--- name: "Jason Miller" canonical: "https://film.one/person/jason-miller" fi1m_id: "jason-miller" imdb_id: "nm0588553" tmdb_id: 21736 wikidata_id: "Q1349205" roles: ["Actor"] born: "22 April 1939" died: "13 May 2001" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-17T23:23:55.310327+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Jason Miller ## Identity Jason Miller - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jason-miller - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** jason-miller - **IMDb ID:** nm0588553 - **TMDB ID:** 21736 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1349205 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Miller_(playwright), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1349205, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0588553/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21736 Actor. Born 22 April 1939 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. Died 13 May 2001. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 22 April 1939, Queens, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 13 May 2001 - **Also known as:** John Anthony Miller Jr. - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Miller_(playwright), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1349205, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0588553/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21736 ## Fi1m on Jason Miller > Jason Miller makes a priest's authority feel like hard work. His Father Damien Karras in *The Exorcist* gives religious doubt a human urgency, and remains the clearest reason to seek out his screen work. Jason Miller's Father Damien Karras speaks in a low, compassionate voice, but offering comfort seems to cost him something. In William Friedkin's *The Exorcist* (1973), he carries the strain of being the person others expect to provide reassurance. We were moved by his Karras because Miller makes that responsibility feel exhausting, even before we consider the questions of faith. His seriousness gives us a reason to listen to those questions. The performance holds our attention without requiring us to share the priest's beliefs. His screen debut came after he had written *That Championship Season* (1972), but film work did not become his chief concern. He favoured regional theatre, with screen roles arriving sporadically. He played Lt. Frankie Reno in William Peter Blatty's *The Ninth Configuration* (1980). Miller then directed the screen adaptation of his own play, *That Championship Season* (1982), and later played Coach Ara Parseghian in *Rudy* (1993). Friedkin makes good use of Miller's low-key delivery beside the authority of Von Sydow's Father Lankester Merrin. Miller suggests how hard it is to offer reassurance; Von Sydow makes it easier to believe that reassurance might be justified. Their seriousness keeps the religious material from becoming decorative, though it cannot make all the shocks feel necessary. We find some of those shocks overworked, and the film benefits whenever the acting gives us something less insistent to attend to. His reputation rests heavily on Karras, and that limits the claims we can make for his screen career. A sporadic filmography offers little basis for declaring him equally persuasive in every kind of part. It also leaves us with an unusually clear place to begin. Watch *The Exorcist* for Miller even if its religious questions are not yours; there is plenty to recognise in a man expected to comfort others while struggling himself. ## Biography Jason Miller, born John Anthony Miller Jr., was an American actor and playwright. He is best known for his performance as Father Damien Karras in the 1973 film *The Exorcist*, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and for reprising the role in *The Exorcist III* (1990). Miller won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for his play *That Championship Season*. He wrote and directed the 1982 film adaptation. Other film roles include Lt. Frankie Reno in *The Ninth Configuration* (1980), Benjamin Rasnick in *Light of Day* (1987), and Coach Ara Parseghian in *Rudy* (1993). He later served as artistic director of the Scranton Public Theatre in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Miller was born on 22 April 1939 in Queens, New York City, and died on 13 May 2001 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *The Exorcist* (1973), Fi1m 89, as Father Damien Karras — [page](https://film.one/film/the-exorcist.md) ## Complete filmography (31) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Independence Day: Resurgence* (2016), Post Production Supervisor - *Finding Home* (2003), as Lester Brownlow - *Hellsing* (2001), series, Actor - *That Championship Season* (1999), Screenplay, Theatre Play - *The Eternal* (1998), as The Doctor - *Murdered Innocence* (1996), as Det. Rollins - *Mommy* (1995), as Lt. March - *Rudy* (1993), as Coach Ara Parseghian - *Small Kill* (1992), as Mikie - *The Exorcist III* (1990), as Father Damien Karras / Patient X - *A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story* (1989), Writer - *Deadly Care* (1987), as Dr. Miles Keefer - *Light of Day* (1987), as Benjamin Rasnick - *A Touch of Scandal* (1984), as Garrett Locke - *Toy Soldiers* (1984), as Sarge - *That Championship Season* (1982), Director, Screenplay - *Monsignor* (1982), as Don Vito Appolini - *The Best Little Girl in the World* (1981), as Clay Orlovsky - *Marilyn: The Untold Story* (1980), as Arthur Miller - *The Henderson Monster* (1980), as Dr. Tom Henderson - *Reward* (1980), Writer - *The Ninth Configuration* (1980), as Lt. Frankie Reno - *Vampire* (1979), as John Rawlins - *The Dain Curse* (1978), series, as Owen Fitzstephan - *A Dog Called... Vengeance* (1977), as Aristides Ungria - *The Devil's Advocate* (1977), as Dr. Aldo Meyer - *F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood* (1975), as F. Scott Fitzgerald - *A Home of Our Own* (1975), as Father William Wasson - *The Nickel Ride* (1975), as Cooper - *The Exorcist* (1973), as Father Damien Karras — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/the-exorcist.md) - *Headed for Trouble*, as John ## Gallery - ![Jason Miller](https://film.one/media/person/104373/gallery-425745afa216.jpg) Jason Miller — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Jason_Miller_-_Broadway_headshot_c._1972.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Jason Miller and Max von Sydow as Fathers Karras and Merrin in The Exorcist (1973)](https://film.one/media/person/104373/gallery-bbec78ec648d.jpg) Jason Miller and Max von Sydow as Fathers Karras and Merrin in The Exorcist (1973) — Unknown; likely a still photographer employed or hired by Warner Bros. Cropped and edited slightly by Daniel Case prior to upload, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Jason_Miller_and_Max_von_Sydow_in_The_Exorcist.jpg/1280px-Jason_Miller_and_Max_von_Sydow_in_The_Exorcist.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Jason Miller](https://film.one/media/person/104373/gallery-672d0ab8fb57.jpg) Jason Miller — Image via TMDB - ![Jason Miller](https://film.one/media/person/104373/gallery-ae1cb3bfe5e1.jpg) Jason Miller — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1974: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *The Exorcist* ### Other awards — 1 won - Pulitzer Prize for Drama 1973: Pulitzer Prize for Drama (won), for *That Championship Season* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jason-miller