Bill Thurman
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- November 4, 1920
- Died
- April 13, 1995 (aged 74)
- Birthplace
- Texas, USA
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
Filmography
Painted Hero
Movie · as Old Man Bolen
In Broad Daylight
Movie · as Virgil Teague
It Takes Two
Movie · as Bus Driver
Hawken's Breed
Movie · as Jeb Kline
Silverado
Movie · as Carter
Stormin' Home
Movie · as Bailiff
Alamo Bay
Movie · as Sheriff
The Long Hot Summer
TV · as Houstin · 2 eps
Innocent Prey
Movie · as Jim Gardner
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
Movie · as Reverend Bill McWiley
The Long Summer of George Adams
Movie · as Floyd
Raggedy Man
Movie · as Sheriff
Skyward
Movie · as Pilot #1
Tom Horn
Movie · as Ora Haley
The Evictors
Movie · as Preacher Higgins
The Sky Trap
Movie · as Sheriff
The Beasts Are on the Streets
Movie · as Carl Evans
Dallas
TV · as Phil Bradley · 1 ep
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Movie · as Air Traffic
Charge of the Model T's
Movie · as Sgt. Bond
Keep My Grave Open
Movie · as Hitchhiker
Creature from Black Lake
Movie · as Sheriff Billy Carter
Slumber Party '57
Movie · as Mr. Willis
The Florida Connection
Movie · as Deke
The Sugarland Express
Movie · as Hunter
'Gator Bait
Movie · as Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
Where the Red Fern Grows
Movie · as Sam Bellington
Ride in a Pink Car
Movie · as Barlow
The Pickle Goes in the Middle
Movie · as Mr. Stanovich
Fair Play
Movie · as Jed Bartrum
Encounter with the Unknown
Movie · as Second Man
The Last Picture Show
Movie · as Coach Popper
A Bullet for Pretty Boy
Movie · as Huddy
In the Year 2889
Movie · as Tim Henderson
It's Alive
Movie · as Greely / Monster
Hell Raiders
Movie · as Tex
Mars Needs Women
Movie · as Drunk on Pier
Curse of the Swamp Creature
Movie · as Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde
Movie · as Policeman (uncredited)
Zontar: The Thing from Venus
Movie · as Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
The Eye Creatures
Movie · as Sergeant
Night Fright
Movie · as Deputy Ben Whitfield
Spiked Heels and Black Nylons
Movie · as Abel
Hip Hot and 21
Movie · as Lt. Lang
Sam
Movie
The Black Cat
Movie · as Bartender
High Yellow
Movie · as Major Bates
Hot Blooded Woman
Movie · as Railroad Tough
The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald
Movie · as Witness