Jason Miller Tribute

Miller's Tale

2011-07-30T02:52:00.001-04:00

Just a reminder: if you wanted to pre-order your copy of Miller’s Tale (read more about the wonderful film here) and/or send a donation, there’s only 3 days left to do so!

Email from the associate producer of Miller's Tale

2011-04-15T21:43:00.001-04:00

The official Miller's Tale DVD is now ready for pre-order! DVDs will include the hour-long film and multiple Extras: Director’s commentary, Deleted scenes, the Director’s student film Birthday (which captures Jason Miller in one of his final performances on film), and more.

To fund DVD production, we've launched an IndieGoGo fundraising camp where you pre-order a DVD for $35 (shipping included), and if you'd like to give more, we have all kinds of perks (that include limited edition framed stills of Jason Miller, taken by noted photographer Danny Fields).

To purchase a DVD, check out our page here.

By buying your DVD copies now, you are ensuring that we can complete DVD production and get you your copy as soon as possible. We plan to have pre-orders sent out in August 2011. Please feel free to share the page with friends, family, and Jason Miller fans on social networking sites, blogs, forums, etc.

Thanks so much for your support!!!

Best,

Kathleen

Associate Producer, Miller's Tale

http://www.millerstalemovie.com

Jason Patric brings his late father Jason Miller's ashes in as prop for Broadway revival of his play "That Championship Season"

2011-03-08T16:03:00.001-05:00

Patric also said, “I do have his ashes up there,” referring to the silver urn in a cupboard on the set. “I thought the old man should be up there with us. I feel in some ways, when I’m doing this, I’m in communion with him, opening up to that vulnerability, that wound.”

Brian Cox, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jason Patric on NPR

2011-03-08T12:46:00.006-05:00

Jason DeCrow/Associated Press In this Jan. 13, 2011 photo, cast members of the Broadway play That Championship Season, from left, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Noth, Brian Cox, seated, Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric pose for a portrait in New York

On Saturday's Weekend Edition, Scott Simon speaks with actors Brian Cox, Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric about their roles in the new Broadway production of That Championship Season. The play, about a coach hosting a reunion of the members of his championship high-school basketball team 20 years later, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for playwright Jason Miller — who was Jason Patric's father. (Miller died in 2001.) The production also stars Chris Noth, familiar to TV viewers of Sex And The City and The Good Wife, and Jim Gaffigan, who's best known as a comedian.
The actors agree that while the text is about a coach and a team, it's more about fathers and sons — in fact, Patric grew up knowing his own father wrote it in an effort to achieve enough success to move his son away from a playground strewn with broken glass.
That Championship Season: Fathers And Sons Find A New Home On Broadway

Miller's Tale updates

2011-02-12T22:28:00.003-05:00

You can watch the trailer here and be sure to keep an eye on that site for news and info!

Jason Miller

2010-07-24T15:07:00.001-04:00

Jason Miller
Originally uploaded by DK Rising

Jason Miller / Damien Karras

2010-07-24T12:21:00.001-04:00

Jason Miller / Damien Karras
Originally uploaded by DK Rising

Jason Miller and William Friedkin

2010-07-15T00:36:00.001-04:00

exorciste-1973-tou-19-g
Originally uploaded by DK Rising

Jason Miller and William Friedkin

2010-07-11T13:19:00.001-04:00

exorciste-1973-tou-01-g
Originally uploaded by DK Rising

People April 01, 1974

2010-06-11T23:13:00.002-04:00

"I didn't know anything about The Exorcist then except that there seemed to be a lot of people whose heads were buried in that purple book on the subway..."

Link

Behind the scenes photos from Mommy (1995)

2010-05-30T11:26:00.000-04:00

Link

Large behind the scenes pic

2010-03-01T14:31:00.001-05:00

alb241946
Originally uploaded by DK Rising

The Gemini Killer

2009-07-13T12:06:00.001-04:00

The Gemini Killer
Originally uploaded by DK Rising

Lovely photo by Mary Ellen Mark

2009-06-17T15:07:00.000-04:00

JASON MILLER: 'EXORCIST' PRIEST WHO QUIT THE CHURCH
April 1, 1974

A Dog Called Vengeance (1976) Part I

2009-06-11T00:25:00.002-04:00

No Spoilers, please, I haven't had a chance to watch it yet!

Gallery moved to Flickr

2009-06-10T23:43:00.001-04:00

Link. It's not done by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it's a start.

Happy birthday!

2009-04-22T22:40:00.001-04:00

He would have been 70 today.

Bust of Jason Miller unveiled

2009-04-14T01:01:00.000-04:00

Jason Miller bust

2009-03-17T12:06:00.005-04:00

A big thanks to O.T.I.S. for posting photos of the Jason Miller bust.

Happy St. Patrick's day!

A Dog Called Vengeance (1976) trailer

2009-03-09T00:52:00.003-04:00

Gallery changes

2009-02-15T18:22:00.003-05:00

The original gallery no longer exists, but you'll find just about all of the pics from it HERE.

John Gallagher Interview - 47 min.

2009-02-15T18:14:00.000-05:00

June 4, 2008 Article and photo

2009-02-12T11:26:00.003-05:00

Jason Miller Remembered as Artist, Friend

Stacy Keach interview

2008-07-14T22:30:00.003-04:00

Oddity Cinema. Not much on Miller, but a good interview.

Any volunteers?

2008-07-11T23:44:00.000-04:00

I recently received an email concerning the lack of Jason's books as ebooks. Since I'm not the only one looking, I'm asking a favour of those of you with time and generosity to help those of us who need to read, but can't find or afford, Jason's books. The specific request was for an ebook/text file of That Championship Season. As always, anything would be appreciated. The idea is to make Jason Miller Tribute the best resource it can be. Ebooks would be a great feature.

I'm also looking for a vhs (or dvd) of F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (if there is one) for someone. I'll soon come up with something to help with requests. Only for when all the common methods of finding something have been tried. Ebay, Amazon, etc. A forum would be too much for me. I don't have enough time or knowledge to sustain that sort of thing. Your best bet for now is to email jasonmillertribute[at]yahoo[dot]com. Please insert a suitable subject title; I don't open anything titled with WIN WIN WIN or whathaveyou.

So, help if you can, please. Thanks for reading.

JMT template

2008-07-06T14:29:00.006-04:00

Click HERE to view Justin's JMT template. Don't get too attached; it isn't staying up for long, and lots of the links lead to plain text stating CONTENT HERE. It's marvelous though, and a great example of what I hope to have some day. Soon...

AMERICAN EXORCIST: Critical Essays on William Peter Blatty

2008-06-28T13:59:00.001-04:00

My friends Ryan and Mike have had their essays published in American Exorcist: Critical Essays on William Peter Blatty!

...if you purchase the paperback through the link below, a tiny smidgen of the sale will go towards The Exorcist Fansite. Every little bit helps!

So help support a great site, and buy your copy of American Exorcist HERE.

Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller

2008-06-16T01:33:00.002-04:00

Scenes from the play "Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller" written by Tom Flannery and Rodger Jacobs. Starring Robert Hughes.

The Exorcist - Audience Reactions

2008-05-28T01:22:00.001-04:00

Gallery additions from Justin

2008-05-25T01:26:00.007-04:00

View more in the Jason Miller Gallery. More on the way.

Internet...

