When Burt Reynolds was starting out his career in the late 1950s, he met a lot of struggling actors who were in the same boat as him. Some of them eventually found their way into the big time, but most of the actors didn’t.
A number of them who stalled out at the lower levels found a great friend in Burt and became part of what I called “The Burt Brigade.” Basically a lifetime entourage who were the lucky recipients of his generosity and patronage.
Any time he had work (and even in between) they could depend on BR to make sure they were taken care of. He would find (or create) low to middle level jobs in productions that came with a decent paycheck. Production assistants, vague titles and office work… assistant to the assistant’s assistant.
The staff and crew of a movie or TV show usually has a pretty large list of employees. If you are a bigwig or star, it’s easy to carve out a little spot for a friend without the accounting people noticing. And none of the top folks would complain or ask questions if Mr. Reynolds was putting someone on the payroll.
And all over the country, whenever he was shooting a movie he would often buy houses and property there even though he would most likely never visit again.
If you were a fellow star or one of Burt’s Brigade and needed a place to stay, he would send you the keys to stay as long as you needed to.
Burt was horrible at managing his money, leading to his eventual bankruptcy in the 90s. But he was as loyal as a human can be. Friends who needed money or a place to live knew that he would still always be there for them.
Kenny Miller was one of the Brigade and a very close friend from those early days.
Where Burt went, Kenny went. Along with the rest of the Brigadeers.
Kenny had started acting behind his parents’ backs. His father was a minister in Ohio and not a fan of sinful Hollywood. After his dad died, Kenny slipped away to – where else – California. He told me one time when we were hanging out: “My Dad never understood my desire to be an entertainer. On his deathbed he told me I’d never amount to much.” So sad.
His first movie was a small part in1952’s “Fearless Fagan.” Yeah, I’ve never heard of it either. But he became good friends for life with another suffering actor: Burt Reynolds.
During this period, Kenny was able to get work on quite a few “B” movies like “Attack of the Puppet People,” “Surf Party” and of course “I was a Teenage Werewolf.” Those shlocky films were a mainstay in those days. mainly made for drive in theaters so that real teenagers could have a place to go make out.
He did land a part in Orson Welles’ black and white classic “Touch of Evil.”
But that was the pinnacle of his acting days. BR would in later years slip him in as a bit actor in a movie when possible.
When we were doing the “B.L. Stryker” TV series, the boss gave him the title of Publicity Manager (which he had never done before), mainly faxing out publicity pieces and keeping callers away from the busy production staff.
Kenny and I became friends during the first season, and he was responsible for my short lived radio career. He was one of the nicest people I ever met. Funny, outgoing and full of wild stories from Hollywood.
Someone at WJNO radio in West Palm had set up a phone interview with him to promote the show locally. Me and my crew were on the set of a football field where a shooting was taking place involving a football “dream sequence.” We were frantically changing vinyl logos between shots on the helmets (plenty of decals…not enough helmets.)
WJNO chose lunch time as the time to call Kenny. Unfortunately, the catering truck had just set up. On the menu was high quality steak cooked to your specifications. He LOVED steaks.
Kenny walks up cell phone in hand, mouthpiece covered. “Hey, Thom. Can you do me a big favor?” He explained to me that he had been “called away for an important meeting” and asked whether I could do the interview for him. Huh?
Before I could utter a word he sticks the cell phone in my hand. Off skittered Kenny to the catering tent for his mouth to meet a big Kobe steak.
I made up a vague title for myself as I spent 30 minutes making up stuff… also vague and generic. Must have gotten away with the ruse because the reporter seemed to believe me. Then I went back to sticking decals to helmets.
Once the show finished up its second season, I went on to work for Warner Brothers, Hollywood Pictures, Universal Studios and a number of companies.
When I finally got off the treadmill of full time film work, I opened a small shop nearby in Boynton Beach and shipped prop signs around the country and produced commercial signage.
Kenny had decided to stay in South Florida, probably living in a room at BR’s very large house up the road in Jupiter. He would drop by my shop and shoot the breeze, sometimes quite awhile. We would reminisce about the show and what our old coworkers and friends were up to these days.
Not a lot got done in the shop on those days.
Thom Caraccio ([email protected]) is a retired musician and retired motion picture scenic artist living in West Palm Beach, Florida who hails from Columbus. He graduated from S.D. Lee High in 1968 and still considers Columbus his real hometown.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
