Bill Thurman
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Nov 4, 1920
- Died
- Apr 13, 1995 (aged 74)
- Place of birth
- Texas, USA
- Credits
- 49
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
Filmography
Painted Hero
1997Movie
Old Man Bolen
In Broad Daylight
1991Movie
Virgil Teague
It Takes Two
1988Movie
Bus Driver
Hawken's Breed
1987Movie
Jeb Kline
The Long Hot Summer
1985TV
Houstin
Silverado
1985Movie
Carter
Stormin' Home
1985Movie
Bailiff
Alamo Bay
1985Movie
Sheriff
Innocent Prey
1984Movie
Jim Gardner
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
1983Movie
Reverend Bill McWiley
The Long Summer of George Adams
1982Movie
Floyd
Raggedy Man
1981Movie
Sheriff
Skyward
1980Movie
Pilot #1
Tom Horn
1980Movie
Ora Haley
The Sky Trap
1979Movie
Sheriff
The Evictors
1979Movie
Preacher Higgins
The Beasts Are on the Streets
1978Movie
Carl Evans
Dallas
1978TV
Phil Bradley
Keep My Grave Open
1977Movie
Hitchhiker
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977Movie
Air Traffic
Charge of the Model T's
1977Movie
Sgt. Bond
Slumber Party '57
1976Movie
Mr. Willis
Creature from Black Lake
1976Movie
Sheriff Billy Carter
The Florida Connection
1975Movie
Deke
'Gator Bait
1974Movie
Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
Where the Red Fern Grows
1974Movie
Sam Bellington
Ride in a Pink Car
1974Movie
Barlow
The Sugarland Express
1974Movie
Hunter
The Pickle Goes in the Middle
1973Movie
Mr. Stanovich
Encounter with the Unknown
1972Movie
Second Man
Fair Play
1972Movie
Jed Bartrum
The Last Picture Show
1971Movie
Coach Popper
A Bullet for Pretty Boy
1970Movie
Huddy
It's Alive
1969Movie
Greely / Monster
Hell Raiders
1969Movie
Tex
In the Year 2889
1969Movie
Tim Henderson
Mars Needs Women
1968Movie
Drunk on Pier
The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde
1968Movie
Policeman (uncredited)
Curse of the Swamp Creature
1968Movie
Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
Zontar: The Thing from Venus
1967Movie
Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
Night Fright
1967Movie
Deputy Ben Whitfield
The Eye Creatures
1967Movie
Sergeant
Hip Hot and 21
1967Movie
Lt. Lang
Spiked Heels and Black Nylons
1967Movie
Abel
Sam
1967Movie
The Black Cat
1966Movie
Bartender
Hot Blooded Woman
1965Movie
Railroad Tough
High Yellow
1965Movie
Major Bates
The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald
1964Movie
Witness