Marvin Elliott Miller (born Marvin Mueller; July 18, 1913 – February 8, 1985) was an American actor. Possessing a deep baritone voice, he began his career in radio in St. Louis, Missouri, before becoming a Hollywood actor. He is remembered for voicing Robby the Robot in the science fiction film Forbidden Planet (1956), a role he reprised in the lesser-known The Invisible Boy (1957).

Miller's next most notable role is that of Michael Anthony, the loyal assistant of Paul Frees' generous millionaire John Beresford Tipton Jr., on the TV series The Millionaire (1955–1960).

Career

Radio and recordings Born in St. Louis, Miller graduated from Washington University in St. Louis before commencing his career in radio. When a singer named Marvin Miller debuted on another St. Louis radio station, he began using his middle initial to distinguish himself from the newcomer. For the Mutual Broadcasting System, he narrated a daily 15-minute radio show titled The Story Behind the Story, which offered historical vignettes. He also served as announcer on several Old Time Radio shows of the 1940s and 1950s, including the Louella Parsons Show (1948), The Jo Stafford ShowBuxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. P. 125. and the long-running mystery series The Whistler.

Miller played Dr. Lee Markham on The Woman in White on NBC radio and Howard Andrews on Midstream on the Blue Network and appeared as "The voice of the Past" on the May 21, 1942 broadcast of The Right to Happiness. In 1945–47, he was the announcer for Songs by Sinatra. He played two characters and was the announcer on The Billie Burke Show (1943–1946).

In 1952, Miller had a one-man program, Armchair Adventures, on CBS Radio. He did "all voices and narration" in the 15-minute dramatic anthology.Dunning, op. cit., "Armchair Adventures" p. 40 He also recorded 260 episodes of a program described in a 1950 trade publication as "Marvin Miller: Famous radio voice in series of five minute vignettes about famous people." The program was syndicated via electrical transcription by The Cardinal Company.Alicoate, Jack, Ed. (1950). Shows: 1950 Radio Daily Program Buyers Guide. Radio Daily Corp. P. 40.

He also won Grammy Awards in 1965 and 1966 for his recordings of Dr. Seuss stories on RCA Records: in 1967 for Dr Seuss Presents – If I Ran the Zoo and Sleep Book and 1966 for Dr Seuss Presents Fox in Socks and Green Eggs and Ham. He also read Bartholomew and the Oobleck, Horton Hatches the Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories.,Marvin Miller - Dr Suess Presents...Horton Hatches The Egg, The Sneetches And Other Stories

In the mid-1970s, Miller even lent his voice to sports films, narrating the official Indianapolis 500 films in 1975 and 1976.

Film In films, the heavyset Miller was often cast as a villain, many times playing Asian roles. He portrayed a sadistic henchman in the 1947 Humphrey Bogart film Dead Reckoning and was Yamada in the 1945 James Cagney film Blood on the Sun. In 1946's film noir Deadline at Dawn he plays Sleepy Parsons, a blind pianist. Miller played George "Gusty" Gustafson in the George Raft film noir classic Johnny Angel.

Additionally, he also appeared in Red Planet Mars (1952), Forbidden (1953), Time Stood Still (1956), and When the Girls Take Over (1962).

Miller also did a great deal of voice work in animation from the 1950s into the 1970s, from the narration on the 1950 Academy Award-winning United Productions of America cartoon Gerald McBoing-Boing and the 1952 Chamber of Commerce film The Story of Creative Capital to the 1970 The Ant and the Aardvark cartoon Scratch a Tiger.

Television From 1949 to 1950 Miller starred as Dr. Yat Fu on the short-lived ABC series Mysteries of Chinatown, with Gloria Saunders cast as his niece, Ah Toy. In 1961, Miller guest-starred as Johnny Kelso, with Erin O'Brien, in "The Marble Slab" episode of the Frederick Ziv-, United Artists-, and MGM-produced Bat Masterson, starring Gene Barry. Original air date was May 11, 1961.

Further, in television, he was a narrator on The F.B.I., Police Squad!, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, plus appeared on Land of the Lost and Love, American Style.

Miller voiced "Mr. Sun" in the AT&T Corporation educational film Our Mr. Sun, and "Hemo" in the AT&T educational film Hemo the Magnificent, parts of a series featuring Dr. Frank C. Baxter and directed by Frank Capra, which was shown on American network television in 1956 and 1957. Miller crossed paths with other prolific voice-over artists many times in his career, including June Foray, playing "Deer" in Hemo the Magnificent and in the TV series Rocky and Bullwinkle along with Paul Frees, who voiced "Boris Badenov" in that program. Miller and Frees also performed in separate segments on the audio recording Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume One: The Early Years.

Miller made a guest appearance in 1963 on Perry Mason as unscrupulous attorney F.J. Weatherby in "The Case of the Lover's Leap".

Miller voiced Aquaman for the Filmation studio for their 1967 series The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. He was also the voice of pilot/scientist Busby Birdwell in the company's animated series Fantastic Voyage.

