- Known For
- Acting
- Born
- November 4, 1920
- Place of Birth
- Texas, USA
- Died
- April 13, 1995
Bill Thurman
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 hill…
Filmography
moviePainted Hero
1997 · Old Man Bolen
movieIn Broad Daylight
1991 · Virgil Teague
movieIt Takes Two
1988 · Bus Driver
movieHawken's Breed
1987 · Jeb Kline
tvThe Long Hot Summer
1985 · Houstin
movieSilverado
1985 · Carter
movieStormin' Home
1985 · Bailiff
movieAlamo Bay
1985 · Sheriff
movieInnocent Prey
1984 · Jim Gardner
movieMountaintop Motel Massacre
1983 · Reverend Bill McWiley
movieThe Long Summer of George Adams
1982 · Floyd
movieRaggedy Man
1981 · Sheriff
movieSkyward
1980 · Pilot #1
movieTom Horn
1980 · Ora Haley
movieThe Sky Trap
1979 · Sheriff
movieThe Evictors
1979 · Preacher Higgins
movieThe Beasts Are on the Streets
1978 · Carl Evans
tvDallas
1978 · Phil Bradley
movieKeep My Grave Open
1977 · Hitchhiker
movieClose Encounters of the Third Kind
1977 · Air Traffic
movieCharge of the Model T's
1977 · Sgt. Bond
movieSlumber Party '57
1976 · Mr. Willis
movieCreature from Black Lake
1976 · Sheriff Billy Carter
movieThe Florida Connection
1975 · Deke
movie'Gator Bait
1974 · Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
movieWhere the Red Fern Grows
1974 · Sam Bellington
movieRide in a Pink Car
1974 · Barlow
movieThe Sugarland Express
1974 · Hunter
movieThe Pickle Goes in the Middle
1973 · Mr. Stanovich
movieEncounter with the Unknown
1972 · Second Man
movieFair Play
1972 · Jed Bartrum
movieThe Last Picture Show
1971 · Coach Popper
movieStrawberries Need Rain
1971 · Key Grip
movieA Bullet for Pretty Boy
1970 · Huddy
movieIt's Alive
1969 · Greely / Monster
movieHell Raiders
1969 · Tex
movieIn the Year 2889
1969 · Tim Henderson
movieMars Needs Women
1968 · Drunk on Pier
movieThe Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde
1968 · Policeman (uncredited)
movieCurse of the Swamp Creature
1968 · Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
movieZontar: The Thing from Venus
1967 · Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
movieNight Fright
1967 · Deputy Ben Whitfield
movieThe Eye Creatures
1967 · Sergeant
movieHip Hot and 21
1967 · Lt. Lang
movieSpiked Heels and Black Nylons
1967 · Abel
Sam
movieSam
1967
movieThe Black Cat
1966 · Bartender, Key Grip
movieHot Blooded Woman
1965 · Railroad Tough
movieHigh Yellow
1965 · Major Bates
movieThe Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald
1964 · Witness