
Acting
Bill Thurman
Born — Died
1920-11-04 — 1995-04-13
Place of birth
Texas, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
49 titles
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 Wome…
Known for
6.9The world's first mega-soap, and one of the most popular ever produced, Dallas had it all. Beautiful women, expensive cars, and men playing Monopoly with real buildings. Famous for one of the best cliffhangers in TV history, as the world asked "Who shot J.R.?" A slow-burner to begin with, Dallas hit its stride in the 2nd season, with long storylines and expert character development. Dallas ruled the airwaves in the 1980's.
Dallas
1978
7.4After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977
7.6High school seniors and best friends, Sonny and Duane, live in a dying Texas town. The handsome Duane is dating a local beauty, while Sonny is having an affair with the coach's wife. As graduation nears and both boys contemplate their futures, Duane eyes the army and Sonny takes over a local business. Each struggles to figure out if he can escape this dead-end town and build a better life somewhere else.
The Last Picture Show
1971
6.6Married small-time crooks Lou-Jean and Clovis Poplin lose their baby to the state of Texas and resolve to do whatever it takes to get him back. Lou-Jean gets Clovis out of jail, and the two steal their son from his foster home, in addition to taking a highway patrolman hostage. As a massive dragnet starts to pursue them across Texas, the couple become unlikely folk heroes and even start to bond with the captive policeman.
The Sugarland Express
1974
6.9Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.
Silverado
1985
6.4A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his job too well. Tom Horn finds that the simple skills he knows are of no help in dealing with the ambitions of ranchers and corrupt officials as progress marches over him and the old west.
Tom Horn
1980
Film credits
1990s · 2 titles
6.1The fanatically uncompromising Len Rowan and his family insult and terrorize the citizens of a small town for years. One day the comment of a saleswoman about Len's son not being able to pay his sweets triggers off his persecution complex. As revenge for the believed insult, the whole family starts stalking the shop owner and her husband... until this escalates and the old man gets badly injured. Len is arrested, but gets off, free on bail. His clever attorney delays the court session for more than a year - while Rowan keeps threatening the witnesses. But then, the people feel they've had enough of this and decide to take the law in their own hands...
In Broad Daylight
1991
5.3Virgil Kidder hasn't been in Waco for quite a spell, but now that he's back in town clowning in the rodeo, his troubles are catching up with him quicker than a Brahma bull. Country star Dwight Yoakam makes his leading role debut as Kidder, a "painted hero" who's at his best - and safest - when he's taunting the meanest bulls in the business. It's only when the paint comes off that the real danger strikes on a wild Waco weekend filled with thrills, spills and more twists than an eight second bull ride.
Painted Hero
1997
1980s · 11 titles
6.9Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.
Silverado
1985
6.4A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his job too well. Tom Horn finds that the simple skills he knows are of no help in dealing with the ambitions of ranchers and corrupt officials as progress marches over him and the old west.
Tom Horn
1980
4.0Hawken is a rugged drifter and loner who meets and comes to rescue a young Shawnee woman, named Spirit in 1840s Tennessee, whom he leaves after saving her from a rouge group of Shawnee Indians. After taking up residence with an old fur trapper and old friend named Jeb Kline, Hawken later meets Spirit again whom runs away from a local fur trader named Tackett, whom she is sold to. Soon, Hawken is up against Tackett and a posse of hired killers, as well as a greedy and racist land owner, named Hickman, who's long abused son Noel whom narrates the entire story, comes to his and Spirit's aid to help them survive.
Hawken's Breed
1987
5.4Travis is due to marry Stephanie in a few days when he is convinced by beautiful saleswoman Jonni to buy a fancy sports car. The car looks good, but it turns out to be a piece of junk. Travis is determined to get satisfaction and he and Jonni hit the road to confront the crooked car dealer.
It Takes Two
1988
5.7A divorced mother of two boys is stuck working as a telephone operator in a small Texas town during World War II. Her friendship with a Navy sailor on shore leave causes gossip in town.
Raggedy Man
1981
4.4After several years in an insane asylum, Evelyn, the keeper of the Mountaintop Motel, is released and resumes doing business. She kills her young charge out of anger, but convinces the police it was an accident - and pushed into insanity, she then proceeds to target her guests, first by releasing vermin into their rooms, but then by using her trusty sickle.
Mountaintop Motel Massacre
1983
6.0A despondent Vietnam veteran in danger of losing his livelihood is pushed to the edge when he sees Vietnamese immigrants moving into the fishing industry in a Texas bay town.
