Character actor and playwright Jason Miller had a variety of jobs before he started a writing career and wrote his own play, "That Championship Season", for which he received the Pulitzer Prize Award. Miller gave up his professional writing career in the early seventies to start acting. In 1973, he starred as a troubled priest in the horror film classic "The Exorcist" for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1982, he directed the revival of his play, "That Championship Season", to the screen. The father of actor Jason Patric, Miller's other film credits include playing the title role in the made for television film "F. Scott Fitzgerald", "The Ninth Configuration", "Toy Soliders", "The Exorcist III" and "Rudy". Miller died on-stage during a rehearsal at the Summer Theatre in Scranton, Pennsylvannia at the age of 62.
Married Jackie Gleason's daughter, Linda Miller, and had a son, actor Jason Patric. Shortly before his death he had returned to writing having reworked his first play, _Nobody Hears a Broken Drum_, and wrote, starred and directed _Barrymore's Ghost_. Miller was Co-Artistic Director of The Public Theatre, Scranton Pa. USA. Father of Joshua John Miller with Sue Bernard. He was born in Long Island City, New York, but his parents moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, when he was an infant. Children: Jennifer Miller, Jason Patric, Jordan Miller, Joshua John Miller. Parents: John and Mary Collins Miller. Graduated from St. Patrick's High School, Scranton, PA; University of Scranton, Scranton, PA; Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. Writer, actor, director, poet, and producer. Established the Pennsylvania Summer Theater Festival in Scranton, PA. Has a regional theatre award named after him. At the time of his death, he had just finished the first draft of a play with his son Joshua John Miller. The play was about a playwright father who dies, leaving his son to complete the script. A Notre Dame fan, Miller always ended his conversations with "Go Irish!" instead of "Goodbye". As Jack Miller, taught Drama in mid-1960s at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C. Former son-in-law of Bruno Bernard. Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, Vol. 130, pp. 292-295. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005. Won Broadway's 1973 Tony Award as author of Best Play winner "That Championship Season." Was in rehearsal as Oscar Madison in a revival of "The Odd Couple" when he died of a massive heart attack.