date:03/04/1985
Innocent Prey
Character:Jim Gardner
Release Date:12/12/1984
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
Character:Reverend Bill McWiley
Release Date:15/07/1983
The Long Summer of George Adams
Character:Floyd
Release Date:18/01/1982
Raggedy Man
Character:Sheriff
Release Date:18/09/1981
Skyward
Character:Pilot #1
Release Date:20/11/1980
Tom Horn
Character:Ora Haley
Release Date:28/03/1980
The Sky Trap
Character:Sheriff
Release Date:13/05/1979
The Evictors
Character:Preacher Higgins
Release Date:17/04/1979
The Beasts Are on the Streets
Character:Carl Evans
Release Date:18/05/1978
Keep My Grave Open
Character:Hitchhiker
Release Date:17/12/1977
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Character:Air Traffic
Release Date:14/12/1977
Charge of the Model T's
Character:Sgt. Bond
Release Date:04/11/1977
Slumber Party '57
Character:Mr. Willis
Release Date:31/08/1976
Creature from Black Lake
Character:Sheriff Billy Carter
Release Date:01/03/1976
The Florida Connection
Character:Deke
Release Date:21/11/1975
'Gator Bait
Character:Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
Release Date:12/10/1974
Where the Red Fern Grows
Character:Sam Bellington
Release Date:21/06/1974
Ride in a Pink Car
Character:Barlow
Release Date:21/06/1974
The Sugarland Express
Character:Hunter
Release Date:31/03/1974
Encounter with the Unknown
Character:Second Man
Release Date:15/11/1972
Fair Play
Character:Jed Bartrum
Release Date:01/01/1972
The Last Picture Show
Character:Coach Popper
Release Date:03/10/1971
A Bullet for Pretty Boy
Character:Huddy
Release Date:15/07/1970
It's Alive
Character:Greely / Monster
Release Date:30/10/1969
Hell Raiders
Character:Tex
Release Date:01/06/1969
In the Year 2889
Character:Tim Henderson
Release Date:19/01/1969
Mars Needs Women
Character:Drunk on Pier
Release Date:24/08/1968
The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde
Character:Policeman (uncredited)
Release Date:22/08/1968
Curse of the Swamp Creature
Character:Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
Release Date:01/02/1968
Zontar: The Thing from Venus
Character:Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
Release Date:01/12/1967
Night Fright
Character:Deputy Ben Whitfield
Release Date:01/11/1967
The Eye Creatures
Character:Sergeant
Release Date:20/10/1967
Hip Hot and 21
Character:Lt. Lang
Release Date:01/03/1967
Spiked Heels and Black Nylons
Character:Abel
Release Date:01/01/1967
Sam
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1967
The Black Cat
Character:Bartender
Release Date:01/05/1966
Hot Blooded Woman
Character:Railroad Tough
Release Date:01/10/1965
High Yellow
Character:Major Bates
Release Date:04/08/1965
The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald
Character:Witness
Release Date:30/09/1964
Television Appearances
Images
