Introduction
Victor Miller or Victor B. Miller (born May 14, 1940) is an American writer for film and television. Perhaps his best known and most acknowledged work is his screenplay for the original Friday the 13th film, the popularity of which spawned a long series of sequels. Miller was not involved with any of the sequels, though he remains credited for creating the characters of Jason Voorhees and his mother.
He has also written for several daytime television series, for which he has won three Daytime Emmy Awards. His television work includes Guiding Light, One Life to Live, Another World, and All My Children. Much of his tenure of several shows has been working under head writer Megan McTavish. Recently he mentored the script for the indie horror movie, Nobody Gets Out Alive originally titled Down The Road, featuring Clint Howard.
Early life
Miller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of John Dabney and Barbara Leovy Miller. He attended Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, where he says he took every creative writing course offered. After graduating he married Elizabeth (Tina) Couzens Thurston, to whom he has remained married for over 40 years. Beginning in 1962, he worked in TV programing for a year with Stuart Erwin, Lee Rich, Irwin Segelstein, and Phil Capice at Benton & Bowles Advertising in New York City. He co-founded of the American Shakespeare Theatre's Center for Theatre Techniques in Education and attended Herbert Berghof's playwriting class in New York City.
Directing and writing career
Friday the 13th is Miller's most successful film, grossing $59,754,601 worldwide on a very low budget of $550,000. The original is the only one of the series that had Miller's involvement; it grew into a long series of sequels and became the highest grossing horror franchise in the United States, earning a worldwide total of $465,239,523. Miller says he hasn't seen any of the other Friday the 13th films because he doesn't like that Jason Voorhees is the killer and not Jason's mother as she was in the original. He also adapted two novels in films A Stranger Is Watching by Mary Higgins Clark and The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell. Victor is currently working on the upcoming horror film Rock Paper Dead, set for release in 2016 & the thriller Eden Falls set for release in 2017.
Awards and nominations
Daytime Emmy Awards
NOMINATIONS
- (1990, 1999, 2001, 2002 & 2004; Best Writing; All My Children)
- (1994 & 1996; Best Writing; Another World)
- (1983; Best Writing; One Life to Live)
WINS
- (1985, 1988 & 1998; Best Writing; All My Children)
Writers Guild of America Award
WGA NOMINATIONS
- (1989 & 1999 Season; All My Children)
- (1997 Season; Guiding Light)
- (1993-1995 Season; Another World)
WGA WIN
- WIN (1998, 2000, 2001 & 2003 Season; All My Children)
Personal life
Miller is the third of four kids, older sister Adair, older brother John, younger brother Keith. Miller is married to Elizebeth (Tina) Couzens Thurston since 1962 and they have both had children together.
Books
- Windborne, Bantam Books
- American Dynasty (3 Volumes), Dell Books
- Angel's Blood, Playboy Press
- Toga Party, Fawcett Books
- The Glory Sharer, Jove Books
- Hide The Children, Ballantine Books
- Fernanda, Pocket Books
- Giving In To Get Your Way, Delacorte Press, reprinted as Aikido In Everyday Life, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California
- The Book Of Worries, Warner Books
Filmography
- The Black Pearl (1977)
- Manny's Orphans (1978)
- Here Come the Tigers (1979)
- Friday the 13th (1980)
- A Stranger Is Watching (1982)
- Getting In (1994)
- Jury Duty (1995)
- Asylum (1997)
- On The Edge (2001)
- Rock Paper Dead (2016)
- Eden Falls (2017)
Based upon characters created by Victor Miller for Jason Voorhees
- Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
- Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
- Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
- Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
- Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
- Jason X (2001)
- Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
- Friday the 13th (2009)
Television
All My Children
- Associate Head Writer: 1984–1986, 1987–1989, 1997–2001, July 2003 – July 10, 2006
Another World
- Associate Head Writer: 1990–1995
General Hospital
- Associate Head Writer: 2001–2002
Guiding Light
- Associate Head Writer: 1986–1987, 1995–1997
One Life to Live
- Associate Head Writer: 1982–1984
| Preceded by Lorraine Broderick | Co-head writer of All My Children with Lorraine Broderick January 1989 – March 1989 | Succeeded by Margaret DePriest |
| Preceded by Megan McTavish | Co-head writer of Guiding Light with Michael Conforti 1996 | Succeeded by James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten |