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Born · November 4, 1920
Died · April 13, 1995 (74 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Texas, USA
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
Old Man Bolen
5.4
1997
Virgil Teague
5.7
1991
Jeb Kline
3.5
1987
Houstin · (2 episodes)
5.4
1985
Carter
7.0
1985
Bailiff
0.0
1985
Sheriff
5.9
1985
Jim Gardner
4.0
1984
Reverend Bill McWiley
4.4
1983
Floyd
10.0
1982
Sheriff
5.2
1981
Pilot #1
7.0
1980
Ora Haley
6.4
1980
Sheriff
0.0
1979
Preacher Higgins
6.5
1979
Carl Evans
6.0
1978
Phil Bradley · (1 episode)
6.8
1978
Hitchhiker
3.9
1977
Air Traffic
7.4
1977
Sgt. Bond
0.0
1977
6.8
1977
Mr. Willis
5.5
1976
Sheriff Billy Carter
5.1
1976
Deke
2.0
1975
Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
5.3
1974
Sam Bellington
6.8
1974
Barlow
7.5
1974
Hunter
6.6
1974
Second Man
4.0
1972
Jed Bartrum
0.0
1972
Coach Popper
7.6
1971
Huddy
4.0
1970
Greely / Monster
3.3
1969
Tex
3.0
1969
Tim Henderson
2.8
1969
Drunk on Pier
3.9
1968
Policeman (uncredited)
5.0
1968
Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
2.4
1968
Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
4.0
1967
Deputy Ben Whitfield
2.7
1967
Sergeant
2.9
1967
Lt. Lang
3.3
1967
Abel
2.5
1967
0.0
1967
Bartender
5.2
1966
Railroad Tough
4.2
1965
Major Bates
3.0
1965
Witness
4.8
1964