Martin Milner was born December 28, 1931, in Detroit, Michigan. His father, Sam, was a film distributor. His mother, Jerre Martin, was a dancer with the Paramount Theater circuit. The Milners moved to Seattle when Martin was a baby and to Los Angeles soon after. At age 15 Martin's father got him an agent and he was chosen to play the role of "John Day" in Life with Father, Warner Bros.' version of C'larence Day, Jr.' 's popular Broadway play. Milner contracted polio shortly after filming was completed and his career was put on hold for a year as he recovered from the illness. After graduating from North Hollywood High School and studying for one year at the University of Southern California, Milner worked steadily in films during the years 1949-1960. He appeared in films such as Sands of Iwo Jima, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Marjorie Morningstar and Sweet Smell of Success. He put his career on hold again when he was inducted into the Army in 1952 for two years. Shortly after joining the Army, he was assigned to the Human Research Division, where he directed military training films and served as Master of Ceremonies for a touring show based at Fort Ord, California. While at Fort Ord Milner met actors David Janssen and Clint Eastwood. Janssen and Milner encouraged Eastwood, who was serving as a swimming instructor at the base, to go into acting. Milner married television actress and singer Judy Jones in 1957 and they have have children--Amy, Molly, Stuart, and Andrew.

Milner met Jack Webb during the filming of _Halls of Montezuma (1951)_ and later worked with him on his "Dragnet" radio show as well as the TV series Dragnet. Milner appeared as 17-year-old high school student "Stephen Banner" in the episode "The Big Producer" in 1952. According to Webb's biography "Just the Facts, Ma'am", Webb owed Milner money from a card game. When Webb called him to the studio to pay him back, he offered Milner a role in the "Dragnet" radio show. After that, Webb continued to find roles for Milner until he offered him the role of "Pete Malloy" on Adam-12. Milner continued to appear in films throughout the 1970s and 1980s and made many guest appearances on television shows such as Murder, She Wrote, the "Columbo" made-for-TV movies, MacGyver, and Diagnosis Murder. Milner is an avid fisherman and has been co-host of the syndicated radio talk show "Let's Talk Hook-up" since 1993. He also hosts fishing trips through "Let's Talk Hook-Up."


Milner and "Adam-12" (1968) co-star Kent McCord were reunited in a Nashville Beat (1989) (TV) on the Nashville Network. McCord played an L.A. cop visiting his friend Milner, an ex-L.A. cop who became a Nashville cop. According to his audio commentary on a "Twilight Zone" DVD, Martin Milner initially turned down "Adam-12" to appear in a play he thought would be more successful, but the play flopped.