Acting
Bill Thurman
EN cinema · 48 credits
Born
4 November 1920
Died
13 April 1995 (aged 74)
Birthplace
Texas, USA
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
Known for
Filmography
Painted Hero
as Old Man Bolen
In Broad Daylight
as Virgil Teague
It Takes Two
as Bus Driver
Hawken's Breed
as Jeb Kline
Silverado
as Carter
Stormin' Home
as Bailiff
Alamo Bay
as Sheriff
Innocent Prey
as Jim Gardner
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
as Reverend Bill McWiley
Raggedy Man
as Sheriff
Skyward
as Pilot #1
Tom Horn
as Ora Haley
The Evictors
as Preacher Higgins
The Sky Trap
as Sheriff
The Beasts Are on the Streets
as Carl Evans
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
as Air Traffic
Charge of the Model T's
as Sgt. Bond
Keep My Grave Open
as Hitchhiker
Creature from Black Lake
as Sheriff Billy Carter
Slumber Party '57
as Mr. Willis
The Sugarland Express
as Hunter
'Gator Bait
as Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas
Where the Red Fern Grows
as Sam Bellington
Ride in a Pink Car
as Barlow
The Pickle Goes in the Middle
as Mr. Stanovich
Fair Play
as Jed Bartrum
Encounter with the Unknown
as Second Man
The Last Picture Show
as Coach Popper
In the Year 2889
as Tim Henderson
It's Alive
as Greely / Monster
Hell Raiders
as Tex
Mars Needs Women
as Drunk on Pier
Curse of the Swamp Creature
as Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde
as Policeman (uncredited)
Zontar: The Thing from Venus
as Sheriff Brad Crenshaw
The Eye Creatures
as Sergeant
Night Fright
as Deputy Ben Whitfield
Hip Hot and 21
as Lt. Lang
The Black Cat
as Bartender, Key Grip
High Yellow
as Major Bates
Hot Blooded Woman
as Railroad Tough
