Court Miller in Grinder's Stand

Court Miller (1952–1986) was an American actor most notable for starring in the Broadway production of Torch Song Trilogy.

Early life

Born January 29, 1952, in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Career

Miller studied acting with Uta Hagen and singing with Louise Quinto.[1] Early work includes 1974's starring role as King Arthur in Camelot at Cortland Repertory Theater (alongside wife Barbara Kolsun), as well as work at Rochester Music Theater at the Rochester Opera House, Woodstock Playhouse, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.[2] He had a starring role in Angelface by Susan Horowitz (1978), opposite Martha Schlamme and directed by Susan H. Schulman[3][4] and appeared in The Runner Stumbles at Studio Arena Theater (1979).[5] He also toured England and Scotland with the Paper Bag Players.[6][7]

Lexington Conservatory Theatre

In 1977, he joined Lexington Conservatory Theatre as a company member with a role in the George M. Cohan play The Tavern.[8] He continued his work with the company over four seasons, where he played Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, the title role in Dr Faustus, Oberon and Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Clov in Endgame.[9] He appeared in the 1978 world premiere of Monte Merrick's Nurseryland.[10] In 1979, he originated the role of Meriwether Lewis in the world premiere production of Oakley Hall III's Grinder's Stand. "I cannot possibly do justice to the production and the performances, which often equal the brilliant moments within the play," said critic Dan DiNicola. "One cannot say enough about Miller, who succeeds in creating a disturbed man powerful in stature."[11] "Court Miller, who is excellent in the role of Lewis, gives a terrifying display of a man withdrawing from drug use in a locked room," noted the Albany Times Union.[12] Miller had previously performed the role in a staged reading of the play in 1978.[13][14][15]

New York Success

In 1980, he landed a role in the world premiere of Elizabeth and Essex, a musical at Encompass New Opera Theatre starring Estelle Parsons.[16]

In 1981, he made his Broadway debut in the Robert Brush/Martin Charnin musical The First, in a cast that included David Huddleston, David Alan Grier and Lonette McKee.[17] That same year, he played in José Quintero's critically unloved revival of Welded by Eugene O'Neill with Philip Anglim and Ellen Tobie.[18][19]

Torch Song Trilogy and Beyond

In 1982, Miller was cast in his most prominent role, that of Ed in the Broadway premiere of Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy. That fall, he shot his first TV appearance on the made-for-TV film Rage of Angels starring Jaclyn Smith.[20][21]

A year later, he appeared on the 37th Tony Awards. Torch Song Trilogy received the award for Best Play, while Miller presented the award for Best Lighting Design.[22]

1984's production of Harvey Fierstein's Spookhouse saw him play opposite Anne Meara and Tom Noonan at Playhouse 91.[23][24][25]

Later that year, Miller reunited with several Lexington Conservatory alumni including actress Kit Flanagan, director Barbara Rosoff and playwright Elizabeth Diggs at Portland Stage Company, where he starred as Hank in Diggs' Goodbye Freddy.[26] The play had previously been read at Lexington in 1980.[27] The Portland Stage production also included Barbara Eda-Young and Walter Bobbie.

Though Miller was primarily a stage actor, he also performed in movies and TV, including feature films Garbo Talks, Cat's Eye, The New Kids and Playing for Keeps, and television series Ryan's Hope and Heart's Island.

Death

Miller was married to actress turned attorney Barbara Kolsun. According to friend Harvey Fierstein, Miller was diagnosed with HIV in 1982. He died of AIDS on March 7, 1986, in Portland, Maine.[28] His name is memorialized on the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in two panels.[29]

Fierstein's 1987 trilogy Safe Sex is dedicated to Court Miller.[30][31] One of the plays in the cycle, On Tidy Endings, is based on Miller's relationship with Barbara Kolsun.[32] It was later produced by HBO as a TV movie, starring Fierstein and Stockard Channing, directed by Gavin Millar.[33]

