Kenneth McMillan | |
---|---|
Born |
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
July 2, 1932
Died | January 8, 1989 Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
(aged 56)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1969–1989 |
Kenneth McMillan (July 2, 1932 – January 8, 1989) was an American actor. McMillan was usually cast as gruff, hostile and unfriendly characters due to his rough image. However, he was sometimes cast in some lighter roles that highlighted his more benign side.
McMillan was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Margaret and Harry McMillan, a truck driver. He attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Prior to becoming an actor, McMillan was employed at Gimbels Department Store first as a salesman, then as a section manager, and then a floor superintendent managing three floors. At age 30, McMillan decided to pursue an acting career, and took acting lessons from Uta Hagen and Irene Dailey. He was married to Kathryn McDonald (20 June 1969 - 8 January 1989) (his death) with whom he had one child, actress Alison McMillan.
McMillan made his film debut at age 41 with a small role in Sidney Lumet's police drama Serpico. The actor played a borough commander in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, but often was cast as characters such as a cowardly small town sheriff in Tobe Hooper's 1979 TV mini-series Salem's Lot, a similar law enforcement officer in the 1987 Burt Reynolds film Malone, William Hurt's bitter paraplegic father in Eyewitness, a wily safe cracker in The Pope of Greenwich Village, and a racist fire chief in Ragtime who is memorably told off by the New York police commissioner, James Cagney.