Robert Ellis Miller, Director of ‘Reuben, Reuben,’ Dies at 89
He also helmed 'The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter' and 'Any Wednesday.' His late wife was the documentarian Pola Miller.
He was not on the list.
Robert Ellis Miller, the veteran director of films including
1968’s The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and 1983’s Reuben, Reuben, died Friday. He
was 89.
He had been living at the Motion Picture & Television
Country House in Woodland Hills, Calif., since the death of his wife,
documentarian Pola Miller (nee Chasman), two years ago.
Miller’s film version of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, the
1940 Carson McCullers novel about a deaf man’s relationship with a teenage girl
in 1930s Georgia, starred Alan Arkin and introduced an unknown Sondra Locke to
the screen. Both received Oscar nominations for their work, and the movie was
nominated for a Golden Globe in the best drama category.
“Arkin, as Singer, is extraordinary, deep and sound,” wrote
Renata Adler in a New York Times review. “Walking, with his hat jammed flat on
his head, among the obese, the mad, the infirm, characters with one leg, broken
hip, scarred mouth, failing life, he somehow manages to convey every dimension
of his character, especially intelligence.”
Dan Bronson, the writer of HBO’s The Last Innocent Man, used
Heart to teach students about the grammar of motion pictures during an earlier
career as an academic. “Heart is one of the films that gave me the resolve to
turn my back on tenure and ride the rollercoaster of Hollywood,” he noted in an
essay about the movie. “But it did more than inspire me. It moved me.”
“Robert took over the direction of The Heart is a Lonely
Hunter 10 days before we started shooting,” says Arkin. “It was a bit of an
emergency situation, but you would have never known it from Robert’s demeanor
or the way he treated his crew and troupe of actors. He was patient and
good-natured and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. We became friends
during the filming and remained friends for the 50 years that have intervened.
When we shot the film, it was still a time of intense segregation in the
country and we were particularly proud of the fact that — in spite of shooting
in Selma, Alabama, with a cast of both blacks and whites — we vowed that we
would find a place for all of us to live together as the one family we felt
ourselves to be. Robert helped make that happen. We tried for years to find
another project to work on together, but sadly it never happened. He will be
very much missed.”
Miller’s most warmly received film was the comedic drama
Reuben, Reuben, starring Tom Conti as a debauched poet battling writer’s block.
The picture was included in competition at Cannes — which Miller regarded as
one of the highlights of his career — and earned Oscar nominations for Conti
and writer Julius J. Epstein. It, too, was nominated for a Golden Globe (best
drama).
“Very much in the British tradition of quality,” noted
critic Emanuel Levy, “Robert Ellis Miller’s Reuben, Reuben is a modest,
intimate and intelligent film, featuring an Oscar-nominated turn from Tom
Conti, better known for his stage work.”
A warm, good-humored man with a love of puns and an
infectious enthusiasm, Miller was fond of describing how MCA Universal’s
powerful executive Lew Wasserman would confuse him with the similar-looking
director Arthur Hiller. “Miller-Hiller!” he’d bark. “Hiller-Miller!”
Miller spoke warmly of Bette Davis, whom he had once
directed, and whose neighbor he was in Los Angeles’ famed Colonial building,
doing a spot-on imitation of the intimidating star as she would listen,
hawk-like, then flick her cigarette ash across the floor, either in approval or
disapproval.
An astute but generous observer of the industry, Miller
recalled meeting the young Steven Spielberg, who came to visit one of his sets,
and remembered how gracious the twenty-something was.
Once asked to name the greatest myth about the movie
business, he replied: “That the camera never lies.”
At Harvard, Miller was president of its Dramatic Club and a
member of the Hasty Pudding Society. He entered television upon graduation,
assisting other major directors including Sidney Lumet before going on to helm
such shows as Naked City, Route 66, The Twilight Zone and The Rogues.
His first feature was 1967’s Any Wednesday, starring Jane
Fonda and Jason Robards Jr. Other credits included Sweet November, The
Buttercup Chain, The Big Truck and The Girl From Petrovka. His last film was
the 1996 ABC TV movie The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Miller and his wife spent several years living in London,
where he helmed the Timothy Dalton starrer Hawks. Among the other A-list stars
he directed were Goldie Hawn, Anthony Hopkins, Peter Ustinov, Cicely Tyson,
Omar Sharif and James Coburn.
He received an Emmy Award nomination for 1961 anthology
drama series Alcoa Premiere and a DGA nom for an episode of the 1963 medical
drama series Breaking Point.
An active member of the Directors Guild of America, Miller
was a lifetime trustee of its pension plan. He was also a charter founder of
the Artists Rights Foundation and a member of the Motion Picture Academy.
“Robert Ellis Miller was a skilled and prolific television
and feature director known for eliciting powerful performances, but to us here
at the Guild, he was a service-oriented stalwart with a broad heart and a sharp
mind who was always ready to give back to our Guild and the industry,” said DGA
president Paris Barclay. “We will always be grateful for Robert’s extensive
service — as an officer on the Directors Guild Foundation for 15 years; as a
member of the DGA-Producers Pension and Health Plans Board of Directors for 24
years; as a founding member of the Artist Rights Foundation in 1991 and for his
participation on numerous DGA committees over his almost 60-year Guild
membership. Our deepest condolences to Robert’s family and friends.”
Survivors include his sister, Judith Merwin; nieces Sara
Merwin and Deborah Chasman; nephews Peter Merwin, Daniel Merwin, Clifford James
and Daniel Chasman; and brothers-in-law Chellis Chasman and Donald Merwin.
His funeral will take place at 12.30 p.m. on Wednesday at
Sinai Chapels in Fresh Meadows, N.Y. In lieu of flowers, the family has
requested donations go to the Motion Picture & Television Fund.
Filmography
Breaking Point (1963) - TV Series
Any Wednesday (1966)
Sweet November (1968)
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
The Buttercup Chain (1970)
Big Truck and Sister Clare (1972)
The Girl from Petrovka (1974)
Just an Old Sweet Song (1976)
Ishi: The Last of His Tribe (1978)
The Baltimore Bullet (1980)
Madame X (1981)
Reuben, Reuben (1983)
Her Life as a Man (1984)
The Other Lover (1985)
Intimate Strangers (1986)
Hawks (1988)
Brenda Starr (1989)
Bed & Breakfast (1992)
Pointman (1994)
Killer Rules (1995)
A Walton Wedding (1995)
The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue (1996)
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