Bill Thurman

Biography

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 hillbilly hunter in "The Sugerland Express" and an air traffic controller in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Bill's other memorable roles include the abusive Coach Popper in Peter Bogdanovich's magnificent "The Last Picture Show," a doomed hitchhiker in "Keep My Grave Open," a corrupt sheriff in the Claudia Jennings exploitation classic "'Gatorbait," a mean small town deputy in "Ride in A Pink Car," a more amiable sheriff in the fantastic Bigfoot winner "Creature from Black Lake," Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith's father in "Slumber Party '57," a priest in "The Evictors," and the boozy, dissolute Reverend Bill McWiley in the enjoyably crummy "Mountaintop Motel Massacre." Bill Thurman died in Dallas, Texas on April 13, 1995. - IMDb Mini Biography By: woodyanders

Known For

Dallas

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Silverado

The Last Picture Show

The Sugarland Express

The Long Hot Summer

Tom Horn

Where the Red Fern Grows

All Movies (47)

• Painted Hero1997 · as Old Man Bolen
• In Broad Daylight1991 · as Virgil Teague
• It Takes Two1988 · as Bus Driver
• Hawken's Breed1987 · as Jeb Kline
• Silverado1985 · as Carter
• Stormin' Home1985 · as Bailiff
• Alamo Bay1985 · as Sheriff
• Innocent Prey1984 · as Jim Gardner
• Mountaintop Motel Massacre1983 · as Reverend Bill McWiley
• The Long Summer of George Adams1982 · as Floyd
• Raggedy Man1981 · as Sheriff
• Skyward1980 · as Pilot #1
• Tom Horn1980 · as Ora Haley
• The Sky Trap1979 · as Sheriff
• The Evictors1979 · as Preacher Higgins
• The Beasts Are on the Streets1978 · as Carl Evans
• Keep My Grave Open1977 · as Hitchhiker
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind1977 · as Air Traffic
• Charge of the Model T's1977 · as Sgt. Bond
• Slumber Party '571976 · as Mr. Willis
• Creature from Black Lake1976 · as Sheriff Billy Carter
• The Florida Connection1975 · as Deke
• 'Gator Bait1974 · as Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
• Where the Red Fern Grows1974 · as Sam Bellington
• Ride in a Pink Car1974 · as Barlow
• The Sugarland Express1974 · as Hunter
• The Pickle Goes in the Middle1973 · as Mr. Stanovich
• Encounter with the Unknown1972 · as Second Man
• Fair Play1972 · as Jed Bartrum
• The Last Picture Show1971 · as Coach Popper
• A Bullet for Pretty Boy1970 · as Huddy
• It's Alive1969 · as Greely / Monster
• Hell Raiders1969 · as Tex
• In the Year 28891969 · as Tim Henderson
• Mars Needs Women1968 · as Drunk on Pier
• The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde1968 · as Policeman (uncredited)
• Curse of the Swamp Creature1968 · as Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
• Zontar: The Thing from Venus1967 · as Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
• Night Fright1967 · as Deputy Ben Whitfield
• The Eye Creatures1967 · as Sergeant
• Hip Hot and 211967 · as Lt. Lang
• Spiked Heels and Black Nylons1967 · as Abel
• Sam1967
• The Black Cat1966 · as Bartender
• Hot Blooded Woman1965 · as Railroad Tough
• High Yellow1965 · as Major Bates
• The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald1964 · as Witness

All TV Shows (2)

• The Long Hot Summer1985 · as Houstin
• Dallas1978 · as Phil Bradley