2008-05-18T12:41:00.001-04:00

I'll likely be losing my Internet connection shortly. I hope to have it back as soon as possible.

Jason Miller as Father Damien Karras by Alberto Forero

2008-05-06T14:40:00.003-04:00

Jason Miller as Father Damian Karras by Alberto Forero
Originally uploaded by pantufla

Alberto Allan Forero did this awesome drawing for me after I was stunned by his Edgar Allen Poe. As you can guess, I faved it instantly. Wonderful job! Thank you!

Behind the scenes of That Championship season

2008-04-15T22:18:00.004-04:00

Thanks to MartinSheen.net for the pic and to my friend who pointed it out.

Inspirations and ideas for the making of THE EXORCIST

2008-03-24T12:49:00.001-04:00

The Exorcist III: Legion (1990) soundtrack

2008-03-18T00:43:00.000-04:00

Download it at s0undtracks-0f-ghouli3s.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-16T01:17:00.000-04:00

St. Patrick's Day parade Scranton 2007

Autograph

2008-03-06T16:20:00.002-05:00

Damien Karras sells cereal!

2008-02-26T00:40:00.004-05:00

Hollywood special f/x artist/concept designer guru Miles Teves (Robocop, Legend, Pirates of the Caribbean, King Kong) recently sent me his demonic possession entry, Pazuzu Bitz. If you haven't guessed it yet, the cereal box is based on William Friedkin's 1973 horror classic, The Exorcist.

Found at Cereal Killers

Exorcist III (1990) trailer

2008-02-25T09:42:00.000-05:00

Mommy (1995) trailer

2008-02-24T22:20:00.001-05:00

The Exorcist Behind the scenes scans

2008-02-23T12:25:00.003-05:00

Slide.com

2008-02-19T23:05:00.000-05:00

Currently on Ebay:

2008-02-18T10:47:00.004-05:00

Captainhowdy.com, EXMK & JM Gallery hacked

2008-02-18T09:02:00.003-05:00

First it was Captainhowdy.com, now it's EXMK.net. Therefor the Gallery is gone.

Jason Miller Tribute video

2008-02-16T19:49:00.004-05:00

I didn't make it (I don't make slide shows or anything...), but it looks very nice. Pretty satisfying to know that he's still appreciated! Thanks, Knoxvicious, for putting the pics to good use!

Go Irish: The Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller

2008-02-09T11:49:00.001-05:00

“Go Irish: The Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller” is an intense one-man show that examines the soul in afterlife of the late Pulitzer Prize winning playwright (“That Championship Season”) and film and television actor (“The Exorcist”, “F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood”) Jason Miller. Stuck in purgatory until he can answer – in a battered, loose leaf notebook, no less – for the mess that his life became before he died of a massive heart attack in 2001, Miller walks us through the shattered detritus of his career and alcoholic existence, a deeply troubled man who turned his back on Hollywood and returned home to Scranton, PA, to become the town drunk.

Language: English

Country:

Edition: First

Printed: 98 pages, 6" x 9", perfect binding, black and white interior ink

Download: 1 documents, 324 KB

LINK

Obituary: Jason Miller

2008-02-07T14:05:00.002-05:00

Independent, The (London), May 17, 2001 by Tom Vallance

THE PLAYWRIGHT and actor Jason Miller achieved in the space of one year notable triumphs as both writer and performer. In 1973 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his play That Championship Season, a mordant drama about a reunion of members of a winning basketball team and their coach, which also won the Tony and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award as the year's best play. The same year he was cast as Father Damien Karras, the priest who battles demons for a girl's soul in one of the scariest of horror films, William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973).

His performance won him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. He commented at the time, "I can't quite catch up with it. I still wake up some mornings and ask myself, `Is today the day I go to the unemployment insurance office?'" His success had come after a long struggle. "I worked for welfare, I worked as a truck-driver, I worked as a waiter. And then I'd go out to the provinces and do some resident theatre and come back and have to get another job or go on unemployment."

The son of an electrician and grandson of a coal miner, Miller was born in 1939 in Long Island City, New York, but grew up, like the ex- basketball champions in his play, in the Lackawanna Valley of Pennsylvania. Also like the men in his play, he was an outstanding athlete, but there the similarity stopped. "I was never involved in a state basketball championship, and I never had a coach like that. It is, however, the material of my life."

He was educated at St Patrick's Academy then entered the Jesuit- run University of Scranton on an athletic scholarship, studying English and philosophy. He later credited the nuns at St Patrick's with initially steering his interests in a literary direction when he was "getting into a lot of trouble and they thought poetry writing might help". They drilled him in elocution and encouraged him to act in school drama and study writing for the theatre.

His one-act play about a prize-fighter, The Winner, won him the top prize at the regional Jesuit Eastern Play Contest. Later he attended the speech and drama department at the Catholic University in Washington, but confessed in a 1974 interview that he was asked to leave "for never attending classes, never taking tests and never getting the girls back to their dormitory by 10 o'clock". In 1963 he married a fellow student, Linda Gleason (daughter of the comedian Jackie), with whom he had three children - he had a fourth child with a girlfriend, Susan Bernard.

Miller and his wife performed Shakespeare together in local high schools before moving to New York where they later divorced. Miller struggled to find work as an actor while continuing to write. "When you write a play," he said, "you act out all the parts, so what you're doing in the daytime is preparing you for your performance at night. You get to the theatre warmed up." He completed several plays, including Nobody Hears a Broken Drum, about oppressed Irish miners in Pennsylvania in 1862, which had a brief off-Broadway run in 1970, but had little success until, while appearing in the play Subject to Fits at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre complex in 1971, he showed Papp his play That Championship Season, which Papp put on at the theatre in 1972.

Directed by A.J. Antoon, and with a cast including Richard A. Dysart, Charles Durning and Paul Sorvino, it was a profanity-riddled story about four small-town Pennsylvania men who gather for a reunion at the home of their old coach 20 years after their high-school team won a basketball trophy using dirty tactics. The play then exposes the cynicism and disillusionment that has since pervaded their lives, with all of them having failed to fulfil their earlier ambitions. The critic Clive Barnes wrote, "Here at last is the perfect play of the season" and Walter Kerr in The New York Times called it "rock solid, bitterly funny, painfully shaming".

The play transferred to Broadway, where it completed a run of 834 performances, though a London production at the Garrick Theatre in 1974 starring Broderick Crawford fared less well, its cynical look at middle-American life and the collapse of the American dream having less resonance. A film version, directed by Miller himself in 1982, was also a failure, despite a strong cast including Robert Mitchum, Bruce Dern, Martin Sheen, Stacy Keach and, in his original role, Paul Sorvino. In 1999 Miller up-dated the script for a television movie directed by Sorvino.

After winning the Pulitzer Prize the author told The New York Times that he felt an obligation to continue writing for the theatre. "I think it would be ungracious not to. Theatre is in desperate straits, and I'd like to help pick it up." But Miller's writing and acting careers were never to reach the pinnacles of 1973, though he wrote several television movies and had considerable success as a television actor, playing the title role in F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (1976) and starring in the mini- series The Dain Curse (1978), based on Dashiell Hammett's novel, and an incisive study of a girl's battle with anorexia nervosa, The Best Little Girl in the World (1981), described by one critic as an "uncommonly good `disease- of-the-week' TV movie with exceptional performances".