References

  1. ↑ Who's Who in the Cast. Playbill: The First. 1981.
  2. ↑ "Curtain's up on Repertory's 'Camelot'". Syracuse Post-Standard. July 4, 1974.
  3. ↑ "Off and Off-Off Broadway - Current". New York Magazine. February 13, 1978. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "In and About Town". New York Magazine. February 13, 1978. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Dwyer, John (February 10, 1979). "'Runner' deserves laurels as old-style melodrama". Buffalo Evening News.
  6. ↑ "Premiere concludes LCT's 4th Season". Stamford Mirror-Recorder. August 22, 1979.
  7. ↑ Who's Who in Theatre - Everybody, Everybody - Paper Bag Players. University of Michigan: Pittman. 1981. p. 79. ISBN 9780810302358. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  8. ↑ Gerber, Leslie (June 30, 1977). "'The Tavern'". Woodstock Times.
  9. ↑ "Brings 'Endgame' to Stamford". Stamford Mirror Recorder. October 3, 1979.
  10. ↑ DiNicola, Dan (August 16, 1978). "Lexington 'Nurseryland' profound, humerous". The Daily Gazette. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  11. ↑ DiNicola, Dan (August 30, 1979). "'Grinder's Stand' Important New Play". The Daily Gazette.
  12. ↑ Kelly, Martin P. (August 28, 1979). "'Grinder's Stand' intriguing--but lacking in dramatic tension". Albany Times Union.
  13. ↑ "Premiere concludes LCT's 4th Season". Stamford Mirror-Recorder. August 22, 1979.
  14. ↑ Gerber, Leslie (June 30, 1977). "'The Tavern'". Woodstock Times.
  15. ↑ "World premiere set by Lexington". Poughkeepsie Journal. July 7, 1978.
  16. ↑ "Elizabeth and Essex World Premiere". Encompass New Opera Theatre. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  17. ↑ Who's Who in the Cast. Playbill: The First. 1981.
  18. ↑ Gussow, Mel (June 18, 1981). "STAGE: O'NEILL'S 'WELDED'". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  19. ↑ Watt, Douglas (June 15, 1981). "'Welded' a very shaky affair". New York Daily News.
  20. ↑ Smith, Liz (September 6, 1982). "pounds of flesh--some gain, some lose". New York Daily News.
  21. ↑ Kerr, Walter (June 27, 1982). "STAGE VIEW; 'TORCH SONG TRILOGY'--SELF-MOCKERY AS A SHIELD". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  22. ↑ 37th Annual Tony Awards - Participating Artists for the Evening. Playbill. 1983.
  23. ↑ Gussow, Mel (May 3, 1984). "THEATER: 'SPOOKHOUSE'". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  24. ↑ Miller, Caroline (May 3, 1984). "Review: Fierstein's lurching 'Spookhouse'". Newsday.
  25. ↑ Nelsen, Don (May 3, 1984). "'Spookhouse' a comedy with grim touches". New York Daily News.
  26. ↑ Larock, Cindy (December 3, 1984). "'Freddy' full of surprises". Lewiston Daily Sun. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  27. ↑ National Playwrights Directory. Drama Book Specialists. 1981. p. 80. ISBN 9780960516001. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  28. ↑ "AIDS: A Gallery of Victims". Newday. June 8, 1986.
  29. ↑ "Interactive AIDS Quilt". National AIDS Memorial. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  30. ↑ Collins, Glen (April 5, 1987). "IN 'SAFE SEX,' HARVEY FIERSTEIN TURNS SERIOUS". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  31. ↑ Hurley, Joseph (January 18, 1987). "A Playwright's Gentle Rage". Newsday.
  32. ↑ Fierstein, Harvey (March 2022). I Was Better Last Night: A Memoir. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 177. ISBN 9780593320532.
  33. ↑ Buck, Jerry (August 13, 1988). "In HBO's 'Tidy Endings' Fierstein Explores Relationships". The Hour. Associated Press. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
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