John Anthony Miller American character actor and playwright Date of Birth: 22.04.1939 Country: USA

Biography of Jason Anthony Miller

Jason Anthony Miller, an American character actor and playwright, was born on April 22, 1939, in Queens, New York. He came from an Irish-American family, with his mother Mary Claire Collins being a teacher and his father John A. Miller working as an electrician. The family later moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Miller attended St. Patrick's High School before enrolling at the University of Scranton.

After college, Miller moved to Washington, D.C., where he studied drama and English at The Catholic University of America. Despite trying different professions, Miller was drawn to playwriting. In 1972, his play "That Championship Season," which depicted a reunion of former champion high school athletes set in Scranton, premiered at the Estelle Newman Theatre in Off-Broadway and ran for 144 performances. It later moved to Broadway's Booth Theatre, where it ran for an additional 844 performances. The play brought Miller fame and recognition, earning him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1973, as well as the Tony Award for Best Play and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.

In the same year, Miller received an offer to play the role of Father Damien Karras in the horror film "The Exorcist," which became a box office success. The film won two Academy Awards and Miller, in his first film role, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Despite occasional film roles, Miller never abandoned his theater work and became the artistic director of a dramatic theater in Scranton.

Miller's theater career included notable performances such as Henry Drummond in "Inherit the Wind" in Philadelphia, which became the longest-running production in the city's history. In Scranton, he directed and acted in numerous productions, including "Blithe Spirit," "California Suite," "Crimes of the Heart," and "The Lion in Winter."

His film credits include "The Dain Curse," "The Ninth Configuration," "Toy Soldiers," the third installment of "The Exorcist," and the biographical sports film "Rudy," in which Miller portrayed a football coach, one of his favorite roles. In 1998, Miller embarked on a touring production of the one-man play "Barrymore's Ghost" across the United States.

Miller was married three times. In 1963, he married actress Linda Gleason, with whom he had three children: Jennifer, Jason Patric (a future actor), and Jordan. They divorced in 1973. The following year, Miller married Susan Bernard, a former Playboy model and daughter of a famous Hollywood photographer. They had a son together, actor Joshua John Miller. They divorced in 1983, and in 1984, Miller married Ruth Josem. This marriage ended in divorce after six years.

On May 13, 2001, Jason Miller passed away at the age of 62 due to a heart attack.