In 1986 Miller returned to his hometown to become artistic director of Scranton Public Theatre, and in 1990 he repeated his Exorcist character in Exorcist III. His only produced play after That Championship Season was Barrymore's Ghost, produced in Seattle in 1997, though at the time of his death from a heart attack he was collaborating with his son the writer- director Joshua Miller on a new play, Me and My Old Man. He was also preparing to appear as Oscar Madison in the Scranton Public Theatre's production of The Odd Couple. He is survived by three other children who include the actor Jason Patric.

Jason Miller, playwright and actor: born Long Island City, New York 22 April 1939; married 1963 Linda Gleason (two sons, one daughter; marriage dissolved 1973), one son by Susan Bernard; died Scranton, Pennsylvania 13 May 2001.

Light of Day (1987) vid

2008-01-29T20:07:00.000-05:00

The gallery is back

2008-01-23T20:15:00.000-05:00

Jason Miller Gallery

The gallery

2008-01-23T01:06:00.000-05:00

...is down for the moment. We hope to have it sorted soon. Sorry for any inconvenience.

That Championship Season (1980)

2008-01-15T12:01:00.001-05:00

That Championship Season (1980)
Originally uploaded by strandsttheatre

That Championship Season (1980)

2008-01-15T12:00:00.001-05:00

That Championship Season (1980)
Originally uploaded by strandsttheatre

Applaud The Spirit Of Jason Miller

2008-01-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

Posted: Sunday, 12 August 2007 9:33PM

Applaud The Spirit Of Jason Miller

Steve Corbett Reporting
corbett@wilknewsradio.com

Monday, August 13, 2007

Jason Miller’s spirit hovered in the small dark theater Saturday night, as it always will no matter what production the Scranton Public Theater mounts from here until forever.

Miller shaped the soul of the acting company.

Now he is its soul.

Had he lived, Saturday night’s production of “Love Letters” by AR Gurney would have satisfied his demand for excellence. Simple and pure, the show conveyed the storyteller’s art in a way that Miller, who died in Scranton in 2001 at 62, would have enjoyed.

Master storyteller that he was, Miller loved words. After returning to his hometown after achieving fame and living in California and New York, he shared his life and his deep regard for the language of the stage with two of the best friends he ever had.

Agnes Cummings, who co-stars with Malachy McCourt in “Love Letters” and Bob Schlesinger, who produced and directed the show, never let him down. They followed his lead and learned from his example.

Miller taught them well.

Through them, and others like them, we have the continuation of all that Miller deemed holy.

Because of them and their continuing hard work, maybe one day we’ll have what he truly wanted more than anything for his town – a permanent theater for the Scranton Public Theater to call home.

For now, the company is firmly ensconced at the Old Brick Theater at 128 W. Market St. in North Scranton, a temporary place of blessed refuge from which Cummings, Schlesinger and the rest of their theatrical tribe can work their magic, casting spells with words and lights and gestures that all have meaning in our lives.

McCourt, a world-class raconteur, all-around Irish handful and dear friend of Miller, joined Cummings onstage Saturday in “Love Letters,” a play that reminds us how brittle the relationships of our lives remain and how far apart even the closest friends sometimes grow.

Cummings and McCourt read the script’s lasting words and made their syllables breathe.

Schlesinger had done well – directing them to inhale and exhale at just the right moments.

With all that fresh oxygen flying around, the audience couldn’t help but feel life in the room.

And we realized just how alive we all really are.

When McCourt spoke with us last week on “Corbett,” he expressed great admiration for his own personal relationship with Scranton and his love of the ongoing chaos that drives us who love this city deeper into the quest to know who we are.

Miller also thrived on the madness and the search for identity. Dancing with chaos helped make him who he was. Raw emotion helped him live and raw emotion helped him die.

Still, he exhibited great brilliance and discipline on the stage.

Sitting in the theater Saturday night reminded me of Miller’s priceless contributions to Scranton and the pursuit of truth through art. Miller taught us that no matter how damning, art is wisdom.

Despite his faults and failings, and he had many, Miller gave us honesty, something that many of even the bravest among us refuse to share.

Cummings continues to unfurl that sacred banner on the altar of the stage.

So does Schlesinger.

And McCourt has always been quick to enlist in the never-ending battle to do justice to art and apply art to justice. Like Miller, he too is unique – a man who will always be a hard act to follow as he steps fearlessly and willingly into life’s disturbances and dramas.

Plays are wonderful places to engage an enemy.

In many ways, the stage is neutral territory where we can broker a peace from the greatest mayhem, a place where the lessons are many and where everybody in the audience survives in the end.

Playwrights carve meaning from shining veins of creativity.

After coming home from a brief hospital stay shortly before he died, Miller told me that the doctors are like coal miners – they always find danger if they dig deep enough.

Good theater people also dig deep. And what they find in those shining veins of creativity, they share.

Accept their gifts.

“Love Letters” runs again this weekend.

Call 570-344-3656 for reservations, details or changes in the schedule.

You, too, should meet the spirit of Jason Miller.

That spirit will help you feel alive.

Source: http://wilknetwork.com/Applaud-The-Spirit-Of-Jason-Miller/800292">WILK-FM

Toy Soldiers (1984) screencaps

2008-01-08T11:07:00.001-05:00

Sent in by a generous gentleman. Many thanks to him.

Behind the scenes of Murdered Innocence

2008-01-06T01:36:00.001-05:00

Unavailable for embedding, so click HERE. If you can't spare 7:54 minutes to watch the whole thing, skip to 4:51 (aprox.).

The Exorcist - Cast reunion on Good Morning America (1984)

2008-01-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

Small Kill (1992) clip

2008-01-05T11:56:00.000-05:00

Unavailable for embedding, so click HERE.

Jason Miller Tribute Myspace page

2007-12-17T12:44:00.001-05:00

jasonmiller1939_2001

(http://www.myspace.com/jasonmiller1939_2001)

Email us

2007-12-17T00:17:00.000-05:00

jasonmillertribute[AT]yahoo[DOT]com

Please title your email Subject so it can be easily differentiated from Spam. Better desciption of guidelines coming soon.

Myspace news

2007-11-24T12:45:00.000-05:00

Justin has made a kick-ass Exorcist Tribute page, and I have a JM tribute page in the works... I'll also make an email account for this site, so that if you have anything you want to send in or say, you can contact Justin or I directly without posting your email address etc. here.

UPDATE: You can now add The Exorcist III: Legion to your Myspace. It's owned by our friend, Ryan. (The Ninth Configuration)

The Ninth Configuration

2007-11-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

I watched it Tuesday night and I love it. Links and stuff coming up!

TheNinthConfiguration.com

The Ninth Configuration on Myspace

Lt. Frankie Reno on Myspace

UPDATE: The Ninth Configuration Forum

My Halloween tradition

2007-10-20T20:16:00.001-04:00

Starting off, if this goddamn computer doesn't stop fucking with me, I'll scream. Ok, on with business.

Just a few days until I watch The Exorcist TVYNS (2000). It pains me greatly to have never seen the original 1973 theatrical release. I beg of Warner Brothers to re release it. Please. I'll buy it. Promise. What about a Boxing day event...? 34th anniversary spectacular. I can dream.

