Lillian Dorothy Miller (May 26, 1897 – April 1, 1990) better known as Miss Miller, was a regular audience member of various American television

variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compèr ...

from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Career

Miller was born in Boston and was the youngest of four children in her family. Later, she had a daytime job as a government typist, but retired in 1958 due to eye trouble. She began her audience career with radio programs in 1940, in New York. In 1948 she was living in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. She first went on stage in 1949, helping

Sammy Kaye Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...

lead his band on his radio show ''So You Want to Lead a Band''. In 1950, she moved back East, to New York City, then to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, and then back to New York City. Miller was first a regular audience member of ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'' throughout

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's and Jack Paar's tenures as host. Miss Miller was even brought along when the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

-based show would go on location to places such as Havana, Cuba,

, and

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. She became such a fixture on the show that she joined AFTRA, the TV actors' union. When Paar left ''Tonight'' to start his prime-time '' Jack Paar Program'' in 1962, Miss Miller then became a regular on that program as well as on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' and ''

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''. On at least one Paar program, shown on November 29, 1962, Miss Miller was an on-stage guest alongside

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

and

Cassius Clay Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

. Even with numerous network and syndicator changes, as well as a changing of base from New York to Hollywood, Miller remained a fixture on Griffin's program throughout its run, which ended in 1986. She was sometimes featured in the commercials for Griffin's show. She was also a regular on ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Har ...

'', frequently bantering with Burnett during the program's opening question-and-answer session with the audience. During the mid 1980s, Miller was a frequent guest at

The Limelight The Limelight was the name of a chain of nightclubs owned and operated by Peter Gatien. It had locations in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, London and Hallandale. Context During the 1980s, club culture had died down because of the AIDS e ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. She hosted parties, met with then-mayor

Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian L ...

and danced the night away with other celebrities. She had been photographed many times by entertainment photographer Guy D'Alema when she was in the Limelight.

References

External links

*
Miss Miller at BFI Film & TV Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Lillian American television personalities American women television personalities 1897 births 1990 deaths Place of birth missing