He was the voice of the arrogant alien "Zarn" in three episodes of the second season of Land of the Lost. Miller also lent his distinct voice to The Pink Panther Show, often talking with the feline offscreen and asking questions, while also voicing The Inspector, his second Deux Deux and their boss The Commissioner.

He also won Grammy Awards in 1965 and 1966, for his recordings of stories by Dr. Seuss.

In more than 200 episodes of The Millionaire, Miller played Michael Anthony, conveying the wishes of the "fabulously wealthy" John Beresford Tipton Jr., voiced by Paul Frees.

Death

Miller died in 1985 at the age of 71 from a heart attack.

For his contribution to the television industry, Marvin Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1945 Blood on the Sun Yamada Johnny Angel George "Gusty" Gustafson1946 Deadline at Dawn Sleepy Parsons Just Before Dawn Casper The Phantom Thief Dr. Nejino Night in Paradise Scribe Without Reservations Louella's radio announcer UncreditedAlternative title: Thanks God, I'll Take It from Here1947 Dead Reckoning Krause The Brasher Doubloon Vince Blair Alternative title: High Window The Corpse Came C.O.D. Rudy Frasso Intrigue Ramon Perez1951 Gerald McBoing-Boing Narrator Voice Smuggler's Island Bok-Ying Peking Express Kwon The Prince Who Was a Thief Hakar The Golden Horde Genghis Khan1952 Hong Kong Tao Liang Red Planet Mars Arjenian The Story of Creative Capital Narrator Voice. Credited1953 Off Limits Vic Breck Alternative title: Military Policemen Ben and Me Dr. Palmer / Miscellaneous Men Voice Forbidden Chalmer1954 Jivaro Jivaro Chief Kovanti The Shanghai Story Colonel Zorek Beauty and the Bull Narrator Short, Voice1955 New York Confidential Narrator Voice, Uncredited Godzilla Raids Again Narrator English version, Voice King Dinosaur Narrator Voice 1956 Forbidden Planet Robby the Robot Voice, Uncredited1957 The Deadly Mantis Narrator The Invisible Boy Robby the Robot Voice The Story of Mankind Armana1958 Manhunt in the Jungle Narrator Voice Senior Prom Narrator Voice Panda and the Magic Serpent Narrator Voice1959 Sleeping Beauty Narrator Voice, Uncredited Sampo Narrator English version, Voice 1961 The Phantom Planet Introductory Narrator Voice1962 When the Girls Take Over Henri Degiere Panic in Year Zero! Radio Announcer Uncredited1965 The Agony and the Ecstasy Prologue Narrator Uncredited Saturday Night in Apple Valley Invasion of Astro-Monster Fuji English version, Voice Inside Daisy Clover Narrator - The Daisy Clover Story Voice, Uncredited 1966 Gamera the Invincible Voice over Uncredited 1967 Hell on Wheels The Announcer1967-1969The InspectorThe Commissioner / Pig-Al / Warden / Ranger / Psychiatrist1970 MASH PA Announcer Uncredited Blood of the Iron Maiden Claude1972 Where Does It Hurt? Catering Manager The Sexpert Michael Anthony Uncredited1973 Fantastic Planet Great Tree Chief / Master Kon English version, Voice, Uncredited The Naked Ape Fat Man Tidal Wave (US version) 1974 How to Seduce a Woman Racetrack Announcer 1975 I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? Jordan's Boss 1976 The Call of the Wild Narrator TV movie1977 Empire of the Ants Voice, Uncredited John Hus Sigismund Prime Time Henry Wideman Alternative titles: American RaspberryFunny AmericaSpace Cruiser YamatoVoice, English version 1981 Kiss Daddy Goodbye Bill Morris 1984 Swing Shift Rollo 1984 Gremlins Robby The Robot Voice, Uncredited 1986 Hell Squad The Sheik Alternative titles: Commando GirlsCommando Squad, (final film role) Television Year Title Role Notes 1949 Mysteries of Chinatown Dr. Yat Fu unknown episodes 1952 Space Patrol Mr. Proteus (continuing character) & other roles 1952–195413 episodes 1955 The Millionaire Michael Anthony 1955–1960206 episodes 1959 The Danny Thomas Show Mr. Chow 1 episode 1961 Bat Masterson John Kelso 1 episode (episode 31) 1961 The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet Man in Dream 1 episode 1963 Perry Mason F. J. Weatherby 1 episode 1966 Batman TV Announcer 1 episode (episode 12) 1966–1974 The F.B.I Narrator 117 episodes 1967 The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure Aquaman (voice) 36 episodes 1967 The Green Hornet On-the-scene Reporter 1 episode 1969-1970 The Pink Panther Show Narrator / The Inspector / Sgt Deux-Deux / The Commissioner Bumper segments only1971 Adam-12, S4, E6, "The Ferret" Doctor 1 episode 1972 Mission: Impossible Smith 1 episode 1975 Land of the Lost Zarn Voice, 3 episodes 1976 Electra Woman and Dyna Girl Narrator 15 episodes 1978 Wonder Woman Mr. Beamer 1 episode 1982 Police Squad! Narrator 6 episodes

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