Bill Thurman
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- November 4, 1920
- Died
- April 13, 1995
- Birthplace
- 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
Filmography
Painted Hero 1997
as Old Man Bolen
In Broad Daylight 1991
as Virgil Teague
It Takes Two 1988
as Bus Driver
Hawken's Breed 1987
as Jeb Kline
Silverado 1985
as Carter
Stormin' Home 1985
as Bailiff
Alamo Bay 1985
as Sheriff
Innocent Prey 1984
as Jim Gardner
Mountaintop Motel Massacre 1983
as Reverend Bill McWiley
The Long Summer of George Adams 1982
as Floyd
Raggedy Man 1981
as Sheriff
Skyward 1980
as Pilot #1
Tom Horn 1980
as Ora Haley
The Sky Trap 1979
as Sheriff
The Evictors 1979
as Preacher Higgins
The Beasts Are on the Streets 1978
as Carl Evans
Keep My Grave Open 1977
as Hitchhiker
Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977
as Air Traffic
Charge of the Model T's 1977
as Sgt. Bond
Slumber Party '57 1976
as Mr. Willis
Creature from Black Lake 1976
as Sheriff Billy Carter
The Florida Connection 1975
as Deke
'Gator Bait 1974
as Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
Ride in a Pink Car 1974
as Barlow
Where the Red Fern Grows 1974
as Sam Bellington
The Sugarland Express 1974
as Hunter
The Pickle Goes in the Middle 1973
as Mr. Stanovich
Encounter with the Unknown 1972
as Second Man
Fair Play 1972
as Jed Bartrum
The Last Picture Show 1971
as Coach Popper
Strawberries Need Rain 1971
Key Grip
A Bullet for Pretty Boy 1970
as Huddy
It's Alive 1969
as Greely / Monster
Hell Raiders 1969
as Tex
In the Year 2889 1969
as Tim Henderson
The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde 1968
as Policeman (uncredited)
Mars Needs Women 1968
as Drunk on Pier
Curse of the Swamp Creature 1968
as Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
Zontar: The Thing from Venus 1967
as Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
Night Fright 1967
as Deputy Ben Whitfield
The Eye Creatures 1967
as Sergeant
Hip Hot and 21 1967
as Lt. Lang
- Sam
Sam 1967
Actor
Spiked Heels and Black Nylons 1967
as Abel
The Black Cat 1966
as Bartender, Key Grip
Hot Blooded Woman 1965
as Railroad Tough
High Yellow 1965
as Major Bates
The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald 1964
as Witness
Credits from TMDB.