I've watched TVYNS every Halloween for the last 2 years. (Only 2 years??? It feels like that film has been with me my whole life.) This year will make it 3. I've seen it about 11 times. I know it doesn't seem like much to some; may seem like a lot to others. It's all relative. It's the most times I've seen a film. I never tire of it. I'll write something here after I watch for the 12th time. It won't be a full review, just what comes to me. Cross your fingers.

And here I draw a blank. How ridiculous I feel to get writer's block on a blog.

UPDATE: I see I didn't write antything about Exorcist like I said I would... But cool things are coming up for this site. Keep checking back!

Very huge high quality pics from Justin

2007-10-18T12:58:00.000-04:00

Miller’s Tale article

2007-10-18T09:58:00.000-04:00

Filmmaker, vocalist earn community support through F. Lammot Belin Scholarship
Christopher J. Hughes Abington Journal Reporter

WAVERLY – In a field full of talented individuals, artists regularly find themselves spending time not only producing their works but seeking ways to finance them.

Actor Martin Sheen, left, talks with Scranton native Rebecca Marshall Ferris about Jason Miller in Santa Monica in May 2007. Sheen was an interview subject for her documentary “Miller’s Tale.”PHOTO COURTESY REBECCA MARSHALL FERRIS

Thanks to the F. Lammot Belin Arts Scholarship, distributed annually since 1964 by the Waverly Community House, two artists with ties to the area are receiving a little help. Filmmaker Rebecca Marshall Ferris and Marywood University student �lan Royster have been named the 2007 F. Lammot Belin Traditional and Student Arts Scholarship winners, respectively.

Raised in Ocean City, MD, Royster said, “I was born to perform. I know it.” She began private study at age 12 through Catholic University and the Curtis Institute of Music. She is a former regional champion in the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition and has been featured on National Public Radio and at Boston’s Jordan Hall.

She recently transferred to Marywood University, having started her baccalaureate studies in vocal performance for opera at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore, MD. “My mom (Maria Womer) is originally from Scranton, and she was the one who told me about Marywood,” Royster said. “I’m performing right now as a soprano. I have a very full voice according to my teachers. It’s not small by any means.”

Royster said she was told of her scholarship award the same day performed for the Selection Committee. “I had basically just gotten back from a break when they told me. I was just elated,” she said.

Set to graduate from Marywood in May of 2008, Royster said the $10,000 grant will help pay for her education and fund her travels to workshops and competitions. After graduation, she said she plans to continue her studies privately before beginning to perform.

“My dream has always been to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House in Manhattan. That would be phenomenal,” she said. “Being a performer is a tough road to go down, but I’m ready for it.”

Scranton native Marshall Ferris, who now resides in New York City, said she splits her time between the Big Apple and the Electric City, completing work on her project, “Miller’s Tale.” The project is a documentary on the life and cultural impact of Scranton playwright Jason Miller.

She admits that documentary work wasn’t her initial dream. As a student at the School of Visual Arts, she said she was drawn to fiction films and screenwriting. While working on a script about a jazz musician, she was introduced to legendary trumpet player Jonah Jones.

“We became really good friends, and his stories were just captivating,” Marshall Ferris said. The tales produced the documentary “Jonah and the Wail,” which was broadcast on the Independent Film Channel and earned her the 1999 F. Lammot Belin Scholarship.

“Once I got into documentaries, I couldn’t get out,” she said. “For me right now, I’m in love with dealing with real people and telling their stories.”

She was drawn to the idea of creating “Miller’s Tale” through her work and knowledge of his impact on the area. Miller acted in her first student film, she said. “Even after he’s gone, people are still talking about him. He’s still very much alive in this community,” Marshall Ferris said.

Just as her own film aspirations changed, Marshall Ferris said “Miller’s Tale” began as the story of a bust of the playwright to be created by actor Paul Sorvino. As more stories about him came through, the film took on a life of its own. “Not everyone in Scranton loves Jason, so this is a very honest piece,” she said.

It can be difficult to raise funds for a project, especially films, Marshall Ferris said. “Financial support is huge, but the biggest benefit is knowing that the community is behind you,” she said. “My life now is finding a way to support my art, and grant funding is crucial to documentary work.”

The $10,000 grant could buy her a piece of Miller’s history in film. One minute of archival footage of “The Exorcist” from Warner Bros. Entertainment would cost $10,000. “You can’t make the film without that footage,” Marshall Ferris said.

Upon completion, “Miller’s Tale” is scheduled to be broadcast nationally on PBS in the fall of 2008.

Marshall Ferris has also started Cottage Films, an independent, non-fiction film company, from her home office with fellow Scranton native Stephen Scalese and her husband, Jason Ferris, behind the cameras.

Want to go?

What: F. Lammot Belin Scholarship reception

When: Friday, Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Waverly Community House, 1115 N. Abington Rd., Waverly

Info: Reception is free to the public. Event includes performance by Arts Scholarship recipient �lan Royster and sneak preview of Scholarship recipient Rebecca Marshall Ferris’ documentary “Miller’s Tale.”

Want to apply?

Application deadline for 2008 is December 15, 2007. Registration fee is $15. Award increased to $15,000 for 2008 grant cycle. For details, call 586-8191, ext. 2, or visit www.waverlycomm.org.

What'd I tell ya?!

2007-10-04T18:52:00.001-04:00

I knew I had a few more pics coming to me, but I didn't expect anything as good as this. RAH RAH, Justin!

That Championship Season photo

2007-10-03T01:30:00.000-04:00

Hold tight all. More pics are coming. Here is one from That Championship Season. I can't be sure if he is actually in this photo (if so, I'm going with the man facing away.) but it's a good one.

Jason Miller, Playwright and Actor, Dies at 62

2007-09-28T11:41:00.000-04:00

By ROBIN POGREBIN

Published: May 15, 2001

Jason Miller, the playwright and actor who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for ''That Championship Season,'' died on Sunday in Scranton, Pa. He was 62 and lived in Scranton.

The cause was a heart attack, said Joseph Brennan, the Lackawanna County coroner.

Mr. Miller also won a Tony Award for ''That Championship Season'' and in the same year was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Father Damien Karras in the horror movie ''The Exorcist.''

''That Championship Season,'' about a reunion of members of a winning basketball team with their coach, set in the Lackawanna Valley, was based on Mr. Miller's experience as a member of the St. Patrick's High School basketball team in the 1950's. The play, directed by A. J. Antoon, who also won a Tony Award for his work, originated at Joseph Papp's Public Theater in 1972 and then moved to the Booth on Broadway. The cast included Charles Durning and Paul Sorvino, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance.

Writing in The New York Times, Walter Kerr called ''That Championship Season'' ''rock solid, bitterly funny, painfully shaming.'' Mr. Miller adapted the play into a film, which he also directed. Released in 1982, it featured Robert Mitchum as the coach, Bruce Dern as the mayor and Stacy Keach, Martin Sheen and Mr. Sorvino as members of the team. The play was revived in 1999 at the Second Stage Theater.

Born in Long Island City, Queens, Mr. Miller grew up in Scranton and graduated from St. Patrick's and the Jesuit-run University of Scranton, where he studied English and philosophy, acted and won first prize in the Jesuit Eastern Play Contest. According to The Associated Press, Mr. Miller later earned a master's degree from Catholic University in Washington.

But in a 1974 interview in The Times, Mr. Miller said he was asked to leave the speech and drama department at Catholic University ''for never attending classes, never taking tests and never getting the girls back to their dormitory by 10 o'clock.''

