Bill Thurman

Bill Thurman

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

  • Popularity : 1.732
  • Known For : Acting
  • Birthday : 1920-11-04
  • Place of Birth : Texas, USA
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Bill Thurman Movies

  • 1977
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    Close Encounters of the Third Kind

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind

    7.4 1977 HD

    After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is...

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  • 1970
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    A Bullet for Pretty Boy

    A Bullet for Pretty Boy

    4 1970 HD

    A biography of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, a gangster who started his career at a young age after seeking revenge for his father's murder.

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  • 1974
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    The Sugarland Express

    The Sugarland Express

    6.6 1974 HD

    Married 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....

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  • 1985
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    Silverado

    Silverado

    7 1985 HD

    Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends...

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  • 1968
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    Mars Needs Women

    Mars Needs Women

    3.9 1968 HD

    Tommy Kirk leads his fellow Martians to Earth on an interplanetary quest for females. Kirk proves that Martians have impeccable taste when one of his...

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  • 1971
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    The Last Picture Show

    The Last Picture Show

    7.6 1971 HD

    High 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...

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  • 1983
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    Mountaintop Motel Massacre

    Mountaintop Motel Massacre

    4.367 1983 HD

    After several years in an insane asylum, Evelyn, the keeper of the Mountaintop Motel, is released and resumes doing business. She kills her young...

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  • 1967
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    Zontar: The Thing from Venus

    Zontar: The Thing from Venus

    4 1967 HD

    A 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...

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  • 1976
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    Creature from Black Lake

    Creature from Black Lake

    5.1 1976 HD

    Two men exploring the Louisiana swamps run into a Bigfoot-type creature.

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  • 1967
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    The Eye Creatures

    The Eye Creatures

    2.9 1967 HD

    A teenager and his girlfriend must save the world from "eye" aliens after their attempts to convince authorities of an invasion fall on deaf ears.

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  • 1964
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    The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald

    The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald

    4.7 1964 HD

    The Dallas trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, President John F. Kennedy's alleged assassin, is enacted as it might have occurred. After the defense enters...

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  • 1969
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    In the Year 2889

    In the Year 2889

    2.8 1969 HD

    The last seven survivors of a nuclear war barricade themselves against an attack by a mutant cannibal.

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  • 1968
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    Curse of the Swamp Creature

    Curse of the Swamp Creature

    2.4 1968 HD

    While searching for oil in the deadly swamplands of the Florida Everglades, members of a geological expedition meet an insane doctor who is working...

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  • 1968
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    The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde

    The Other Side of Bonnie and Clyde

    5 1968 HD

    Quasi-documentay on Bonnie and Clyde... Larry Buchanan style!

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  • 1969
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    It's Alive

    It's Alive

    3.333 1969 HD

    A farmer traps three people in a cave with his pet prehistoric monster.

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  • 1974
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    'Gator Bait

    'Gator Bait

    5.3 1974 HD

    Desirée lives deep in the swamp and supports herself and her siblings by poaching. After an accident involving Deputy Billy and a friend, the...

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  • 1979
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    The Evictors

    The Evictors

    6.5 1979 HD

    A nice young couple move into an eerie house located in a small Louisiana town, unaware of its violent history.

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  • 1967
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    Night Fright

    Night Fright

    2.8 1967 HD

    A government space experiment into the effects of cosmic rays on animal life goes horribly wrong, creating a mutant monster that terrorizes a rural...

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  • 1997
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    Painted Hero

    Painted Hero

    5.4 1997 HD

    Virgil 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...

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  • 1969
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    Hell Raiders

    Hell Raiders

    3 1969 HD

    In Italy during World War II, an American headquarters is evacuated when German forces break through the front lines. A demolition squad is sent back...

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  • 1980
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    Skyward

    Skyward

    7 1980 HD

    Billie 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...

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  • 1965
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    High Yellow

    High Yellow

    3 1965 HD

    Cynthia 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...

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  • 1991
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    In Broad Daylight

    In Broad Daylight

    5.7 1991 HD

    The fanatically uncompromising Len Rowan and his family insult and terrorize the citizens of a small town for years. One day the comment of a...

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  • 1985
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    Stormin' Home

    Stormin' Home

    1 1985 HD

    An aging motor-cross racer, already having lost his wife and daughter to his footlooseness and now about to have his semi-tractor cab repossessed,...

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  • 1965
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    Hot-Blooded Woman

    Hot-Blooded Woman

    4.2 1965 HD

    Backwoods bombshell Myrtle marries George, only to find out that George neither can nor wants to satisfy her desires. Lots of heavy breathing,...

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  • 1976
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    Slumber Party '57

    Slumber Party '57

    5.5 1976 HD

    In 1957, a group of high school girls spending the night in a mansion tell each other about their first sexual experiences.

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  • 1974
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    Where the Red Fern Grows

    Where the Red Fern Grows

    6.8 1974 HD

    Billy 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...

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  • 1977
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    Charge of the Model T's

    Charge of the Model T's

    1 1977 HD

    During 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...

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  • 1974
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    Ride in a Pink Car

    Ride in a Pink Car

    7.5 1974 HD

    A 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.

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  • 1981
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    Raggedy Man

    Raggedy Man

    5.2 1981 HD

    Nita, a divorced mother of two boys, is stuck working as a telephone operator in a small Texas town in World War II. Her friendship with a sailor on...

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  • 1975
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    The Florida Connection

    The Florida Connection

    2 1975 HD

    Dan 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...

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  • 1972
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    Fair Play

    Fair Play

    1 1972 HD

    A 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...

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  • 1966
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    The Black Cat

    The Black Cat

    5.2 1966 HD

    A 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...

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  • 1980
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    Tom Horn

    Tom Horn

    6.4 1980 HD

    A 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...

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  • 1977
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    Keep My Grave Open

    Keep My Grave Open

    3.9 1977 HD

    A crazy woman who lives in an old mansion thinks she's with her brother/lover, who lures victims to her.

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  • 1967
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    Spiked Heels and Black Nylons

    Spiked Heels and Black Nylons

    2.5 1967 HD

    A 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...

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  • 1978
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    The Beasts Are on the Streets

    The Beasts Are on the Streets

    6 1978 HD

    Panic grips a small community after a tanker truck crashes through a fence at a wild animal park, freeing dozens of dangerous beasts.

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  • 1967
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    Hip Hot and 21

    Hip Hot and 21

    3.333 1967 HD

    The story of the country virgin who became queen of the innersprings...

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  • 1989
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    Innocent Prey

    Innocent Prey

    4 1989 HD

    A woman living in Dallas discovers that her husband, from New Zealand, is actually a crazed serial killer who murders prostitutes.

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  • 1982
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    The Long Summer of George Adams

    The Long Summer of George Adams

    10 1982 HD

    A middle-age man, in small-town Middle America, lives a momentous year in the mid-20th century.

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  • 1967
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    Sam

    Sam

    1 1967 HD

    Western by Larry Buchanan.

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  • 1987
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    Hawken's Breed

    Hawken's Breed

    3.5 1987 HD

    Hawken 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...

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  • 1972
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    Encounter with the Unknown

    Encounter with the Unknown

    4 1972 HD

    Three eerie tales based on actual events are enacted in this film. First, three college students play a prank on a geeky classmate, who is...

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  • 1985
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    Alamo Bay

    Alamo Bay

    5.9 1985 HD

    A despondent Vietnam veteran in danger of losing his livelihood is pushed to the edge when he sees Vietnamese immigrants moving into the fishing...

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  • 1977
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    The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald

    The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald

    6.8 1977 HD

    The bizarre story behind the man accused of assassinating John F. Kennedy and what might have happened had he been brought to trial.

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  • 1979
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    The Sky Trap

    The Sky Trap

    1 1979 HD

    A 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...

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  • 1971
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    Strawberries Need Rain

    Strawberries Need Rain

    4 1971 HD

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  • 1966
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    The Black Cat

    The Black Cat

    5.2 1966 HD

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  • 1985
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    The Long Hot Summer

    The Long Hot Summer

    5.4 1985 HD

    When drifter Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town, Will Varner, a family patriarch, sees Ben as a better choice to inherit the family...

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  • 1978
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    Dallas

    Dallas

    6.734 1978 HD

    The 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...

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