
Acting
Bill Thurman
Born 1920-11-04 · 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
Acting credits
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
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
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
6.4A 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
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
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
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
6.1The 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
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
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
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
6.4A nice young couple move into an eerie house located in a small Louisiana town, unaware of its violent history.
The Evictors
1979
5.7A 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
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
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
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
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
5.3Virgil 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
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
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
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
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
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