Alamo Bay
1985
7.1Billie Dupree is a flight instructor at an old Texas airport. When a young girl in a wheelchair finds the airport by watching gliders fly, she decides she wants to learn how to fly. Dupree teaches her to fly with some special controls compensating for her handicap. Koup Trenton runs an aircraft repair service and is trying desperately to get an old airplane back in the air. The three, together, put the young girl and the old plane up in the air.
Skyward
1980
4.3A woman living in Dallas discovers that her husband, from New Zealand, is actually a crazed serial killer who murders prostitutes.
Innocent Prey
1984
9.0A middle-age man, in small-town Middle America, lives a momentous year in the mid-20th century.
The Long Summer of George Adams
1982
7.0An aging motor-cross racer, already having lost his wife and daughter to his footlooseness and now about to have his semi-tractor cab repossessed, vows to make one last go of it on his bike in the race of his career.
Stormin' Home
1985
1970s · 18 titles
7.4After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977
7.6High school seniors and best friends, Sonny and Duane, live in a dying Texas town. The handsome Duane is dating a local beauty, while Sonny is having an affair with the coach's wife. As graduation nears and both boys contemplate their futures, Duane eyes the army and Sonny takes over a local business. Each struggles to figure out if he can escape this dead-end town and build a better life somewhere else.
The Last Picture Show
1971
6.6Married small-time crooks Lou-Jean and Clovis Poplin lose their baby to the state of Texas and resolve to do whatever it takes to get him back. Lou-Jean gets Clovis out of jail, and the two steal their son from his foster home, in addition to taking a highway patrolman hostage. As a massive dragnet starts to pursue them across Texas, the couple become unlikely folk heroes and even start to bond with the captive policeman.
The Sugarland Express
1974
6.9Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Where the Red Fern Grows
1974
6.5Panic grips a small community after a tanker truck crashes through a fence at a wild animal park, freeing dozens of dangerous beasts.
The Beasts Are on the Streets
1978
5.2When the word gets out of a mysterious Bigfoot-type creature, two researchers come to a small town to study and hopefully discover the true nature of the beast. With some help from the locals, the two men to learn that the creature may be a very angry and murderous missing link.
Creature from Black Lake
1976
5.0Desirée lives deep in the swamp and supports herself and her siblings by poaching. After an accident involving Deputy Billy and a friend, the Sheriff, Deputy and a family of locals go after Desirée. Soon the hunters become the hunted as she exacts her revenge for their violence against her family.
'Gator Bait
1974
6.4A nice young couple move into an eerie house located in a small Louisiana town, unaware of its violent history.
The Evictors
1979
5.5A young man arrives at the town of Fair Play to see his uncle. What he finds upon arriving is a town hiding a secret from any outsiders. The young man must uncover the truth the townspeople wish to keep hidden in order to save his uncle.
Fair Play
1972
4.3Three eerie tales based on actual events are enacted in this film. First, three college students play a prank on a geeky classmate, who is accidentally shot and killed. His vengeful mother forecasts the deaths of the three young men she holds responsible, on 7, 14, and 21 days hence. And, one by one, her grim predictions come true. Next, a ghoulish sound emanates from a mist-shrouded hole in the Earth near where a Missouri boy has lost his dog. The boy's father is lowered into the hole and lets out an agonizing scream! Finally, a senator returning home from a party finds a lost girl on a bridge and learns from her father that she died years earlier
Encounter with the Unknown
1972
4.1A biography of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, a gangster who started his career at a young age after seeking revenge for his father's murder.
A Bullet for Pretty Boy
1970
4.4In 1957, a group of high school girls spending the night in a mansion tell each other about their first sexual experiences.
Slumber Party '57
1976
7.0A young man in Arizona, in trying to save his mother’s business, takes off in a sailplane and finds a secret landing strip. He finds that it is being used by drug smugglers, and he works to catch them.
The Sky Trap
1979
NRA naive stranger gets caught up in a criminal gang's attempt to take over a fast-food franchise.
The Pickle Goes in the Middle
1973
7.2A man, thought to be dead, returns to his hometown in Florida. He finds his wife re-married and the town now ruled by corrupt forces.
Ride in a Pink Car
1974
4.0A crazy woman who lives in an old mansion thinks she's with her brother/lover, who lures victims to her.
Keep My Grave Open
1977
10.0During WWI, the Germans try to encourages and hires a band of certain Mexican guerrillas and bandits to make trouble on the Texas border and attack the Stonewall Farm. He plans this so the Americans will have no choice but to send more troops to Texas instead of Europe. Masterminding the plot is a German spy who has, at his disposal, the RX4, a specially equipped weapon-bearing automobile of awesome speed, but a U.S. Army lieutenant carries the day with his own fleet of Model T racers.
