Lara Jill Miller (born April 20, 1967) is an American actress. She plays Samantha "Sam" Kanisky on the 1980s sitcom ''

Gimme a Break! ''Gimme a Break!'' is an American television sitcom created by Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen, that aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981, to May 12, 1987. The series starred Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief ...

'' and as Kathy on ''

The Amanda Show ''The Amanda Show'' is an American live action sketch comedy and variety show television series created by Dan Schneider that aired on Nickelodeon from October 16, 1999 to September 21, 2002. It starred Amanda Bynes, Drake Bell, and Nancy Su ...

''. She voices the title characters in '' Clifford's Puppy Days'', '' The Life and Times of Juniper Lee'' and '' Henry Hugglemonster'', respectively. She voices the character Widget in '' Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'', Lambie in ''

Doc McStuffins ''Doc McStuffins'' is an American educational computer-animated children's television series created and executive produced by Chris Nee (an Irish-American who was an associate producer for international versions of Sesame Street) and produc ...

'', Fink in ''

OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' is an American animated television series created by Ian Jones-Quartey for Cartoon Network. The show is based on Jones-Quartey's pilot ''Lakewood Plaza Turbo'', which was released as part of Cartoon Network's 2013 Su ...

'', Lisa Loud in ''

The Loud House ''The Loud House'' is an American animated television series created by Chris Savino that premiered on Nickelodeon on May 2, 2016. The series revolves around the chaotic everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only ...

'', and Libby Stein-Torres in '' The Ghost and Molly McGee'', in addition to Izzie in '' SciGirls'', Allie in '' Curious George'', and Cat in '' If You Give a Mouse a Cookie''

Early life and education

Miller was born April 20, 1967, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to Lois (née Noll; 1937-2014) and Stanley Miller. She is Jewish. She first started acting in a

dinner theater Dinner theater (sometimes called dinner and a show) is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. "Dinner and a show" can also refer to a restaurant meal in combination with live concert music, where pat ...

she found in a newspaper ad, and she did not know what the word audition meant. She asked her Dad what that meant and he told her. She graduated from Allentown's William Allen High School. Her father was a

pajama Pajamas (American English, US) or pyjamas (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as night ...

factory owner and her mother founded the talent agency Star Talent Management.

Career

Miller's professional acting career began on Broadway, where she appeared as Amaryllis in a revival of ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...

'' with Dick Van Dyke. In 1981, after her appearance on Broadway, she joined the cast of ''

'', playing the role of the tomboyish Samantha "Sam" Kanisky opposite Nell Carter. When the series ended its six-year run on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

in 1987, Miller returned to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

, where she played on the university's women's varsity

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

team and continued performing on stage nationally. Four years later, she received her J.D. degree from

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test taker ...

, leaving graduation early to portray

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

in a production at the Pennsylvania Youth Theater. She subsequently was admitted to practice law in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and her native

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. In 1999, Miller resumed her on-camera acting career with recurring roles on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

series ''

'' and ''

All That ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tollin/Robbins P ...

'' and on '' General Hospital.'' She also began working in animated series, lending her voice to various characters, including Kari in ''

Digimon , short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise encompassing virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures, who inhabit a " ...

'' (both the series and the feature film), Koko in ''

Zatch Bell! ''Zatch Bell!'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' between January 2001 and Decem ...

'', Alejo in ''

Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan by its original name , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 ''tankōbon'' v ...

'', and Scheris Adjani in '' s-CRY-ed.'' Miller also provided the singing voice of

Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of it ...

in the

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

adaptation of

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not inclu ...

's ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz aft ...

'', and the voices of the title characters on Cartoon Network's '' The Life and Times of Juniper Lee'',

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven ...

's '' Henry Hugglemonster'', and the PBS Kids '' Clifford's Puppy Days'' (prequel to ''

Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series about the adventures of a precocious girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a giant, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by No ...

''). Miller appears in the recurring roles of Pookie, Wiki, and Tini on Disney Channel's ''

Higglytown Heroes ''Higglytown Heroes'' is an American CGI-animated children's television series produced by Wild Brain that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel in the United States. The show's characters are shaped like Russian nesting doll ...

'', Haruka of '' Daigunder'', and the

Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...

series '' Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' as Widget, the show's problem-solving pink creature resembling a rabbit, both PBS series '' Curious George'' as Allie and '' SciGirls'' as Izzie,Lara Jill Miller
- Disney Channel Medianet and regular guest-starring roles on several other animated series. For six seasons, she performed voice work on the Disney Channel/Disney Junior television series ''

'' as the voice of Lambie and on the Nickelodeon television series ''

'' in which she voices Lisa Loud, Liam, Becky, Persephone, and Nurse Patti. In 2020, she voice acted for two cartoons, the episode "All About Zee" in ''

DC Super Hero Girls ''DC Super Hero Girls'' or ''DC Superhero Girls'' (in various countries) is an American superhero web series and franchise Produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network based on characters from DC Entertainment that launched in the ...

'' and the English dub for ''

Beastars ''Beastars'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's ''Weekly Shōnen Champion'' from September 2016 to October 2020, with its chapters collected in 22 ''t ...

'' as Haru. She continues to perform the role of Libby in the Disney production, '' The Ghost and Molly McGee''.

Filmography

Live-action

Anime

Animation

Film

Video games

Personal life

In 2006, Miller's mother was diagnosed with

frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or frontotemporal degeneration disease, or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes. FTDs broadly present a ...

, a progressive brain disease, which forced her to close her talent agency; Miller has since helped spread awareness of the disease.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Lara Jill 1967 births Living people Actresses from Allentown, Pennsylvania American child actresses American soap opera actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses Fordham University School of Law alumni New Jersey lawyers New York (state) lawyers New York University alumni Pennsylvania lawyers William Allen High School alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses