Pretty Woman

Background:

Larry Miller is an American stand-up comedian, as well as television and film actor who began his career in New York City as a musician before making successful transformation as a comedian and then actor. First attracting the attention of moviegoers with his small, but remembered portrayal of the overblown store manager in the massive hit “Pretty Woman” (1990), Miller has appeared as one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood with countless projects under his belt, including “The Nutty Professor” (1996) and its sequel, “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps” (2000), “Waiting for Guffman” (1996), “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999), “Best in Show” (2000), “A Mighty Wind” (2003), “The Princess Diaries” (2001) and the installment “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” (2004), “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (2005) , “For Your Consideration” (2006) and “Keeping Up With The Steins” (2006). He has also had numerous TV projects. Among them are recurring roles in such popular series as “Law and Order,” “Made About You,” “8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter” and “Boston Legal.”

Miller is married to Eileen Conn and the father of two sons.

Jewish

Childhood and Family:

Lawrence J. Miller, profesionally known as Larry Miller, was born on October 15, 1953, in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York, to a talent agent, Iris Burton. He graduated from Valley Stream South High School. Led by his strong passion in music, Larry attended Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts to pursue a degree in music and then relocated to NYC to try his hand as a musician. However, it was his profession as a stand-up comedian that led to appearances in television and films.

Larry is married to television producer and writer Eileen Conn. They currently reside in Southern California with their two sons. Larry is Jewish.

The Other End of the Line

Career:

An honors graduate of the Amherst College, a music school at Massachusetts, Larry Miller made his way to New York City to full fill his longtime dream of becoming a professional musician. After finding work as a drummer and pianist in nightclubs, he was inspired to try his luck in stand-up comedy and sporadically performed at comedy clubs like the Comic Strip and Catch a Rising Star. Within two years, he had departed his musical career and was touring as a full-time comedian.

Miller made the leap into the big screen in 1978 with a part in the comedy “Take Down,” but did not get other roles until many years later when his career as a stand-up comic took flight. He had small roles in the action/comedy films “Three Fugitive” and “Out Cold” (both 1989). After making self-appearance in an episode of the HBO comedy show “One Night Stand” (1990), Miller nabbed his breakthrough screen role in the Garry Marshall blockbuster hit “Pretty Woman” (1990), starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. As an chesty boutique manager, he successfully impressed audience with his limited appearance and his acting career blossomed after the performance.

Miller landed larger roles in a number of movies, including “Necessary Roughness” (1991), “Carry on Columbus” (1992), “Corrina, Corrina” (1994), “Radioland Murders” (1994), and eventually graduating to a costarring role in the Eddy Murphy vehicle “The Nutty Professor” (1996), where he portrayed Dean Richmond. The same year, he also starred with Deborah Theaker, Michael Hitchcock and Scott Williamson in the Christopher Guest-directed comedy “Waiting for Guffman.”

By this period, Miller also had collected numerous TV credits. After making his TV film debut in 1991's “Frankenstein: The College Years,” he starred in his own HBO special called “Larry Miller: Just Words” (1992), had recurring roles on the sitcoms “Dream on” (1990-1995) and “Made About You” (1993-1998) and a regular role on the NBC comedy series “The Pursuit of Happiness” (1995), as well as offered a dramatic turn as a man accused of murder in the “Law and Order” episode of “Coma” (1994), a role he reprised later in the 1996 episode “Encore.”

Miller went on to costar in the ABC sitcom “Life's Work” and the courtroom series “Michael Hayes” in 1996 and 1997, respectively, and guested in such series as “Just Shoot Me!” (1997), “3rd Rock from the Sun” (1998) and Disney's “Hercules” (1998, as the voice of Lynceus). From 1999 to 2000, he provided the voice of Pointy-Haired Boss in the cartoon series “Dilbert.” Meanwhile, on the big screen, he acted in “For Richer or Poorer” (1997), Wes Craven's “Carnival of Souls” (1998), “The Minus Man” (1999), “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999), “Runaway Bride” (1999), “The Big Tease” (1999) and others.

The vigorous actor returned to his role as Dean Richmond for the sequel “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps” (2000) before giving a small, but unforgettable presence as Max Berman in “Best in Show” (2000), which reunited him with director/writer Christopher Guest. He worked again with Guest for the 2003 comedy/music “A Mighty Wind,” where he portrayed Wally Fenton. In between his work with Guest, Miller could be seen in Garry Marshall's “The Princess Diaries” (2001, had an uncredited part as Paolo the Hairdresser), Tim Hill's “Max Keeble's “Big Move” (2001) and Chris Koch's “A Guy Thing” (2003). The television vet also voiced XR in the animated series “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command” (2000) and played the recurring role of Tommy in the comedy series “8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter” (2002-2003).

Miller made a cameo as a car buyer in “Raising Helen” (2004), a comedy drama starring Kate Hudson and directed by Marshall, reprised his role as Paolo in the installment “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” (2004, again directed by Marshall), costarred with Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in the murder mystery “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (2005) and appeared with Jeremy Piven in the indie-comedy “Keeping Up With The Steins” (2006). Still in 2006, he voiced Fred Nickle for “The Ant Bully,” a computer-animated film for director John Davis and rejoined with Guest for “For Your Consideration.” From 2004 to 2006, he played the recurring role of Edwin Poole in the David E. Kelley-created crime/drama “Boston Legal.” He also appeared as Leonard Harper in a 2005 episode of the hit “Desperate Housewives.”

2007 saw Millers in movies like “The Pre Nup,” “Bag Boy,” “The Final Season”and “Blonde Ambition,” which starred Jessica Simpson and Luke Wilson and helmed by Scott Marshall. His voice could also be heard as Buzzwell in the animation “Bee Movie” (2007). He starred as Mr. Frankfurt Dickwalder in the comedy film “Senior Skip Day” (2008).

The 55-year-old actor currently filming “The Other End of the Line” (2008), a romance film directed by James Dodson and written by Tracey Jackson. He is also scheduled to play Sid Pomerantz in the upcoming comedy “My Beautiful Mistake” (2008), with Enrico Colantoni and Mike Starr.

However, Miller has never forgotten his root as a life performer. Whenever he has time, he can be found performing as a stand-up comic. He has written a humor column for The Daily Standard.

Awards:
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