Kenneth McMillan (July 2, 1932 â€" January 8, 1989) was an American
actor. McMillan was usually cast as gruff, hostile and unfriendly
characters due to his rough image. However, he was sometimes cast in
some lighter comic roles that highlighted his gentler side.McMillan
was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Margaret and Harry
McMillan, a truck driver. He attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High
School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Prior to becoming an actor,
McMillan was employed at Gimbels Department Store first as a salesman,
then as a section manager, and then a floor superintendent managing
three floors. At age 30, McMillan decided to pursue an acting career,
and took acting lessons from Uta Hagen and Irene Dailey. He was
married to Kathryn McDonald (20 June 1969 â€" 8 January 1989) (his
death) with whom he had one child, actress Alison McMillan.McMillan
made his film debut at age 41 with a small role in Sidney Lumet's
police drama Serpico. The actor played a borough commander in The
Taking of Pelham One Two Three, but often was cast as characters such
as a cowardly small town sheriff in Tobe Hooper's 1979 TV mini-series
Salem's Lot, a similar law enforcement officer in the 1987 Burt
Reynolds film Malone, William Hurt's bitter paraplegic father in
Eyewitness, a wily safe cracker in The Pope of Greenwich Village, and
a racist fire chief in Ragtime who is memorably told off by the New
York City police commissioner, James Cagney. In 1985, he played this
city's newly appointed police commissioner in the short lived
television crime drama Our Family Honor.He portrayed the grotesquely
obese and gleefully psychotic Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune, the
pathetic drunken pop of Aidan Quinn in Reckless and a sleazy high
roller gambler in "The Ledge," a segment of the horror anthology film
Cat's Eye. Yet he did sometimes end up on the right side of the law,
playing Robert Duvall's detective partner in True Confessions and a
judge who must rule whether Richard Dreyfuss has the right to die in
Whose Life Is It Anyway?.
actor. McMillan was usually cast as gruff, hostile and unfriendly
characters due to his rough image. However, he was sometimes cast in
some lighter comic roles that highlighted his gentler side.McMillan
was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Margaret and Harry
McMillan, a truck driver. He attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High
School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Prior to becoming an actor,
McMillan was employed at Gimbels Department Store first as a salesman,
then as a section manager, and then a floor superintendent managing
three floors. At age 30, McMillan decided to pursue an acting career,
and took acting lessons from Uta Hagen and Irene Dailey. He was
married to Kathryn McDonald (20 June 1969 â€" 8 January 1989) (his
death) with whom he had one child, actress Alison McMillan.McMillan
made his film debut at age 41 with a small role in Sidney Lumet's
police drama Serpico. The actor played a borough commander in The
Taking of Pelham One Two Three, but often was cast as characters such
as a cowardly small town sheriff in Tobe Hooper's 1979 TV mini-series
Salem's Lot, a similar law enforcement officer in the 1987 Burt
Reynolds film Malone, William Hurt's bitter paraplegic father in
Eyewitness, a wily safe cracker in The Pope of Greenwich Village, and
a racist fire chief in Ragtime who is memorably told off by the New
York City police commissioner, James Cagney. In 1985, he played this
city's newly appointed police commissioner in the short lived
television crime drama Our Family Honor.He portrayed the grotesquely
obese and gleefully psychotic Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune, the
pathetic drunken pop of Aidan Quinn in Reckless and a sleazy high
roller gambler in "The Ledge," a segment of the horror anthology film
Cat's Eye. Yet he did sometimes end up on the right side of the law,
playing Robert Duvall's detective partner in True Confessions and a
judge who must rule whether Richard Dreyfuss has the right to die in
Whose Life Is It Anyway?.
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