At Catholic University, Mr. Miller met his wife, Linda, Jackie Gleason's daughter, with whom he had three children. Mr. Miller had a fourth child with a girlfriend, Susan Bernard.

To earn money, Mr. Miller worked as a welfare investigator, waiter, truck driver and messenger boy. Along the way he wrote plays, among them ''The Circus Lady,'' ''Perfect Son'' and ''Lou Gehrig Did Not Die of Cancer.'' One of them, ''Nobody Hears a Broken Drum,'' was produced off Broadway in 1970.

Just weeks before ''That Championship Season'' opened in May 1972 at the Public Theater, Mr. Miller was drawing unemployment checks. Mr. Papp knew Mr. Miller from his performance in ''Subject to Fits,'' a Public Theater production.

After ''That Championship Season,'' Mr. Miller went on to act in other projects, including ''The Nickel Ride,'' a 1973 film, and ''The Dain Curse,'' a 1978 CBS mini-series based on the Dashiell Hammett novel. But he remained best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play and for his role in ''The Exorcist'' as a priest battling a young girl's demons.

Mr. Miller and his family eventually moved from Queens to New Jersey. In the 1974 Times interview, Mr. Miller said he could never leave the New York area for long. ''When I was growing up in Scranton, Pa., New York was the capital of my imagination, the El Dorado of my mind,'' he said. ''As soon as I was able, I started visiting whenever I could, coming with a little money and selling my blood on Delancey Street for a few dollars more, to sit and drink in the Cedar Bar, hoping that Jackson Pollock, Allen Ginsberg or Norman Mailer would drop in.''

''And now that I've lived there and know all the criticisms, I still have a great affection for the city,'' he continued. ''Its rhythm and vitality suit me. I need this element of risk for survival since perhaps it is the city's dangers that force me to creativity. The point is, I went to New York to do something. And I did it.''

Most recently, Mr. Miller was artistic director of the Scranton Public Theater and its summer theater festival. He was to play Oscar Madison in the theater's forthcoming production of ''The Odd Couple.''

According to the Associated Press, Mr. Miller is survived by three sons: Jason Patric, the actor, and Joshua Miller, both of Los Angeles; and Jordan Miller of New York City. He is also survived by a daughter, Jennifer Miller of Los Angeles.

The Associated Press reported that Mr. Miller described his own epitaph last year in an interview with Electric City, a free entertainment weekly, for the Pennsylvania Film Festival: ''On my tombstone I'll put, 'It's all a paper moon.' All the philosophies and all the -isms and all the religions are contained in that. . . . I'd prefer that when I take the bus to another zone, I go further. I'm not interested in coming back.''

Correction: May 16, 2001, Wednesday An obituary of the playwright and actor Jason Miller yesterday referred incompletely to his marriage to Linda Gleason, with whom he had three children. The couple were later divorced.

The New York Times

John Anthony Miller ~ The Stone Step (1969)

2007-09-22T23:14:00.000-04:00

A copy of The Stone Step poetry book is for sale. I wanted this since I knew it existed. I can't afford it. I'm miserable as of now. If anyone buys or has a copy, please contact me here. Only 300 copies?! What is wrong with the world?!

Go Irish! The Purgatory Diaries Of Jason Miller

2007-09-16T01:53:00.000-04:00

For all those who knew and loved the late great Jason Miller, you must catch the final show of "Go Irish! The Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller" at TNT, Sunday, 9/16, at 3:00 p.m.. This play is beautifully written by Tom Flannery and superbly acted by Bob Hughes. Hopefully, there will be many more showings of this play, but for now you have one last chance to catch it tomorrow :)

Thanks to Kelly Trygar for the notice! I'm sorry for not mentioning this earlier. All my luck to Tom Flannery, Rodger Jacobs and Bob Hughes!

TICKET INFO HERE

Jason on Karras from Peter Travers' The Story Behind The Exorcist

2007-09-04T18:41:00.003-04:00

Sofi's wonderful work again. Thank you!!!

I think Father Karras is a man whose faith is beginning to crumble. He has a great deal of guilt concerning the circumstances of his mother's death since he chose to be a priest instead of supporting his family. I think he is finally on the edge of despair. His foundation is no longer there, the Church has changed. The most difficult part about playing this character, that I can see now, is to remember that he is a human being first and a priest second. You can always play the priest, but it is finding that particular human being who happens to be the priest that is important. Otherwise, you have The Bells of St. Mary's. It's too easy to play priests as perfect. You have to see beyond their broad outlines and find the less appealing qualities that provide humanity.

Excerpt from Peter Travers' The Story Behind the Exorcist

2007-09-04T18:26:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to Sofi for taking the time to type this out for me! Hugs and love to you!

According to Blatty, the signing of Jason Miller, the Pulitzer Prize- winning playwright, for the role of Father Karras, was another stumble discovery. "We were kicking around names like Gene Hackman. Billy would say - "Well, you're an idiot and too close to your own work!" I also thought Marlon Brando would be perfect, but Billy resisted him from the very beginning. After I saw The Godfather, I knew that Billy was right. We needed a face that hadn't been seen before. Still, every priest thinks he is Karras, and every actor thinks he can play him." Where Jason Miller was concerned , however, Billy Friedkin seemed more than 100 percent: "This guy is going to explode on film! He has one of the strongest screen presences since Garfield, Clift, and James Dean. He also has all the training and background. I would have to send another actor to Catholic school for at least a year for indoctrination. Jason went to Catholic University and studied with the Jesuits. He knows all the ritual work for the part. I'll tell yo, everyone in Hollywood wanted to name him. Instinctively, I felt it had to be an unknown. I didn't want a guy whose personal life would precede the role. So I started looking for unknowns. I would look at movies on TV, go to off-Broadway plays. I would talk to anyone who was recommended to me. While I was in New York conducting this search, I went by accident to see That Championship Season, and the fellow I was with and his wife knew Jason Miller. They said he was a pretty good actor as well as a playwright, and that he was raised a Catholic. That intrigued me, so I asked the casting director to get hold of him. He came to see me at the Sherry Netherland." Billy paused to show a look of disgust before continuing. "It was a terrible meeting! I was sick and had all these vitamin pills around, and I think he was stoned. I looked at him and thought he was a junkie. He came in, saw all the pills, and must have thought I was some kind of pill freak. We had a very tense meeting and I was not all that impressed with him. I didn't even like him much, but I couldn't find anyone else. He kept gnawing away at my consciousness. So I spoke to him again, gave him the script, and we had a very intelligent discussion. I thought OK, I'll shoot a test of the guy just cause I have nothing better to do. He shot a beautiful scene with Ellen in Hollywood, and that's how he got the part. It was almost like it was meant to happen."

Exorcist III: Legion French lobby cards

2007-09-04T17:48:00.000-04:00

Ryan has waited an excruciatingly long few weeks for these gems. I'll add the ones with Jason to the gallery soon. Cheers, mate!

Childhood photo

2007-08-28T18:38:00.000-04:00

Your first memories

2007-08-27T19:32:00.000-04:00

It would be great to hear from you about your first encounter. Be it through a movie screen, stage or in person. Open invite, don't be shy. Justin, you're welcome to post yours as contributer.

