Harold "Hal" Miller is an American actor, comedian, painter, singer, lyricist and poet. He was the second actor to play
Gordon Robinson on ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'' from 1972 to 1974, succeeding
Matt Robinson.
Early life
Miller lived most of his early life in
Harlem, New York
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. He was raised a Catholic with early education in parochial school and a final degree in chemistry, assisting in research with chemist Dr.
Casimir Funk
Kazimierz Funk (; February 23, 1884 – November 19, 1967), commonly anglicized as Casimir Funk, was a Polish-American biochemist generally credited with being among the first to formulate (in 1912) the concept of vitamins, which he called "vita ...
, an early discoverer of vitamins who helped coin the word "vitamin" in Paris in 1911. Before pursuing a career as an actor, Miller worked with Funk and was published with him in ''Federation Proceedings'' Vol. 22 No. 2 (Abstracts) in the 1960s at the Funk Foundation for Medical Research sponsored by Pfizer in New York.
Career
![Hal Miller (actor) in Geneva](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Hal_Miller_%28actor%29_in_Geneva.jpg)
Miller began acting when he was 18 years old with the Stanley Woolf players on the Borscht circuit in
Liberty, New York
Liberty is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 9,885 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also named Liberty. The village is bisected by New York State Route 52 (NY 52) and NY 55, and is ...
, performing ''
Take a Giant Step
''Take a Giant Step'' is a 1959 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Philip Leacock.
The plot concerns a black teenager living in a predominantly white environment and having trouble coping as he reaches an age at which the realities of ...
'' and serving as company manager. He followed this by appearing in plays in his native
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. Miller went on to perform as Lord Ross at the
American Shakespeare Festival
The American Shakespeare Theatre was a theater company based in Stratford, Connecticut, United States. It was formed in the early 1950s by Lawrence Langner, Lincoln Kirstein, John Percy Burrell, and philanthropist Joseph Verner Reed. The Amer ...
in
Stratford, Connecticut
Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. Stratford is in the Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was settled ...
, then as Fabian in ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
'' at the
Vivian Beaumont Theater
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broad ...
at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
. He moved to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
to co-star in ''
Joe Forrester
''Joe Forrester'' is an American crime/drama television series, starring Lloyd Bridges as a uniformed foot patrol officer in a run-down neighborhood of Los Angeles. Patricia Crowley co-starred as Georgia Cameron, Joe's romantic interest. Former N ...
'' and ''Quinn Martin,'' as well as ''LA Underground'' ''Quest'' for
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
. He returned to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to star as Purge in NBC Sunday special ''Purge's Place'' with Jim Patterson, and then as the lead David in ''Stone in the River''. Roxie Roker played his wife; also appearing in this production were
Hugh Hurd
Hugh Lincoln Hurd (February 11, 1925 – July 15, 1995) was an American actor and civil rights activist. Hurd is known for his lead role in John Cassavetes' debut 1959 feature film '' Shadows'' and for his organizing activities for African-Ameri ...
and James MacMillan. For NBC director Martin Hoade Miller next appeared in a production of Jean Genet's ''
The Blacks'' before traveling to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
for filmwork and subsequently to India to work in
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
with director Nileish Malhotha.
![Hal In Kitchen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Hal_In_Kitchen.JPG)
Miller received his
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...
card in 1966 while working with
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created a y ...
in ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
'' and his
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
card in 1971 after being hired by Columbia Pictures. He appeared in the
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and despite ost ...
film ''
Born in Flames
''Born in Flames'' is a 1983 documentary-style feminist fiction film by Lizzie Borden that explores racism, classism, sexism, and heterosexism in an alternative United States socialist democracy. The title comes from the song "Born in Flames" wr ...
'' and also in ''
A Man Called Adam'', as well as a Quinn Martin production in San Francisco. In 1968 he was invited to perform experimental, integrated theater for one season at
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...
in Washington, D.C. From 1972 until 1974, Miller played
Gordon
Gordon may refer to:
People
* Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters
* Gordon (surname), the surname
* Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War
* Clan Gordon, ...
on ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
''. Miller made the decision to leave the show for mainstream acting. He followed this direction making two major appearances on ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
''.
Miller performed extensively throughout
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and India. In 1996, Miller retired from acting.
Personal life
Miller was married to interior designer Lynne Miller. Their son Harold Miller Jr. appeared on ''Sesame Street'' with his dad during the 1970s.
In addition to acting, Miller is also a painter (represented by Saatchi),
a singer, a lyricist, and a published poet.
Selected filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Hal
American male comedians
21st-century American comedians
American male television actors
African-American male actors
People from Harlem
20th-century American comedians
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people