Charge of the Model T's
1977
5.5Dan Gordon arrives in town on the edge of the Florida Everglades, planning to take part in a drug smuggling operation. He's aided by his friend, Mule Tucker, but runs into opposition from corrupt local cops.
The Florida Connection
1975
1960s · 16 titles
4.2A misguided scientist enables an alien from Venus named Zontar to come to earth in order to "help solve man's problems". However, as soon as Zontar arrives on Earth, it quickly becomes obvious that the three-eyed, bat-winged, skeletal black creature has a hidden agenda.
Zontar: The Thing from Venus
1967
2.8While searching for oil in the deadly swamplands of the Florida Everglades, members of a geological expedition meet an insane doctor who is working on an experiment to create a creature that is part man and part alligator.
Curse of the Swamp Creature
1968
3.1A teenager and his girlfriend must save the world from "eye" aliens after their attempts to convince authorities of an invasion fall on deaf ears.
The Eye Creatures
1967
3.1A government space experiment into the effects of cosmic rays on animal life goes horribly wrong, creating a mutant monster that terrorizes a rural community.
Night Fright
1967
3.9Tommy Kirk leads his fellow Martians to Earth on an interplanetary quest for females. Kirk proves that Martians have impeccable taste when one of his first conquests turns out to be sexy scientist Yvonne Craig.
Mars Needs Women
1968
3.7Naïve young country gal Diane gets sold by her abusive father to hunky stud Rick for only fifty bucks. Alas, Rick turns out to be a total no-account jerk who leaves Diane high and dry to fend for herself in a cheap apartment after spending a single night with her. Pretty soon Diane finds herself in all kinds of trouble with the low-life characters who live in the apartment complex with her whom include lesbian junkie Marla and mobster Al Hoffman who runs a go-go bar in town.
Hip Hot and 21
1967
3.2The last seven survivors of a nuclear war barricade themselves against the outside world. Beyond a dense mist, other survivors, radiated and mutant, grow hungry.
In the Year 2889
1969
3.8A farmer traps three people in a cave with his pet prehistoric monster.
It's Alive
1969
6.0In Italy during World War II, an American headquarters is evacuated when German forces break through the front lines. A demolition squad is sent back to the abandoned headquarters to destroy valuable records that were left behind before they fall into German hands.
Hell Raiders
1969
Western set story of cowpoke Sam who spends the hottest Fourth of July in the history of Brewster County dealing with the problems and people of the area.
Sam
1967
4.0A policeman's wife becomes a drug addict and goes to work at the dreaded "Club Lesbo;" an affiliation run by gangsters. A haunted devil mask also figures into the, er, um, plot.
Spiked Heels and Black Nylons
1967
5.2A mentally unbalanced man is obsessed with the idea that a black cat is possessed. He tortures and kills it. Later, he comes to believe that the cat has returned from the dead to kill him.
The Black Cat
1966
4.0Backwoods bombshell Myrtle marries George, only to find out that George neither can nor wants to satisfy her desires. Lots of heavy breathing, roughing-up and weirdo moralism ensues.
Hot Blooded Woman
1965
6.0Quasi-documentay on Bonnie and Clyde... Larry Buchanan style!
The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde
1968
5.2The Dallas trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, President John F. Kennedy's alleged assassin, is enacted as it might have occurred. After the defense enters pleas of "not guilty" and "not guilty by reason of insanity," 23 witnesses for the prosecution testify. No verdict is returned.
The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald
1964
3.8Cynthia Wood, a 17-year-old, light-skinned black girl, tries to pass off as white after getting hired of a wealthy movie magnate Mr. Langley who has family problems with his spoiled wife and his promiscuous teenage daughter and son.
High Yellow
1965
Series credits
6.9The world's first mega-soap, and one of the most popular ever produced, Dallas had it all. Beautiful women, expensive cars, and men playing Monopoly with real buildings. Famous for one of the best cliffhangers in TV history, as the world asked "Who shot J.R.?" A slow-burner to begin with, Dallas hit its stride in the 2nd season, with long storylines and expert character development. Dallas ruled the airwaves in the 1980's.
Dallas
1978
5.7When drifter Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town, Will Varner, a family patriarch, sees Ben as a better choice to inherit the family business than his only son, Jody. Will therefore tries to push Ben and his daughter Clara into marriage. Clara is initially reluctant to court Ben, and Jody senses that Ben threatens his position.
The Long Hot Summer
1985