New co-blogger, Justin

2007-08-24T12:27:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to announce that the infamous Justin is my new co-blogger. Dunno if he'll post much, but I'm grateful for the help. He'll be in charge when I'm unavailable. What with a death in the family and a long-term illness, I'm touched by the support. Thanks to all. You Keep my chin up.

Words from Michael Blatty

2007-08-21T23:42:00.000-04:00

Hi. I just stumbled upon this site while looking up something unrelated. I am the eldest son of William Peter Blatty, and I spent some time in the company of Jason Miller while he was with my dad on the set of "The Exorcist" (I was an undergrad at Georgetown U. at the time.) Thought I would share my impressions of him in brief.
First, I think he was a terrific actor and perfect in the role of Karras. (If you haven't seen him in the made for tv film about F. Scott Fitzgerald you have missed another great performance.) I know that my dad had Richard Burton and then Stacey Keach in mind initially, but no one could have been better or more haunted in the role than Mr. Miller.
When I first met him (at lunch with my dad in The Tombs pub in Geogetown) he was in his priest's garb from the film and I thought he was one of the actual priests advising my dad about exorcisms, etc. His language was pretty salty (to say the least), and afterwards I remarked to my dad, "Gee, I never heard a Catholic priest talk that way before!" My dad looked at me, incredulous, and said, "That's Jason Miller, the actor! He's not a priest!" Embarassing. Several weeks later, in New York City, I was with my dad and Mr. Miller at Elaine's where he absolutely mesmerized me with his brilliant conversation even though it was obvious that he had been drinking more than he should. Sometime later I tried to find a copy of his play, "That Championship Season," but none of my local bookstores carried it. When I next saw him, at my dad's house at Malibu Beach, I asked him rather ungraciously if he would send me a copy since I couldn't find it anywhere (not particularly sensitive of me, but he inspired bluntness of speech.) I gave him my address but didn't really expect him to follow through, as busy a man as he then was. A week later a package arrived at my house. It was a first edition of his play in hardback, inscribed to me:
"Michael! Keep the faith!
Jason Miller, S.J."
That's the sort of considerate person he was.
I never saw him in the flesh again, but when I saw him in my dad's film "Exorcist 3" I felt sad because he looked so run down. Then years later, I saw that he had died. I am glad that he will be preserved forever on film for future generatons and that so many of his friends in Scranton and elsewhere will keep the memory of such a beautiful human being alive.
Thanks for letting me share these brief memories with you on these pages.

Horror Hall Of Fame: The Exorcist

2007-08-18T11:38:00.000-04:00

Repost Of RIP Jason Miller

2007-08-16T17:50:00.000-04:00

It was six years ago today that the man who played Damien Karras in The Exorcist died. I have only had the pleasure of seeing three of his movies, but he left quite an impression. Having read what I could about him, he seemed to leave an impression on most people; through his movies to most and to the lucky few who actually knew him. (Watch me turn green) I wish I had known him... Not that I could make interesting conversation, but I could listen to him forever. My one true Halloween tradition, since the first time I saw it, is to watch The Exorcist. A great film and the most marvelous acting I have ever seen. He had me mesmerized the whole way through. It was probably the first time I really saw a movie as a story rather than entertainment. His role stuck with me, nudging me to buy the book, leading me to my favorite author , William Peter Blatty, and to his other book Legion. I've read each twice, leading me to want to be a writer. I will be a writer, if my books will be good is another matter altogether. It turns out that a leap for Karras was a leap for me too. So I owe much to this guy who I never met and didn't know existed until he was dead for three years... Funny how things work! Go Irish, Jason, I miss you.

Rare photos from Justin

2007-08-12T14:37:00.000-04:00

7 new photos are in the gallery. Hooray!

Wonderful news

2007-08-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

I've been lucky enough to find two more great guys who will add their thoughts and memories to this site. John Nasser (of most viewed pic fame) has wonderful stories to tell... Jason lived with him for 2 months. Jason also wrote poems for John's homeless cd for charity. And Pim's ghost was also kind enough to drop a line here. You can go see his 5 Year Memoriam post. I look forward to seeing all the wonderful people yet to come here and share their love of him with others. Take care, all.

Rare Legion photo

2007-08-03T18:45:00.000-04:00

I've updated the gallery again too.

Article

2007-07-30T20:52:00.002-04:00

Father Karras speaks
reflects on religion, the devil and 'The Exorcist'

Jason miller by Theresa Conroy
Daily News Staff Writer

He snuck in late for the last show Thursday night, sitting in the back of
the SamEric theater Thursday to watch himself - for the first time in 25
years - expel a convulsing, spewing Satan out of little Linda Blair.

Jason Miller's dark hair is streaked with gray now. His chiseled features,
camouflaged by a mustache and goatee.

Nobody in the movie theater recognized Miller as Damien Karras, the young
priest from "The Exorcist." And nobody heard the series of wicked one-liners
he whispered to his friend, restaurateur Joe Varalli.

"To watch it with me is like an exercise in satire," Miller said Friday.

To do anything with Miller is like an exercise in satire. And intellect. And
philosophy. And religion. And all that is weird and scary.

Miller, 60, was raised Roman Catholic - "The IHM nuns for 4th to 12th grade,
the Jesuits, the Dominicans." He is fascinated by the sacred (God, miracles,
religious mysteries) and has an artistic crush on the dark side (evil,
Satan, death).

Does he believe in God? He hesitated, then said that, well, yes, he believes
in gods.

How about the devil? "Oh, yeah," he said immediately. No doubt about it.
Then Miller went on to recount his theory on why Lucifer defied God and was
kicked out of heaven.

This is a little spooky, coming from Father Karras.

But the most disturbing aspect of Father Karras' character, however, was how
very much you wanted to see him in his undershirt. Somehow, Miller made
celibacy seem extremely sexy.

He's still sexy.

He comes by this not only from the fact that he has a striking face and that
great hair, but because he has been blessed with that lady-killer ability to
look deeply into your eyes and see everything in your soul.

He's also a profound writer and an inspired actor.

"The Exorcist," re-released late last month, earned Miller an Academy Award
nomination. It also managed to scare the living daylights out of a
generation while simultaneously throwing evangelist Billy Graham into a
religious frenzy.

Now that it's back, with 11 minutes of additional footage, Miller believes
the movie is likely to scare a whole new generation.

Local theaters have been filled with screaming 18-year-olds and cringing
45-year-olds watching the exorcism of Regan MacNeil.

On opening weekend, Sept. 22-24, "The Exorcist" was sold out at the UA
Riverview, said manager Molly Kohler.

"It's like the younger kids, they laugh at some of the stuff.. . .They find
it amusing, you know, when she's in there with the cross.

"The older crowd is still horrified by it," she said.

All this amuses Miller - to an extent.

A Scranton resident, Miller has spent weekends in Philadelphia since early
last month, acting in "Barrymore's Ghost," a one-man play he wrote. The
play - a haunting combination of Miller's writing and acting talents - runs
through Sunday at Theatre Double, 1619 Walnut St.

Miller, who won a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for his play, "That
Championship Season," is more interested in talking about writing than about
acting. He'd rather dwell on John Barrymore's profile than on the vomit
scene in "The Exorcist."

"I see it in the land of objectivity," Miller said of the movie.

He sees Barrymore, however, a bit more subjectively.

"I thought it was the quintessential representation of a genius destroyed by
his own devices," Miller said of Barrymore's story. "I suppose it's kind of
an intellectual cliche."

