‘Gremlins’ and ‘Terminator’ Actor Dick Miller Dead at 90

Hollywood legend Dick Miller has died at the age of 90.

The veteran Hollywood character actor, known for his role as Murray Futterman in the 1984 classic horror film Gremlins, passed away suddenly in Toluca Lake, California, due to natural causes one month after his 90th birthday.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Miller’s wife Lainie, daughter Barbara and granddaughter Autumn were at his side when he passed away.

“His sense of humor and the unique way he looked at the world won him many lifelong friends and worldwide fans,” Miller’s family said in a statement released by the outlet.

Miller was born in the Bronx on Dec. 25, 1928. The actor served in the U.S. Navy before attending the City College of New York and Columbia University.

His career spans more than 60 years, and he has made hundreds of appearances starting in the 1950s with his role as Walter Paisley — whom Miller would reprise several times in his career — in the cult classic A Bucket of Blood. He also had standout roles in The ‘Burbs, Fame and The Terminator, Variety writes.

Miller also had a long history of partnering with some of the industry’s biggest directors, including James Cameron, Ernest Dickerson, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and Joe Dante.

Dante featured Miller in almost every project he worked on. In Piranha, Miller played Buck Gardner, a small-time real estate agent opening a new resort on Lost River Lake, the site of release of a large school of genetically altered piranha. The actor also played a police chief in the 1979 film Rock ‘n’ Roll High School before he reprised his Walter Paisley role as a bookshop owner in the 1981 horror movie The Howling.

Other notable appearances include the 1986 film Night of the Creeps, co-starring with Tom Atkins as a police ammunitions officer named Walt. Most recently Miller reprised his role of Walter Paisley one last time as a rabbit in Eben McGarr’s horror film Hanukkah.

Dante, who also helmed the iconic film Gremlins, honored his dear friend Miller on Twitter upon news of his death.

“We hit it off and every script thereafter I always looked for a role for Dick– not just because he was my friend but because I loved watching him act! But he leaves behind over 100 performances, a bio [and] a doc– not bad for a guy who hardly ever enjoyed a starring role,” Dante wrote.

Memorial arrangements for the actor have not been announced yet.