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Bill Thurman

Bill Thurman

Acting

November 4, 1920 – April 13, 1995 (died at 74)
Texas, USA
Male
49 Movies
2 TV Shows

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

The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show

The Last Picture Show

1971 7.6

as Coach Popper

Age 50 (now 74)
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
Mountaintop Motel Massacre

Mountaintop Motel Massacre

1983 4.4

as Reverend Bill McWiley

Age 62 (now 74)
The Sugarland Express
The Sugarland Express

The Sugarland Express

1974 6.6

as Hunter

Age 53 (now 74)
Where the Red Fern Grows
Where the Red Fern Grows

Where the Red Fern Grows

1974 6.9

as Sam Bellington

Age 53 (now 74)
Silverado
Silverado

Silverado

1985 6.9

as Carter

Age 64 (now 74)
The Evictors
The Evictors

The Evictors

1979 6.4

as Preacher Higgins

Age 58 (now 74)
Tom Horn
Tom Horn

Tom Horn

1980 6.4

as Ora Haley

Age 59 (now 74)
Creature from Black Lake
Creature from Black Lake

Creature from Black Lake

1976 5.2

as Sheriff Billy Carter

Age 55 (now 74)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1977 7.4

as Air Traffic

Age 57 (now 74)
It's Alive
It's Alive

It's Alive

1969 3.8

as Greely / Monster

Age 48 (now 74)
'Gator Bait
'Gator Bait

'Gator Bait

1974 5.1

as Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas

Age 53 (now 74)
In the Year 2889
In the Year 2889

In the Year 2889

1969 3.2

as Tim Henderson

Age 48 (now 74)
Raggedy Man
Raggedy Man

Raggedy Man

1981 5.5

as Sheriff

Age 60 (now 74)
Night Fright
Night Fright

Night Fright

1967 3.1

as Deputy Ben Whitfield

Age 46 (now 74)
Alamo Bay
Alamo Bay

Alamo Bay

1985 6.0

as Sheriff

Age 64 (now 74)
Zontar: The Thing from Venus
Zontar: The Thing from Venus

Zontar: The Thing from Venus

1967 4.3

as Sheriff Brad Crenshaw

Age 47 (now 74)