In the play, Miller plays Barrymore's ghost, sentenced for eternity to haunt
theaters and face the ghosts of his painful life. It's an achingly vivid
portrayal.

"He did have those satyrs and he did have those demons, which were obviously
liquor and a deep sense of self-distrust," Miller said. "At the height of
his power, he feels himself going into decline."

He said he didn't have to go far for inspiration.

"Of course there's a lot of my life in there, and a lot of the actors I
know."

Miller seems more comfortable fighting Barrymore's ghost than continuing
that old battle with Lucifer. Watching himself in "The Exorcist," Miller
said, made him feel "disembodied."

"Somewhere between delirium and dream."

As the audience screamed and Linda Blair's body convulsed, Miller looked on
with detached amusement, thinking, "What did we have for lunch that day?"
and, "Oh, s---, that's where she flubbed the lines three times."

Until the scene with the crucifix.

"I forgot about the cross," Miller said of the profane scene in which Regan
masturbates with a crucifix.

"The cross, the symbol of everything, and, whammo," he said, simulating the
move Blair made in the film.

It spooked him a bit.

"I think the terror of the film, behind the gestures of the crucifix and the
outrageous and the shocking, you can look at two ways: The priests were very
heroic and sacrificed their lives by taking Satan out of her, or Satan
really wanted the priests and used these two guys," he said.

Miller, who hasn't thought much about demonic possessions since he filmed
"The Exorcist III" in 1990 (and he'd rather not talk about that), was
surprised that the 25-year-old horror flick stood the test of time on the
big screen.

"There are so many imitators," he said. "I was very surprised it didn't get
stale. I thought for sure it may get stale."

No one recognized Miller in the light of day, either, as he sits in the
lobby of the Sofitel hotel, wearing a yellow shirt, baggy pants and beat-up
sneakers.

Arranged on the glass table in front of his overstuffed chair is everything
he needs in the world right now: A pack of Marlboro Lights, an ashtray, a
lovely silver pen, a copybook, a fluted glass of Yuengling Lager and the
script he's writing for Showtime about his ex-father-in-law, Jackie Gleason.
Actor Paul Sorvino is slated to play Gleason, Miller said.

He talked about visiting Barrymore's grave at Mount Vernon Cemetery; the
success of his sons, actor Jason Patric and author Joshua Miller; how
comfortable he feels in Philadelphia; writing; acting; mutual friends;
Ernest Hemingway; and the beauty of a game of shuffleboard.

Finally, Miller turned his head back around to "The Exorcist."

"It enlightens people," he said. "It opens their mind to what is a religious
horror story:

"Why are we in the middle of this tremendous antagonism around the supreme
universal beings, their chess game? It's like Shakespeare says, we are flies
to the wanton gods. They kill us for their sport.

"That contains all the despair of the universe, that line."

Two new pics

2007-07-23T16:25:00.000-04:00

They're in the gallery, of course.

Interview with Tom Flannery

2007-07-20T14:56:00.000-04:00

Did Jason ever tell you anything regarding his experiences acting in The Ninth Configuration and Legion?

No, he never mentioned either role to me.

What was Jason’s take on The Exorcist controversy was and whether he ever regretted being in the film given its notoriety? I should also like to ask whether he ever had any thoughts about the sequels versus the originals.

He was extremely proud of being part of the film. He never regretted it, that’s for sure. I think he just looked at the notoriety of it all as good for business. In showbiz there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Regarding the 2nd film, he never spoke to me about it, but I’ve yet to meet anybody who doesn’t think it’s embarrassingly bad…..so I suspect he was thrilled to have nothing whatsoever to do with it. Blatty did talk him into doing the 3rd film…from what I hear actually traveling to Scranton to twist his arm personally. According to a friend of mine out in California who worked on the set, Jason was in pretty bad shape during the filming. He was only there for a few days. I doubt he looked at it as anything more than paying some bills.

Did he made a conscious effort to get away from movie acting or whether he felt, like Linda Blair did, that the movie damaged her prospects?

I don’t think so. He certainly made a bunch of films. He was brilliant as Fitzgerald in that TV movie. And onstage, he was mesmerizing. But he was blessed, or cursed, with being great at 2 things. I’ve always considered him a playwright who happened to do some acting. I thought he could have made people say "Arthur or Jason?" when they mentioned "Miller the playwright". Others look at him as an actor who just happened to write a famous play. A juicy role like Karras is a once in a lifetime thing. For whatever reason he never really got the chance to shine on the big screen again. He could’ve been a DeNiro if the cards fell right. I actually heard a rumor from a woman who is currently making a documentary film about Jason. She told me she heard Jason turned down the lead in Taxi Driver. I don’t know if that’s true or not. But history might have been quite different…..

What was he like as a man to just hang out with, away from the Exorcist and all that?

He was an extremely generous man…..funny, incredibly articulate. Had this mammoth dog he named Regan that would practically maul you to death when you went to his apartment. Jason was loyal to his hometown and his friends. Extremely approachable. I remember a bus ride we shared together, coming back to Scranton from Philadelphia. Great stories! Hollywood. Broadway. The craft of acting. The craft of writing. The awards. The highlights and lowlights of it all. As a writer, if I had questions, I could just call up a guy who had been awarded a Pulitizer Prize in Drama. Not a bad number to have in your rolodex.

Was he a practicing Catholic before during and after the filming? If so did he have bull sessions with Blatty about Catholic issues, including possession and exorcism?

He was raised a Catholic……was an altar boy at St. Pat’s grade school. How much he practiced later in life I do not know. Regarding his role as Karras, I know he did a tremendous amount of research for the role.

How exactly did he audition for the part, and how did he learn that Keach had been bounced from the role?

Friedkin saw a performance of "That Championship Season" in New York and approached Jason about the role….intrigued that here was a real Jesuit. He asked him to take a screen test….and gave him a first class ticket to Hollywood. Jason told me he’d never flown first class before, and kept waiting for somebody to tell him he had to go back to coach. I never heard the bit about Keach. I know Ryan O’Neal and Jack Nicholson both tested for the part.

How did he get along with Fr. O’Malley, and what was it like to learn from him "how to act like a priest"?

This I do not know. But for Irish Catholics in Scranton taught by the Jesuits, "acting like a priest" isn’t that hard.

As a creative writer, did he ever entertain thoughts about tackling the supernatural in his plays, etc.?

I don’t think he was that interested in the "supernatural". He was proud of Fr. Karras, but then he moved on. His plays ("Nobody Hears a Broken Drum", "It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie", "Lou Gehrig Did Not Die of Cancer", "That Championship Season") dealt with the flaws and redemption of ordinary people in this world.

What were his thoughts on coming back as Damien Karras/Gemini-Damien Karras/imprisoned Damien Karras? His evaluation of Dourif’s performance? His experience of Blatty’s direction as opposed to Friedkin’s?

I think he did it for the money. The movie didn’t exactly make people forget the original. He used to laugh about Friedkin though. Said he was nuts. Always pushing, keeping actors on edge. Said he’d walk up behind an actor and fire a real gun past their ear.

What were his thoughts about the paranormal? Did he have any experiences?

