Bill Thurman
Acting • Born 1920-11-04 – Died 1995-04-13
Biography
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
49 credits
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Movie • 1977
Air Traffic
A Bullet for Pretty Boy
Movie • 1970
Huddy
The Sugarland Express
Movie • 1974
Hunter
Silverado
Movie • 1985
Carter
Mars Needs Women
Movie • 1968
Drunk on Pier
The Last Picture Show
Movie • 1971
Coach Popper
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
Movie • 1983
Reverend Bill McWiley
Zontar: The Thing from Venus
Movie • 1967
Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
Creature from Black Lake
Movie • 1976
Sheriff Billy Carter
The Eye Creatures
Movie • 1967
Sergeant
The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald
Movie • 1964
Witness
In the Year 2889
Movie • 1969
Tim Henderson
Curse of the Swamp Creature
Movie • 1968
Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde
Movie • 1968
Policeman (uncredited)
It's Alive
Movie • 1969
Greely / Monster
'Gator Bait
Movie • 1974
Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
The Evictors
Movie • 1979
Preacher Higgins
Night Fright
Movie • 1967
Deputy Ben Whitfield
Painted Hero
Movie • 1997
Old Man Bolen
Hell Raiders
Movie • 1969
Tex
Skyward
Movie • 1980
Pilot #1
High Yellow
Movie • 1965
Major Bates
In Broad Daylight
Movie • 1991
Virgil Teague
Stormin' Home
Movie • 1985
Bailiff
Hot Blooded Woman
Movie • 1965
Railroad Tough
Slumber Party '57
Movie • 1976
Mr. Willis
Where the Red Fern Grows
Movie • 1974
Sam Bellington
Charge of the Model T's
Movie • 1977
Sgt. Bond
Ride in a Pink Car
Movie • 1974
Barlow
Raggedy Man
Movie • 1981
Sheriff
The Florida Connection
Movie • 1975
Deke
Fair Play
Movie • 1972
Jed Bartrum
The Black Cat
Movie • 1966
Bartender
Tom Horn
Movie • 1980
Ora Haley
Innocent Prey
Movie • 1984
Jim Gardner
The Beasts Are on the Streets
Movie • 1978
Carl Evans
Keep My Grave Open
Movie • 1977
Hitchhiker
Spiked Heels and Black Nylons
Movie • 1967
Abel
Hip Hot and 21
Movie • 1967
Lt. Lang
The Long Summer of George Adams
Movie • 1982
Floyd
Sam
Movie • 1967
Hawken's Breed
Movie • 1987
Jeb Kline
Encounter with the Unknown
Movie • 1972
Second Man
Alamo Bay
Movie • 1985
Sheriff
The Sky Trap
Movie • 1979
Sheriff
It Takes Two
Movie • 1988
Bus Driver
The Pickle Goes in the Middle
Movie • 1973
Mr. Stanovich
The Long Hot Summer
TV • 1985
Houstin
Dallas
TV • 1978
Phil Bradley