__NOTOC__ Zachariah Daniel Miller III (September 30, 1941 – April 8, 2009), commonly known as Dan Miller, was an American television personality who grew up in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...

. Miller was a longtime news anchorman for WSMV (formerly WSM-TV) in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. Beginning his tenure there as a weathercaster in 1969, he moved to the news anchor desk in 1970. In 1986, Miller left Nashville to serve as principal anchor at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, a position he held for one year. Miller then gained fame in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

nationally as the

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narration ...

and

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

for his friend and one-time WSM-TV colleague,

Pat Sajak Pat Sajak ( , born Patrick Leonard ; born October 26, 1946) is an American television personality and game show host. He is best known as the host of the American television game show ''Wheel of Fortune'', a position he has held since 1981. Fo ...

, during Sajak's short-lived

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

late-night

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

, ''

The Pat Sajak Show ''The Pat Sajak Show'' was an American late-night television talk show that aired on CBS from January 9, 1989, to April 13, 1990. Cast The show was hosted by Pat Sajak, best known as host of the game show '' Wheel of Fortune''. To do the talk sh ...

''. Upon returning to Nashville in 1992, Dan resurrected his own interview show, ''Miller & Company'', which originally aired Sunday nights on WSMV from 1980 to 1986. The ''Miller & Company'' revival aired weekday afternoons to a national cable audience on

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On Septembe ...

. When it was discontinued by TNN, it was picked up locally by WSMV. In 1995, WSMV replaced ''Miller & Company'' with a 5pm newscast. A few months later, Miller returned to the WSMV anchor desk and continued his work there until his death in 2009. Miller appeared in the CBS movie, '' Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story'', which featured

Michele Lee Michele Lee is an American actress, singer, dancer, producer, and director. She is known for her role as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie on the prime-time soap opera ''Knots Landing'' (1979–1993), for which she was nominated for a 1982 Emmy Awar ...

as Dottie West. He appeared as a guest on ''Hollywood Squares'' in 1989. In 1999, he was granted an exclusive interview with the parents of murdered six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, which led to many appearances on nationally televised news programs. Miller was also a prolific writer of essays about life on and off the television screen, at "Dan Miller's Notebook".

Personal life

Miller was born in 1941 in Augusta, Georgia, to Zachariah Daniel Miller Jr. and Frances Giles Miller (''née'' Scott). He married and later divorced Eileen McCoy, with whom he had three children: Stephen, Jennifer, and Darcy. Miller later married Karen Wedgeworth, the sister of congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, with whom he had daughter McKensie.

Death

Miller died on April 8, 2009, after suffering a myocardial infarction, heart attack while walking in Augusta, Georgia, with longtime friend and WSMV sports director Rudy Kalis. He had returned to his hometown to attend 2009 Masters Tournament, The Masters golf tournament with Kalis and another friend and colleague, Terry Bulger. He was survived by his three children from his first marriage, his second wife, and their 10-year-old daughter.

References

External links

In Memory: Dan Miller
at WSMV.com
Dan Miller's Notebook
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Dan Television anchors from Nashville, Tennessee Television anchors from Los Angeles People from Augusta, Georgia People from Columbia, South Carolina American game show hosts 1941 births 2009 deaths Academy of Richmond County alumni