One story he told in an interview that I write about in the play.
JASON: Oh shit. That reminds me. One night during "The Exorcist" -- after being on the set all day -- I go to my apartment. I’ve got a pet bird there but I can’t stand to lock it in it’s cage so I let the door open. And now the bird’s wings are spread out and nailed to the landing rod … like a crucifixion. The door’s locked…nobody has been in here.
That’s a little too spooky for me.

Which actors did he admire? What was his favorite movie?

I know he loved Helen Hayes. Martin Sheen. Jason and Paul Sorvino were good friends. He loved James Dean. I couldn’t say what his favorite movie was. His tastes were too varied for that.

What jokes did he like to tell?

I can’t tell you that. I promised my Mother I’d never use that type of language.

This is a dumb tabloid question: What sort of music/artist did he like? Did he hang out with you while you were working on songs?

No. The only extended time we spent together was during theater stuff. I couldn’t say what his musical tastes were.

How did he handle being recognized by fans?

He was always extremely gracious. Always had time for a word or two. Or a picture. When he first moved back here it was a real novelty for everyone. He was always getting stopped when he was out. But after a while, he’s just Jason. He never acted like a big shot. Folks say hello. But him a drink. If you were downtown you’d always see him. He’s just your neighbor.

What advice did he give to young writers/actors etc?

He was so generous. When he was directing my play…..we were going through re-writes. He was so conscious of how hard it can be on a writer. Thinking you’ve come up with some brilliant bit, only to see that it’s not working onstage and needs to be cut. He just did it in such a gentle way. "Thomas", he’s say. "It’s just pruning". That’s the word he always used. I’ve used it ever since. I never "cut" anymore. I "prune". Then he’d tell me of his agonies when he’d been forced to cut bits from "Championship Season". I just learned so much from him. He was the perfect director because he was a both a writer and an actor. He understood both mindsets….and knew how to handle each. I can tell you that is a rarity.

What was your first exposure to him before meeting him?

I saw him in the Exorcist when I was a kid. The movie scared me to death and I haven’t watched it since.

What books did he like? Who were his favorite authors and influences?

I think Fitzgerald was his favorite. He also mentioned Hemingway to me as well. And of course Shakespeare. He could quote reams of Shakespeare in his sleep.

How did he take life?

Usually with a chaser.

Can you tell us about the first time you met him?

My Dad and he were friends, and back in the mid 80s my parents had a party for him at the house…..to celebrate the release of Championship Season I think. I was probably 20 or so. That night Notre Dame was on TV, and Jason was watching and he cursed at the screen. My mother yelled at him. "Jason, I don’t allow that kind of language in my house". I thought I was gonna die. He apologized like the perfect Irish gentleman and held his tongue the rest of the night.

What is your fondest memory of him?

Probably watching him work on my play. I never got the feeling that he didn’t care about it as much as I did. He could have mailed in his direction. I was just thrilled to have his name on the damn playbill. But he put the time in. He worked. I’ll never forget that. On the last night both of us were called onto the stage and he gave me a big hug and told me how proud he was of me. That’s a memory I’ll always have. Nobody can take that away. He never acted you he was special, but he always treated you like you were. You couldn’t help but love the guy.

What is the most important thing you learned from him?

That it’s possible. Here was this kid from West Scranton who, if only briefly, made it to the top of 2 worlds. This is a tough city. A lot of grinding goes on here. But he did it. He got out and touched millions. And then he came home. It’s possible.

Pics too big for the gallery

2007-07-19T17:45:00.001-04:00

Site news

2007-07-17T19:21:00.000-04:00

So, the gallery is pretty well complete. I should still receive some screencaps from Ryan though. I'm also thrilled to say that I've talked to Tom Flannery, Jason's friend, and I'm going to do an interview with him! Now I have to think of good questions... I'm near giddy about it! Here are some touching and heartwarming words from him. Endless thanks for your participation, Tom.

Remembering Jason Miller

Jason Miller was my mentor. He was the first to say that I had the ability to become a successful playwright. Yet when Jason offered support, it was frequently more than verbal....so he offered to direct my play, "The Driveway". During the course of the production, we became good friends, and I'll always remember those days picking up the phone and hearing that gravely, poetic voice..."Thomas", he'd say in a low rumble. "Jason here..." I felt like a child at the foot of the master, which indeed I was. I loved every minute of it.

I remember going out on my front porch and calling for my wife in the yard to tell her that Jason was my director. I was using the porch railing as leverage to jump up and down, higher and higher, until she began to think I was having some sort of bizarre fit. "No", I yelped to her. "Guess who is going to direct my play?" She didn't believe me. She finally got to meet him opening night. As she was setting up the reception area for the post show party, Jason ambled over, introduced himself, and pointed to some filled glasses and asked..."hello Darling. Is this wine?" Perfect.

During rehearsals I remember mentioning how I loved Hal Holbrook's portrayal of Mark Twain in perhaps the greatest one man show in theatrical history, "Mark Twain Tonight". Jason agreed and casually offered to call Holbrook and ask him for any assistance that we may require. I had forgotten that I was dealing with Jason Miller, the only man in history to win a Pulitzer and be nominated for an Academy Award. People with resume's like this are allowed to call Hal Holbrook on the phone. I just stuttered and said..."um, yea, that's good to know."

As it turned out, "The Driveway" was Jason's last production. He died in May of 2001, and when I got the news, I hung my head and sobbed. While those of us who knew him were aware that Jason loved life, we also knew too well the side of him that may have loved it too much. He was in turn a poetic, lovable, disheveled Irish rogue with a twinkle in his eye, who could infuriate and then lift your spirits all while sipping the same drink...and the most down to earth, most generous man I have ever known.

We spent many hours talking, and I remember him telling me about his mother, whom he adored. The burning intensity in his eyes as he described this woman was spellbinding. Tears welled up in his eyes as he told me of her funeral...and how he did not want to let go. His hands had to be literally pried away from her.

Well now I know he is back in her arms again, where I know he feels safe. And we are left with his gorgeous words on paper, and his searing image on screen. But some of us are left with even more than that.

Gallery updates

2007-07-12T01:09:00.000-04:00

It's on it's way! Justin set this up for me and I couldn't be happier with it. I'll add pics as soon as I can. And Ryan is going to make screencaps (bigger than mine, too) of Jason. Thanks, guys, you're the best!

Jason Miller interview

2007-07-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

This'll go in the video category once I figure out how to do that.

A friend in need is a pest indeed

2007-07-07T16:09:00.000-04:00

Ha-ha, that's me. I'm very grateful to Cat (and Rick), Justin, the JM fan group and the good peolpe of Captainhowdy.com for their support and Shout Outs. When this place is great, it'll be thanks to them.

Getting started

2007-07-06T19:21:00.000-04:00

I'm starting a Jason Miller tribute site. Mostly because of the encouragement from my new pal, Cat. I was complaining about the lack of a site dedicated to him. She said I should create one, since what I wanted didn't seem to exist. I'm taking her good advice and giving his fans a place to go. From what I hear, he wasn't big on being famous. Whether or not he wanted to be famous, he has fans. I'll do my best with this place. If I post a picture that belongs to you, please tell me and I'll be sure to give you the credit you deserve. I want to share all the pictures of him I have compiled over 3 years of knowing about this wonderful actor. You are more than welcome to contribute your photos, anecdotes, etc. If you knew him as a friend, or only as Father Karras on the silver screen, your memories are also appreciated. By a fan, for the fans, this should be an interesting endeavor. Go Irish!